2,503 ingested motions from United Kingdom. Year filters use the introduced date shown on each card. Walk years back as far as this source still publishes.
That this House warmly welcomes the support for free long-term nursing home care for the elderly expressed by the Secretary of State for Health following his speech to the Royal College of Nursing Congress in Bournemouth on 5th April; notes that this is in line with the recommendations of the Royal Commission Report on Long Term Care, With Respect to Old Age, published in March 1999; asks the Secretary of State to make a formal statement to the House at the earliest opportunity; and urges the Government to bring forward legislation as soon as possible, abolishing means-tested charges for elderly, nursing and residential home care and lifting the burden from all those elderly citizens who are in, or soon to enter, long-term care.
That this House calls on the honourable Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch not to practise in public his vituperation about the remaining supporters of the honourable Member for Brent East, shown in his proposed Motion (Conduct of the honourable Member for Brent East).
That this House expresses its sincere condolences to the families of Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, the two Leeds United supporters who lost their lives on 5th April in Istanbul where they had travelled to watch the Galatasaray-Leeds United UEFA Cuf Final semi-final; urges the Turkish authorities to do all in their power to bring those responsible to justice; and calls for a review of the safety of football supporters attending European matches
That this House is gravely concerned about the impending famine in Ethiopia which has been caused by successive rain failures and climatic change; recognises the significant efforts made by the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia since the overthrow of the Derg regime in 1991 to invest in development initiatives and to provide an early warning system to alert the international community to drought and food shortages; notes that the Ethiopian Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission has been warning about drought and food shortages for the past four past four years and as recently as January 2000; regrets that the response by the international community to calls for aid to avert the current crisis have not been quick enough; and calls on the Government to increase the amount of aid being delivered to Ethiopia with immediate effect, and to urge other European Union governments to do the same.
That this House welcomes the decision of the Metropolitan Police to re-test and where needed provide additional training to all drivers; notes the worryingly frequent occurrence of collisions involving police vehicles nationwide; and urges other police forces to follow the Metropolitan example.
That this House welcomes the Home Office's clarification that applications for city status from a number of English towns are still being actively considered; and believes that Reading, which has been a settlement on the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet at least since Saxon times, which has the great Reading Abbey, where Parliament has sat and where both King Henry I and the hand of St.James are buried, where musical notation was invented by the monks of the Abbey, where one of the great battles of the English Civil War was fought at the Forbury Mound, whose stature has grown over the centuries and whose prosperity gave rise to the building of the Waterhouse Town Hall, which is noted for its fine patterned brickwork and for its pre-eminence in the 'three Bs' industries of beer, biscuits and bulbs, which is the site for the first iron-framed building in Europe at Caversham Park, now the home of BBC Monitoring, whose first-class transport links and location at the heart of the Thames Valley have continued to attract cutting-edge companies such as Microsoft, Prudential, J.D. Edwards and others in the IT, financial services and high-quality manufacturing industries, which is noted in the arts for its associations with Jane Austen, Alma Cogan, Marianne Faithfull and especially its least willing inhabitant Oscar Wilde and as the crucible for Britain's finest acting talent as the hometown of both Kenneth Branagh and Kate Winslet, and also as the home of the WOMAD and Reading music festivals, and which is home to one of the United Kingdom's premier universities and to the South of England's supreme shopping and leisure experience at the Oracle Centre, presents a compelling case for the award of city status.
That this House congratulates the Italian MEP Vittorio Sgarchi, the French Catholic priest and filmmaker Jean-Marie Benjamin, the Secretary-General of the Deato Angelico Foundation and two colleagues on breaking the air embargo on Iraq on 3rd April, an embargo which is increasingly seen as immoral, illegal and ineffective; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to begin direct negotiations with the Government of Iraq to agree the simultaneous suspension of sanctions and the re-entry of an agreed genuinely UN team of weapons inspectors into Iraq.
That this House notes that the Prime Minister stated before the 1997 General Election that he did not want to live in a country where pensioners are forced to sell their homes to pay for their care; is concerned that over a year has passed since the Royal Commission on Long Term Care reported; regrets that many thousands of people have had to sell their homes; and calls on the Government to reform the funding of long-term care during the life of the current Parliament by making nursing and personal care free on the basis of accessed need.
That this House notes that the 25p age addition to the basic state pension at 80 was introduced in 1971 and has been frozen at 25p ever since; further notes that it would be worth ú3.70 if it had been uprated in line with earnings; and calls on the Government to immediately uprate the aged addition as a cost effective way of directing extra help to the poorest of our pensioners.
