1,327 ingested motions from United Kingdom introduced in 2000. Year filters use the introduced date shown on each card. Walk years back as far as this source still publishes.
That this House notes with alarm the conduct of 23 Conservative Members of the European Parliament for signing a document calling for the European hunting season to be extended; notes that this will allow hunters in France and Italy more time to kill migrating British birds such as song thrushes and turtle doves; and calls on Members of the European Parliament to oppose the proposed extension of the European hunting season.
That this House is concerned for the haemophilia community, which has suffered the tragedy of both HIV and hepatitis infections through contaminated blood products used by the NHS in the past, and now faces the uncertain risk that variant CJD may be transmitted via blood; and therefore welcomes the fact that since 1998 all children in the UK have been treated with genetically engineered recombinant product to avoid these risks; and calls on the Government urgently to respond to the Haemophilia Society's plea that this safer alternative is provided also to adults in England, as is already happening for adults with haemophilia in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and in so doing to end the inequality of treatment by post code.
That this House regrets the harmful effect on children of the break-up of family relationships; suggests that, before the break-up of a family takes place, parents should be encouraged to enter into a contract regarding care of their children; believes that a parent intending to leave his or her children should be obliged to apply in writing for leave to do so, outlining their intentions regarding visiting and financial support; and urges parents to recognise the right of children to continuity of care in their lives.
That this House notes the number of secondary school students who walk to school has declined from 61 per cent. in 1975 to 53 per cent. today; further notes that the morning school run causes 20 per cent. of rush hour traffic; believes that there are greener and healthier ways of travelling to school than driving; welcomes the Government's 'THINK!' campaign to promote road safety and its commitment to cutting child deaths and serious injuries by 50 per cent.; and encourages all secondary schools to join the 1,000 who are already taking part in the RAC's Grass Routes challenge which seeks to encourage pupils to develop their own safer, greener and healthier school travel plans.
That this House congratulates the trade union Unison on the launch of its 'Positively Public' campaign to highlight the contribution of public services to the success of this country; shares the belief that public services in the 21st century should be based on the principles of democratic accountability, effective delivery of services and measures to address the underfunding of public services by the previous government; believes that public authorities have an important role in promoting equality of opportunity and equality of access to services; and calls on all public authorities to make a commitment to the use of directly employed staff, the ending of a two-tier workforce and the improvement of public services through partnership with their staff.
That this House congratulates AMEC Border Wind and their partners on the establishment of the United Kingdom's first offshore wind farm off the coast of the Wansbeck constituency in Northumberland; notes that this could be the first of many such offshore schemes around the coast of the UK; believes that this form of renewable energy could make a major contribution to the UK's commitment to reducing CO2 emissions; thanks the UK Government for its support of such schemes; and calls upon it to develop a clean energy centre in the North East, a region that prides itself on its innovation and engineering excellence, enabling the nation to benefit from the design and manufacture of wind turbines, photovoltaics, and other forms of renewable energy and creating thousands of jobs in the process.
That this House congratulates the England cricket team on its victory in the series in Pakistan, the first by an English side in Pakistan for 39 years; notes that the victory in Karachi was the first achieved by any overseas side; applauds the leadership of captain Nasser Hussain of Essex and the coaching skills of Duncan Fletcher; and, following the series win over the West Indies in the summer, wishes the England team further success in the next Test series against Australia.
That this House welcomes the decision of the Scottish Parliament that criminal record checks for volunteers working with children in Scotland will be free; notes with regret that volunteers in England and Wales will still be required to pay ú10 for identical checks to be made with the Criminal Records Bureau in the coming year; and urges the Government to emulate the excellent example of the Scottish Parliament.
That this House welcomes the TUC response to the public consultation 'Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All'; and urges the Government to take account of its recommendations, especially those on affordable social housing and a strengthened role for local authority housing, in the context of the Urban White Paper and targets set for reclaiming current brownfield land.
That this House backs the call of Ivan Corea to declare 2002 as Autism Awareness Year, aimed at raising the profile and the plight of autistic children across the UK; and urges local education authorities and NHS trusts to do more for autistic children, including autists from minority ethnic communities, to review and assess their educational services and specialist speech therapy services and change policies where discrimination has taken place.
That this House notes that the Government intends to regulate 12 health professions, including chiropodists/podiatrists, physiotherapists, occuptional therapists, radiographers, dietitians, speech and language therapists, medical laboratory scientific officers, prosthetists and orthotists, orthoptists, arts therapists, clinical scientists and paramedics, as if they were a single profession; notes that this approach does not take account of the lack of similarity in the qualifications for, and clinical practice of, these professions; believes there should be parity of treatment for all health professions, with self-regulation for chiropodists and podiatrists as well as doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists and others; recalls that at the time the enabling legislation passed through the House of Lords, the Health Minister stated that the Health Bill would 'provide stronger self-regulation' but the Department of Health consultation paper gives no details of how uni-professional input will be secured, and suggests that most matters can be dealt with on a multi-professional basis; believes that commitments made at the time the Health Bill passed through Westminster should be respected; and calls on the Department of Health to work more closely with the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, and other professions concerned, and bring forward new proposals that command greater professional support and will provide better protection for the public.
That this House congratulates Roger Warren Evans, who walked from Swansea to London, a distance of 220 miles from his home, in 18 days and arrived on time at his workplace on his 65th birthday on 11th December 2000; praises this feat; and recognises that this walk against ageism proves that people in their fifties, sixties and beyond are more than capable of contributing to society and work and that they should not be discriminated against in any facet of their lives, whether in the United Kingdom, Europe or the rest of the world.
That this House welcomes the launch of the Powergen/National Energy Action Fuel Poverty Handbook for honourable and Right honourable Members and their caseworkers; commends Powergen and NEA for producing such a clear and practical guide to the help available to constituents suffering from fuel poverty; and congratulates both organisations for the on-going commitment they have shown to eradicating fuel poverty.
That this House notes that the staff of the National Rail Enquiries Service based in offices in Plymouth, Cardiff, Newcastle, Derby, Dundee and Southampton currently answer one of the busiest phone numbers in the country and collect, collate and redistribute revised, re-revised and re-re-revised schedules; acknowledges that their current task in drawing on constantly changing manual, as well as computer-based information, to reply to travellers' enquiries is a significant daily challenge; congratulates them on doing a good job, which can only be as accurate as the information available to them at the time; regrets that the information provided to them is sometimes inaccurate and totally different from information provided by individual train companies and hopes that they and the travelling public will soon have more certainty, as well as safety, restored to travelling arrangements.
That this House notes with concern the continuing failure of the military regime in Burma to allow the 485 Members-elect of the Parliament of Burma to represent in Parliament those who voted for them in the 1990 democratic elections; is alarmed that up to 200 of those MPs are either in prison, under house arrest, have died in prison, or have been forced to leave the country; and calls on the military government of Burma to release immediately and unconditionally all MPs elect and end all violations of human rights imposed on the people of Burma, to recognise the right to convene the Parliament and immediately cease all restrictions against them.
That this House notes that the National Health Service Plan proposes the abolition of the community health councils and the redistribution of their functions between the Patient Advocacy and Liaison Service, patients' forums, advisory citizens' panels, local council all-party scrutiny committees and the Commission for Health Improvement; and calls for the Government to engage in a robust national debate and consultation on how to deliver effective patient empowerment by adding to the best of community health councils and particularly by addressing the need for independence, integration locally and nationally, appropriate statutory powers and access to information and support mechanisms to identify and promote best practice.
That this House believes that it is unwise of any honourable Member who supported a government which presided over mass unemployment, burgeoning child and pensioner poverty, shocking homelessness, rotten housing, soaring crime, cuts in development aid and the destruction of whole communities based on steel making, shipbuilding and coal mining to lecture anyone on morality.
That this House welcomes the Government's intention to replace the current system of internal reviews of housing benefit decisions by individual local authorities with a new, more robust, independent appeal mechanism; notes that local authorities will retain the right to reclaim benefit overpayments from third parties, such as landlords, where payments are made directly; is concerned, however, that the practice of allowing these third parties to appeal such decisions will be excluded from the new procedure; calls on the Government to recognise that it is unjust to demand repayment of fraudulently claimed or incorrectly paid benefits direct from landlords, who are unable to know this is taking place, without a right of appeal and asks that such a right be included in regulations when they are laid before the House.