That this House welcomes the Home Office's clarification that applications for city status from a number of English towns, including Shrewsbury, are still being actively considered and that no final decisions have yet been made; believes that Shrewsbury, as the county town of Shropshire, has a distinguished history, including nearby Wroxeter which was the fourth largest Roman city in Britain, the Wenlock Abbey Charter of 901 AD, which referred to the city of Shrewsbury; remembers the establishment of Shrewsbury Abbey in 1083 and Shrewsbury Castle in 1086; notes that the Edward I Parliament met in Shrewsbury in 1283 and was the first to include the Commons, and that the Great Parliament met in Shrewsbury Abbey in 1398; appreciates that Shrewsbury's stature grew through the wool trade in the medieval era which created the wonderful stone Old Market Hall and many timber-framed Tudor houses; welcomes the proposals to renovate the world's first multi-storey, iron-framed building at the Flax Mill in 1796; remembers the associations between the town and Charles Darwin, Clive of India, Disraeli, Mary Webb, Lord Hill, Brother Cadfael and Wilfred Owen; recognises that Shrewsbury is developing a strong, vibrant economy with low unemployment, rising skills and standards in quality schools and colleges, first class transport links, investment in technology, a new Shrewsbury Learning Centre and Shrewsbury Business Park, and is surrounded by stunning Shropshire countryside, ensuring that the Town of Flowers with its warm, friendly people has an excellent future; and believes Shrewsbury presents an outstanding case for city status.
That this House welcomes the proposal by GNER within its new franchise submission to withdraw charges for the carriage of bicycles from January 2001; and calls on other train operators to adopt a similar policy at the earliest practical date.
That this House wishes to reverse the 'arms race' of national campaign spending between the major parties who spent roughly between ú26 million and ú28 million in the 1997 election campaign; notes the comment of the former general secretary of the Labour Party, Lord Sawyer, that in order to raise that kind of money he 'had to seek donations of up to ú1 million'; fears the limit of ú20 million proposed by the Neill Committee will be too high to end the parties' dependence on millionaire funding; and prefers a limit of ú15 million.
That this House welcomes the announcement of the new policy position on HFC emissions in the recently published Climate Change: Draft UK Programme which states that: 'HFCs are not a sustainable technology in the long term', that 'action should be taken to limit the projected growth', and which supports the 'use of alternative substances with either no, or a lower, global warming potential such as hydrocarbons or ammonia'; welcomes the potential this offers for reducing HFC emissions from refrigeration and air-conditioning; and calls upon the Government for the earliest possible introduction of measures to encourage businesses to invest in alternatives to HFCs with low global warming potentials.
That this House congratulates Yoshiromori upon becoming Prime Minister of Japan; believes the new Prime Minister will help develop friendship between Japan and Britain; recalls that he led the Japanese Parliamentary Rugby Team in a game in Tokyo against the Commons and Lords Rugby Club on National Sport Day in 1998, recalls that he scored a try on that occasion; and hopes that he will soon visit Britain, bringing with him the Japanese Parliamentary Rugby Team for a return match.
That this House notes that Standard Chartered Bank is one of the UK's leading international banks employing over 27,000 in 580 offices in over 50 countries with annual profits last year in excess of ú500 million; understands that in 1997 Standard Chartered Bank dismissed 365 employees in Zimbabwe following a strike by members of the Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers Union in protest against the unilateral imposition of a new performance-related bonus scheme; acknowledges that the International Labour Organisation determined that the employees should be reinstated with full benefits; acknowledges that Zimbabwe does not recognise the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association and that therefore the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe could not instruct Standard Chartered Bank to re-instate the dismissed staff, now numbering 242; welcomes the fact that the Zimbabwean National Employment Council, and thereafter the Labour Relations Tribunal, ruled in favour of the dismissed staff; deplores the fact that, rather than honouring the spirit of these rulings, Standard Chartered Bank has appealed, once again, to the Zimbabwean Supreme Court; urges Standard Chartered Bank to exercise community responsibility and, rather than hide behind Zimbabwe's failure to ratify the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association, finally and immediately to resolve this dispute through renewing negotiation with the relevant trade union; and calls on the Government to discuss at the next available opportunity the need for Zimbabwe to recognise the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association.
That this House notes with concern the delays experienced by the victims of last Christmas's flooding in receiving insurance payments for essential household items; further notes that there are many people in the worst affected areas, such as Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, who have either had insurance cover refused or cannot afford to pay the now elevated premiums for cover against future flood damage; and calls upon the insurance industry to ensure that all claims outstanding from last Christmas's floods are paid as a matter of urgency, and that the full cost to insurers is made known to the Environment Agency so that they can include it in their cost/benefits analysis for flood prevention schemes.
That this House notes that the United States plans to develop a National Missile Defence system and that President Clinton is due to make a decision about further developments this summer; is concerned that the United States has asked Russia to amend the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which is widely considered to be the cornerstone of international arms control; believes that the deployment of a NMD system could destabilise international relations and result in further vertical and horizontal proliferation; is worried that Britain will collaborate with the United States on NMD through Menwith Hill and RAF Fylingdales in Yorkshire; and calls on the Government to initiate a debate on the advisability of Britain's involvement in these potential and destabilising developments.
That this House urges the Government to consider urgently the Third Report of the Environmental Transport and Regional Affairs Committee on the proposed public-private partnership for National Air Traffic Services Limited and to publish its response to the report before the Transport Bill returns from Committee to the House for its Report Stage and Third Reading debates.
That this House is concerned by the Audit Commission's report, Fully Equipped, showing long waits for disability equipment, which is often outdated, uncomfortable and unusable; notes the Commission's comment that the current system robs disabled people of their dignity and independence and is a recipe for inequality and inefficiency; regrets the inevitable impact of the inferior service on disabled people's quality of life and on welfare to work and social inclusion; and calls upon the Government to increase funding, set national standards to end variations in provision according to postcode and establish a timescale for tangible improvements to the service.
That this House welcomes The Sun newspaper's donor card campaign, which highlights for fact that 4,000 patients are in need of transplants each year; notes that, whilst 18 million donor cards are in circulation, only 12 million people carry them; urges The Sun's 10 million readers to carry donor cards and register their support with the NHS Organ Donor Register; and supports the Government in its aim of increasing the number of people carrying donor cards and reducing the transplant waiting lists.
That this House is concerned that the UK will fail to meet its 2001 recycling targets set under the European Packaging Directive; notes that there is a lack of investment in additional infrastructure for the collected and sorting of packaging waste; and urges that the environmental agencies' reviews of the compliance plans of obligated schemes and companies require them to demonstrate that they are investing in new collection and sorting schemes, such as a Pink Bag scheme, which can assist in reducing the amount of landfill material and help local authorities to achieve their recycling targets at no additional costs.
That this House condemns the honourable Member for Brent East for mistaking political dubiety, financial deceit and seedy opportunism for radicalism; therefore condemns Tracy Emin, Damien Hurst, Anthony Gormley, the Chapman brothers and Mona Hatouum for supporting him; and regrets that these publicity-seeking, trendy, gullible chumps, toytown radicals and sadly impoverished dissidents amongst artists are indifferent to the notion of just causes.
That this House welcomes the Government's proposals to enhance the Energy Efficiency Standards of Performance Scheme, which was originally introduced by the last Government with cross-party support; welcomes the cost savings and benefits in health and comfort delivered by energy efficiency programmes run by the electricity utility companies under the scheme over the last six years; congratulates the companies on this success and welcomes the Energy Regulator's decision to extend the next Standard to help gas consumers also; and believes that this scheme, that provides increased help to low-income and disadvantaged consumers, addressed fuel poverty and combats climate change, is worthy of continued cross-party support.
That this House notes with alarm the United Nations Report which predicts tigers in India will be wiped out in five years with the tiger population now under 3,000 due to the activities of the organised criminal gangs poaching thousands of big cats; welcomes the Government's proposal to recommend the immediate creation of a central wildlife criminal investigation unit in India; and calls on the Government to do all it can to stop the slaughter of tigers, whales, elephants and turtles in order to preserve these magnificent animals.
after 'divides' insert 'also believes that the participation of over 18,000 schools in JC 2000, the Millennium Arts Festival for Schools and its creation of over 1,000 local and 12 regional and national schowcases for pupils' work of very high quality leading to the UK Festival at the Royal Albert Hall on June 23rd, reinforces this message;'
That this House congratulates Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in her centennial year; values her outstanding 64 years of public service; and calls upon the Government to recognise the gratitude of the nation by declaring a public holiday on the Monday following the anniversary of her birth.
That this House congratulates England on winning the first Six Nations Rugby Union Championship; and wishes all associated with English rugby further success in the years ahead.