That this House is concerned by the latest report and graphic film evidence published by Animal Aid on the treatment of animals at some livestock markets; notes that despite the Government's 1998 Strategy requiring better enforcement at markets, animals at some markets around the country are still arriving emaciated, diseased and injured, being held in thoroughly unsuitable facilities where the casual use of sticks and electric goads persists and where they are denied water; deplores the stress and suffering this causes; and urges the Government to provide adequate financial resources for the proper enforcement of its Strategy, including attendance by the state Veterinary Service at 25 per cent. of all market days to facilitate the drawing up of a league table of markets, with those markets which are unable to meet a standard consistent with the current welfare requirements being required to upgrade or close.
That this House believes that the cost of the emergency oral contraceptive known as the morning after pill is too high at the likely price of ú20 and that this may deter those who would most benefit from it.
That this House commends the Government for devolving power to places people identify with; further congratulates those regions in the North East, North West, Cornwall and the South West which have set up constitutional conventions and the regions of Yorkshire and West Midlands for setting up campaigns; and calls on the Government to complete its unfinished business by setting up regional assemblies which reflect the places people identity with, have a clear popular mandate and are fully democratic.
leave out from 'measures' to end, and add 'but regrets that such instruments are still not sufficient to effectively curb proliferation and the risks it entails for international security; notes that deployment of US National Missile Defence could entail the risk of violating the ABM Treaty; considers the interest Russia has expressed in participating in a European Anti-missile defence system; and commends the Assembly of Western European Union for Recommendation 680 it passed on 6th December calling for the strengthening of transatlantic co-operation on anti-missile defence, and its Technological and Aerospace Committee on its forthcoming visit to Russia to clarify President Putin's proposals for the joint development with NATO of a European missile defence system'.
That this House calls on the Government to support the vital role that urban sub-post offices play in city life; notes that in Portsmouth South 15 out of 22 of them derive more than 40 per cent. of their income from Benefits Agency work, without which they will be under serious threat of closure; believes that this is not an uncommon situation and is shared by urban sub-post offices across the United Kingdom; and therefore requests the Government to look very carefully at the changes in the way benefits are paid.
That this House notes with deep concern that the Christians in the Moluccas are facing increasing threats to their lives and freedom; further notes that the Jihad militant movement, Laskar Jihad, has declared their plan to resolve the 'Christian problem' in the next few weeks, stating that 'there will be no churchbells ringing in Ambon by Christmas'; was concerned to hear Christians on Seram island and in North Maluku have received an ultimatum either to convert to Islam or face being killed; and urges Her Majesty's Government to ask the Indonesian Government to take immediate and appropriate action to avert this situation and to allow for international intervention and assistance where necessary.
That this House notes that the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on 14th December 1950; congratulates UNHCR on its vital work over the last half century; and reaffirms its support for the United Nations and the UNHCR in the next century.
That this House believes that the debate on the position to be taken by the Fisheries Minister at the meeting of the Fisheries Council in December is of vital importance to the fishing industry; notes that for this reason it has always been the practice to hold the debate on the floor of the House; notes that this year the debate was held instead in European Standing Committee A; notes with approval the assurance given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that he sympathised with the objections expressed by committee members that the debate was not taking place on the floor of the House; notes with the approval that the Parliamentary Secretary said he would convey to the Leader of the House the view of the committee that the debate in European Standing Committee A was no substitute for a debate on the floor of the House; and calls upon the Leader of the House to ensure that such a debate takes place early in the New Year.
That this House is appalled by the United Nations estimate that some 20 million people are living in slavery around the world under the bonded labour system; expresses its concern over the repeated failures of governments like Pakistan, India and Nepal to take adequate measures to eradicate the use of bonded labour in their countries; calls on the British and Irish Governments to work with their European Union partners to sponsor a resolution at the next United Nations Commission on Human Rights condemning this practice; and urges the International Labour Organisation to ensure at its Conference in June 2001 that independent and comprehensive surveys into the extent of bonded labour are carried out in countries where it persists.
That this House notes with concern that the Communication Workers Union Humanitarian Aid Charity recently sent a convoy of eight vehicles to deliver food, clothes, medicines etc to poor children in Moldova, a country recently declared the poorest in Europe; further notes that the convoy of eight vehicles had to pay ú2,500 to various governments for the privilege of travelling through their countries; further notes that ú2,000 of this money was paid to Romanian officials; and calls upon the governments involved to re-appraise their policies and to formulate a common agreement relating to the overland movement of humanitarian aid so that aid moves through their countries cost free, otherwise there is a danger that charities like the CWUHA will cease to operate leaving many needy people without hope.
That this House backs the call of Ivan Corea of the King's Fund to declare 2002 as Autism Awareness Year, aimed at raising the profile and the plight of autistic children across the United Kingdom; and urges local education authorities and National Health Service trusts to do more for Autistic children, including autists from minority ethnic communities and to review their educational and specialist speech therapy services in order to change policies where discrimination has taken place.
That this House welcomes the reform of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 to meet more adequately the modern needs of the labour market; fully supports new regulation to promote flexibility, the prevention of payment abuses and greater transparency of terms of business on an industry wide basis; shares many of the concerns expressed by the industry that the abolition of the 'temp to perm' fees currently charged by employment bureaux will inhibit the creation of job opportunities particularly for those who may be disadvantaged such as older candidates, women returning to work, those with gaps in the CVs due to unemployment and job applicants who may not perform well in the interview situation; believes that 'temp-to-perm' services will become uncommercial for many agencies leading to less temporary work and fewer job opportunities for disadvantaged groups; and calls upon the Department of Trade and Industry to consult widely with the industry to achieve a solution that does not serve as a constraint on the temporary job market.
That this House expresses serious concern about the lack of speech and language therapy provision across the United Kingdom; notes that problems in recruiting and retaining trained speech and language therapists are leading to waiting times for appointments reaching many months and in some areas years; recognises the impact that communication problems can have on every aspect of life, with particular concern surrounding the long-term effects on young children; acknowledges the difficulties facing health authorities and local education authorities in meeting their legal requirements to provide this service for children as set out in SEN statements; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to address the crisis in provision of speech and language therapy for people of all ages and needs as a matter of urgency.
That this House pays tribute to Mr Andreas C H Pouyouros, the Mayor of Famagusta and to the Deputy Mayor, Mrs Sophie Phitides and all members of the Famagusta Municipality for their ongoing and dedicated campaigns to seek the return of the town of Famagusta to its citizens and the Republic of Cyprus; further notes that following the brutal military invasion of Cyprus by the Turkish army in July 1974, that thousands of residents of Famagusta were forced to flee their homes, properties and businesses, leaving Famagusta an unoccupied ghost town; therefore fully supports the campaign of Mr Pouyouros and his colleagues for the return of their town, homes and property; and calls on the United Kingdom Government to do all within its power as one of the guarantor powers for Cyprus, and in view of Cyprus' membership of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to work with the Government of the Republic of Cyprus for the return of Famagusta to its people, both Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
That this House congratulates the Government on making the morning-after pill available for sale without prescription in chemists to all women over the age of 16 years; and recognises that this will prevent many abortions and unplanned teenage pregnancies.
That this House is gravely concerned by the fact that the London-based Rio Tinto, the world's largest mining conglomerate, has been accused in a USA Class Action of War Crimes against the indigenous people of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea, that in order to force the re-opening of its Panguna Copper Mine, Rio Tinto encouraged or pressurised the PNG Government to take military action and to mount a naval blockade against its own people, that Rio Tinto provided vehicles and helicopters for military use, that Rio Tinto exhorted the PNG to 'Starve the Bastards out', that such actions were in breach of the Geneva Convention, the ensuing war crimes leading to the deaths of an estimated 15,000 civilians; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to instigate a criminal investigation into those allegations and to report back to this House.