That this House expresses grave concern at the conduct of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, the Right honourable Member for North Tyneside, in his failing to make public the full exchange of information between his Department and Rover/BMW since June 1999; considers it an affront to the House of Commons that on Thursday 30th March 2000 journalists and not the House were given a full briefing on the matter; notes that newspaper reports subsequently have alleged that details were either doctored or omitted; and calls upon the Secretary of State to deposit immediately all such letters, minutes and records in the Library so as to allow honourable Members the opportunity to study them in advance of the Trade and Industry Select Committee meeting on Wednesday 5th April 2000.
That this House regrets that an estimated 200 people die each year awaiting life-saving organ transplants while fewer than one third of those willing to allow their organs to be used carry donor cards; notes that where potential donors have not indicated consent in advance, relatives have to guess their views at a time of maximum of stress, and that in many cases organs are wasted when the deceased would not have objected to their use to save lives; recommends the establishment of a register of those refusing consent to the use of their organs and then to assume consent in adults not on the register unless relatives object; and welcomes the Organ Transplants (Presumed Consent) Bill to be introduced on 11th April.
That this House notes with concern that the UN's Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson, was apparently denied permission by the Russians to visit several villages and a detention centre to investigate allegations of serious human rights abuses by Russian soldiers; is alarmed that, according to Amnesty International, the abuses against Chechen civilians have not stopped and that arbitrary arrest, torture, ill-treatment and deaths in detention are still occurring; is deeply disturbed at reports that detainees in secret filtration camps are routinely and systematically tortured, then are raped, beaten with hammers and clubs, tortured with electric shocks and tear gas, have teeth sawn off and are beaten around the ears to burst their ear-drums; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to insist that the Russian authorities address international demands to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in Chechnya forthwith.
That this House notes that Thorley Taverns have won The Publican newspaper's prestigious award of Multiple Operator of the Year; congratulates the management and staff on their well deserved recognition; is grateful for the major contribution that Thorley Taverns and its Managing Director, Mr Frank Thorley, make to the regeneration of Thanet and the wider economy of East Kent; believes that the high standards of all Thorley Tavern businesses, the hard work of their staff, the quality of their goods and services and the friendly welcome they offer to their customers fully justifies this award; and hopes this recognition will make their business more widely known and be a further stimulus to tourism in East Kent.
That this House congratulates the Welsh Football Association on issuing tickets for the international game at the Millennium Stadium on Wednesday 29th March at £5 and £3; notes the family atmosphere at the game with many parents and children attending the match; further notes that there were no arrests before or after the game; and calls on other football associations to follow the lead of the Welsh FA in providing affordable tickets at international matches which will promote a greater interest in our national sport, and lead to a greater family presence at football matches.
That this House, recalling the NATO strategy of April 1999, considers the use of nuclear weapons to be an extremely remote possibility; and believes that the reduction and elimination of any threat is a far better strategy than investing in the doubtful effectiveness of missile defences, which would, by their nature, undermine progress on arms control and international stability.
That this House believes that multilateral nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament measures are fundamental to international security; notes with concern events in India, Iraq, Pakistan, and North Korea; is deeply concerned at the lack of political will being invested by the United States as leader of the Western alliance in the START process, the nuclear CTBT, the Anti-Ballistic Misile Treaty and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; recalls the United Kingdom's legal commitment under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to negotiate the elimination of its own nuclear weapons in a multi-lateral context; and urges the Government to seek the agreement of the United States, in advance of next months NPT conference which it is hoped the Prime Minister will attend, that it is now time to begin the lengthy process of negotiating a verifiable and enforceable global ban on nuclear weapons.
That this House, in support of an effective defence of the United Kingdom, welcomes appropriate American leadership of NATO, but is concerned that the United States is considering abandoning the strategy of mutual deterrence in favour of combining offensive and defensive missiles, thereby creating a recipe for a new arms race (China-Russia); and urges the Government to state clearly that no British bases may be used by the United States for purposes of missile defences outside the context of the ABM Treaty.
That this House notes that £3.3 billion of taxpayers' money has been spent on the Jubilee Line extension to the London Underground; believes that public transport facilities should be accessible to all members of society; deplores the fact that, since its re-opening, the District, Circle and Jubilee line platforms at Westminster Underground Station have not been accessible to those disabled people travelling by public transport who wish to meet honourable Members and Ministers; and calls on the Government to ensure that the lifts at Westminster Underground Station are brought into service as a matter of urgency.