That this House is greatly concerned to learn that in a class action complaint filed in the USA courts, the London-based mining conglomerate, Rio Tinto, stands accused of having acted in concert with the Government and Military Forces of Papua New Guinea to force the re-opening of the Panguna Copper Mine on Bougainville Island, that the PNG Government contracted the London-based (British Virgin Islands-registered) Sandline International, a firm of mercenaries, to recapture Bougainville and restore Rio Tinto's mine, and that in 1997 Lt. Col. Tim Spicer of Sandline secured a $36 million PNG contract to recapture the mine with a mercenary force; notes that Sandline had shipped weapons to Sierra Leone in 1995, investigated by this House in the 'Arms for Africa' affair; and urges Her Majesty's Government to institute a full public inquiry into this disgraceful affair, and to report back to the House.
That this House notes that members of the armed forces, including Mr Deans of Stapleford, Broxtowe, who had volunteered to help in research on colds, were in the 1950's subjected unknowingly to mustard gas and nerve gas by Porton Down researchers; welcomes the ongoing inquiry by the Wiltshire Constabulary; further welcomes the consideration being given by the Ministry of Defence to an independent study to assess what effects this treatment had on their health but expresses its horror that experiments of this type, previously known only in wartime Japan and Germany, could have been conducted in Britain on unwitting servants of the Crown; and urges that the conclusion of the police inquiries be succeeded if necessary by a public inquiry to establish who was responsible, and at what level the experiments were authorised.
That this House is deeply disturbed to learn of the class action complaint filed in the USA courts, in respect of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea, accusing London-based Rio Tinto, the mining conglomerate, that in operating its Panguna Copper Mine, the most productive in the world, it treated the indigenous people as inferior and expendable, through apartheid, racial discrimination and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, constituting gross violation of their human rights, that Rio Tinto destroyed Bougainville's forests, fauna and river systems, generating billions of tons of toxic waste, killing animal and plant life, turning vast, fertile areas into a toxic, barren wasteland, that Rio Tinto chemically defoliated, bulldozed and sluiced of an entire mountainside of rainforest and that Rio Tinto caused serious illness and death to the people; demands that Rio Tinto accept its responsibility to pay compensation; and urges Her Majesty's Government to institute a full public inquiry and to report back to this House.
That this House notes with profound concern the announcement by health ministers that they intend to make the abortifacient 'morning after' pill available over the counter, thus undermining still further respect for both human life and for the institution of marriage; observes with regret that the present Government also opposes attempts to amend the law to prevent euthanasia; deeply regrets also its lowering to 16 years of the age at which buggery is permitted for both boys and girls, and that it remains committed to removing the ban on the promotion of homosexuality in schools; observes with sadness its continuing widespread promotion of contraceptives to teenagers; further regrets the Government's active support for the creation and use of human clones for scientific research; denounces this systematic assault upon the dignity of human life, the institution of marriage, and the traditional moral ethos of our nation; and calls upon the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other faith communities of the United Kingdom to speak now before all in which they believe is destroyed.
That this House supports the Blue Peter Millennium Appeal which aims to turn postage stamps into basic health aid for the Quechua Indians living in the Peruvian Andes; notes that honourable Members receive three to four bags of post per day; and calls on honourable Members to save and send as many stamps as possible to Blue Peter, so that they reach their target of 100,000 envelopes filled with 200 used postage stamps.
That this House notes that for the past two years NHS professional, technical and scientific staff outside the Pay Review Body have received pay increases less than those awarded to comparable staff within the Pay Review Body; and calls upon the Secretary of State to take steps to remedy that situation in the next pay round to avoid an adverse impact on the services these staff provide and clarify precisely which NHS professions and related grades will move to Pay Review Body status, in order to help stem declining morale and help retain these skills for the NHS.
That this House condemns the ill-conceived privatisation of British Railways by the previous Tory government which, despite massive injections of taxpayers' money, has led directly to the present and continuing crisis suffered by railworkers and rail-users alike; regrets that many are reverting to car use with its adverse impact on the environment and consequent increases in death and injury; and calls on the Government to restore confidence in the rail network by returning Railtrack to public ownership and accountability with a clear onus to monitor track maintenance and renewal alongside a culture of safety and reliability as oppposed to the present regime which places profitability before all else.
That this House notes the success of the British Olympic and Paralympic teams in Sydney; believes that to further enhance the success of our athletes for the 2002 Winter Olympics and subsequent games a public service sports channel is urgently needed; suggests that such a channel should provide the entire physical and health education schools curriculum, collate and digitise the archives of all the sporting organisations in the UK, develop with our leading universities sports medicine, sports education, sports and leisure management, sports psychology and sports research programming; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to ensure that should the BBC turn down this public service opportunity that funds are made available from the licence fee for other bodies to bid for and run such a channel.
That this House notes the decision of the Army Board to allow Guardsmen James Fisher and Mark Wright to continue their army careers despite the conviction and prison sentence served for the murder of unarmed father-of-two Peter McBride, then aged 18 years; notes the distress caused to the family and friends of Peter McBride, particularly in light of the large number of soldiers discharged from the services following conviction of relatively minor drugs offences; further notes the Independent Assessor of Military Complaints has expressed 'dismay' at the decision of the Army Board; further notes the board meeting was held in private and has yet to share its reasons with the McBride family or the wider public; and calls upon the Government to re-examine the papers in this case, to review its policy on the ethical and public relations implications of allowing convicted murderers to serve in Her Majesty's forces and, pending this, to order that these soldiers may never again be permitted to serve in Northern Ireland.
That this House welcomes the diligence of Observer journalists Gaby Hinsliff and Martin Bright in drawing public attention to the establishment of 'Operating Pre-empt' by the Humberside Police; notes that police officers have been asked to inform Special Branch of anyone of Irish origin, descent or background who is brought into custody, is subject to a routine street or driver check, is subject to a police enquiry for any reason, or is brought to the attention of the police by a member of the public for any reason, in particular when seeking accommodation; notes that the Race Relations (Amendment) Act requires powers to be used in a non-discriminatory way; notes there are an estimated four million people of Irish descent living in Britain; notes that the targeting of Irish in Britain will inevitably damage efforts to prevent terrorist actions, is liable to create further miscarriages of justice against Irish people and will undermine progress made in strengthening confidence of the Irish community and Anglo-Irish relations in general; welcomes the response of the Humberside Chief Constable to instruct officers that nationality will never be used as a suspicion alone; and calls upon the Government to press for this clarification to be circulated to police officers throughout the United
That this House thanks the staff of the Library for their assistance and courtesy in their dealings with honourable Members and their staff; acknowledges that the facilities of the Library allow honourable Members access to invaluable information; and further acknowledges that the e-library in Portcullis House is an excellent addition to the facilities provided by the Library to honourable Members and their staff.
That this House welcomes the Government's public consultation on proposals to allow drivers who treat their diabetes with insulin to be individually assessed for fitness to drive vans and other medium sized vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes (requiring a C1 licence); welcomes the Government's commitment to a research programme into driving and hypoglycaemia; further notes there is no substantive evidence to justify the continued ban on other Group II vehicles or its extension to volunteer minibus drivers; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to extend its good practice on individual medical assessment to all minibuses, LGVs and buses.
That this House welcomes the new 'Speaking Out' report compiled by Age Concern highlighting the failings of the NHS complaints system in relation to older people; calls on the Government to act on older people's concerns by reforming the system to ensure that the health service learns from its mistakes, that the system is made more accessible, that there will be no recriminations against those who complain and that complainants have access to independent support; and urges the Government to acknowledge that if it develops a complaints system which respects and acts on the views of older people, it will help to build a health service which is better for all.
That this House welcomes the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the publication of 'Paying for Peace Not War - Is it a Human Right?'; notes that since 1916 there has always been the principle of exemption from military service when conscription has been in force; notes that people are no longer conscripted to take part directly in military activity but that all taxpayers are required to financially support the use of weapons; supports the principle od conscientious objection as a basic human right; and calls upon the Government to provide for the right to conscientious objection to taxation for military purposes by allowing all citizens who express such conscientious objection to direct a proportionate part of their taxes into a statutory peacebuilding fund.
leave out from 'House' to end and add 'notes that the TGWU have not formally supported the acquisition of Bass Brewers by the Belgian company Interbrew, owners of Whitbread, because, whilst some employees in those two companies may benefit in the short term, 37 per cent. of the brewing industry in the United Kingdom as a whole will be controlled by one company, resulting in reduction of choice for consumers and the overall loss of brewing and distribution jobs.'.