That this House congratulates the Peterborough Reading Buddy Scheme, established by the Kids at Christmas 1999 Appeal in Peterborough, on its success; welcomes the work done by 102.7 Hereward FM in bringing together a partnership of Peterborough City Council, Greater Peterborough Chamber, the Peterborough Evening Telegraph and the charity, Business in the Community; commends the 17 Peterborough companies and their staff that have committed to send reading teams into local primary schools to help raise literacy levels; further commends the many residents of Peterborough who have together donated over 3,5000 books to the scheme; and wishes the scheme and all its partners every success in the year ahead.
That this House supports the efforts of the Post Office Union, CWU, to retain a continuing role for the UK's eight international mail centres known as Dover, London Mount Pleasant, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Birmingham Z, Reading and Belfast; deplores the decision of the Post Office Board to centralise all international mail operations to a single new centre in Langley; condemns the Board's failure to accept alternative proposals made by the workforce and the many representations made by honourable Members; and insists that the Post Office honours its promise to make no compulsory redundancies.
That this House, noting the innumerable lives scarred by physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse, welcomes the launch of the Welsh Trust for Prevention of Abuse at a reception in the House of Lords on Tuesday 4th April; endorses the aims of the trust to prevent paedophiles infiltrating the child care system by a strong and reliable vetting procedure, to protect children from sexual and physical abuse, to include within its remit protection for the elderly and those with learning disabilities, and to liaising closely with the churches in Wales, the police, the Missing Person's Bureau and many voluntary and statutory care providers; further notes that the trust will work to secure the implementations of the recommendations of the Waterhouse Report; and extends to all those involved in this laudable project its very best wishes for every possible future success.
That this House expresses concern that more than ú1.7 billion of benefits for retirement pensioners is unclaimed every year; welcomes the launch of the Government's TV and target letter campaign, aimed at getting pensioners who qualify for the minimum income guarantee to take up their entitlement; and notes the positive approach to this issue by Age Concern in Bolton and congratulates them for launching Your Rights Week commencing 7th April, which will provide information about benefits and the minimum income guarantee and urge pensioners to take up benefits that they qualify for.
That this House notes that under the provisions of Statutory Instrument No. 704 of 2000 among those items and expenses not to be treated as essential living needs of asylum-seekers are toys and other recreational items; notes that Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child recognises the right of the child to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child; notes also that many children's organisations are now collecting toys to be given to the children of asylum-seekers; and urges all honourable Members to support the collections and themselves to donate a toy.
That this House welcomes the successful nurse recruitment campaign, begun last year and which has already led to an increase of 4,500 nurses in the NHS; recognises however that, if the NHS is to become the world's greatest health service, up to 16,000 more nurses need to be urgently recruited by the NHS; notes that until 1989 student nurses were paid a salary which at today's prices would be ú10,000 per annum in acknowledgement that they also worked, often putting in a 38-hour week on the ward in addition to their time studying; further notes that after 1998 a confusing three tier system has developed whereby some student nurses are seconded by their NHS employer and continue to receive their salary but the majority either receive a Department of Health bursary of ú4,000 or a means-tested student loan; understands that whatever their income source or amount, student nurses still have to work, as well as learn, for a total of 4,600 hours over three years; is extremely concerned that up to 25 per cent. of student nurses drop out, many due to financial hardship, exacerbated by a sense of unfairness at an income that does not respect their commitment; and calls on the Government to review the current confused and inefficient system of income for student nurses with urgent consideration given to returning all student nurses to employee status in order to improve recruitment and retention rates, boost morale and promote fairness as well as equality of opportunity within the NHS.
That this House recognises the role of the Investors in People standard in helping businesses and organisations develop through the effective performance of their staff; congratulates the 15,000 organisations nationally which are recognised as Investors in People; and warmly congratulates the honourable Member for Carshalton and Wallington on becoming the first member of this House to receive the Investor in People accreditation for his constituency office.
That this House is concerned about the acquisition of United Biscuits plc. by the Finalrealm consortium, which would lead to a dangerous concentration of ownership in the UK biscuit market with Finalrealm controlling 60 per cent; notes that partners in this consortium include Danone, which dominates the French biscuit market and owns British-based Jacobs, and also Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, an American leveraged buy-out firm which already owns Hillsdown Holdings and its subsidiary Horizon Biscuits; notes that the resultant rationalisation would lead to the loss of 3,000 manufacturing jobs; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government urgently to examine this acquisition through the Department of Trade and Industry and appropriate UK competition authorities.