40 ingested motions from United Kingdom introduced in 2007. Year filters use the introduced date shown on each card. Walk years back as far as this source still publishes.
That this House commends the Steer Clear campaign, which encourages all seasonal revellers either to leave their car at home or to appoint a designated driver; furthermore congratulates the Portsmouth News for promoting the campaign, and the 35 pubs that have already signed up, promising to offer a soft drink to the designated driver in a group of three or more; encourages the setting up of these initiatives countrywide; and expresses the hope that schemes of this kind will be successful in reducing the level of drink-driving and drink-related road accidents.
That this House is deeply concerned that hundreds of racecourse bookmakers across the UK will be financially ruined if racecourses refuse to recognise on-course bookmakers' list positions, as has been unintentionally facilitated by the Gambling Act 2005; notes that over £90 million has been spent by on-course bookmakers for their list positions since the introduction of the trading system in 1998; recognises that many bookmakers are small family-run affairs and rely on the equity ownership of these racecourse list positions to provide them with retirement security for themselves and their families; calls upon the Racecourse Association to reconsider its stated position that list positions will have no value in future and that it cannot in any way accept the arguments about security of tenure; and failing that, calls upon the Government to review the Gambling Act 2005 and consider necessary amendments to bring an end to the dispute between the Racecourse Association and Federation of Racecourse Bookmakers and its members in order to secure the livelihoods and assets purchased by those affected.
That this House condemns Arts Council England's proposed budget cuts that threaten the continued existence of the Northcott Theatre, Exeter; notes that the Northcott is the only producing theatre between Plymouth and Bristol and something of an oasis in an already under-provisioned and under-funded part of the United Kingdom where arts and culture are concerned; and therefore calls on Arts Council England to commission a study into the impact of such a draconian cut to arts provision in the far South West of England to test whether it is consistent with the Council's aim `to get more art to more people in more places'.
That this House notes that it is nearly 10 years since the Football Task Force Report was published with recommendations on improving facilities at football stadia allowing disabled fans a parity of access and enjoyment at football games in this country; notes that since then, a number of clubs across the leagues have made significant improvements and their disabled fans now enjoy better facilities; regrets that there is still a considerable deficit in facilities and services for disabled supporters at most professional league clubs; and calls on all football clubs to measure their disabled supporter facilities against the Accessible Stadia Guide and Football Task Force recommendations and make a commitment to reach an equality of supporter experience for all football fans as set out in the National Association of Disabled Supporters Blueprint.
That this House notes the increasing engagement of the People's Republic of China in sub-Saharan Africa; warmly welcomes responsible Chinese developmental, commercial and diplomatic involvement; calls on the Government to encourage the Chinese government to ensure its activities, and the activities of Chinese enterprises and organisations, fully reflect the need for transparency, good governance, democratic accountability, corporate responsibility, and environmental protection; and further calls on the Government to engage systematically with China on these issues and to encourage other nations to do so and to work together to ensure international standards for bilateral aid, government-supported commercial agreements and similar projects are developed and respected.
That this House congratulates the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) on its achievements since its commencement in 2005 in enabling its 9,500 industry members to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by 1.8 million tonnes, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2 million tonnes, reduce industrial water use by over 2.5 million tonnes, together with a saving of over 5.4 million tonnes in the use of virgin raw material, delivering not only environmental savings but also generating additional industry sales of more than £99 million and a net fiscal impact of over £10.3 million; is aware that resource recovery and reuse requires substantially less carbon than the use of virgin materials; notes that NISP has gained European exemplar eco-innovation status and that NISP is now working with developing economies, including China and Mexico, to deliver real benefits in resource efficiency; and recognises that NISP is strongly positioned to support many of the recommendations in the recent CEMEP report on environmental markets and has the ability to deliver 5 per cent. of the UK's Kyoto Protocol commitment for carbon reduction by 2011.
That this House joins the people of the Falkland Islands in marking Battle Day, commemorating those who lost their lives on 8th December 1914, in what was the second major naval engagement of the First World War, when a small British fleet destroyed the infamous German South Atlantic Squadron; notes that following the war, 8th December became known as Battle Day and was established in the Falkland Islands as a national holiday, a day to be commemorated with reverence and an occasion to be enjoyed as a celebration of freedom and liberation; notes with pride that in this year, the 25th anniversary of the liberation of the Falkland Islands by the elite forces of Her Majesty, Lady Thatcher laid a wreath honouring those who fought; reaffirms the continued support of the people of the United Kingdom in maintaining the Islands as a self-governing British Overseas Territory; and looks forward to seeing the Union flag continuing to fly over the Falkland Islands for evermore.
That this House recognises that there is currently insufficient information available to analyse outcomes for school pupils with special educational needs; welcomes the Special Education Needs (Information) Private Members' Bill which aims to improve the provision and publication of such information by amending the Education Act 1996 to ensure that the efficiency of schools in delivering positive outcomes for pupils with special educational needs is recorded and published annually; and believes that this would enable parents to make informed choices about their children's education as well as a more informed assessment of which special educational needs policies are achieving the best results, thus building a case for identifying and introducing best practice.
That this House notes the popular support the X Factor contestant Rhydian Roberts has in Wales and across the UK; is concerned to hear reports that members of the public were unable to get through on the telephone voting system to vote for Rhydian; notes the growing Rhydian was Robbed campaign; wishes both Rhydian and Leon Jackson every success in their future careers; is aware that Ofcom have launched an investigation after receiving over 1,000 complaints from viewers; and calls on television companies producing talent shows to ensure that every vote counts.
That this House notes the expressed desire of the rt. hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath to build a shared national consensus for a programme of constitutional reform; believes that a participative process for achieving that consensus and involving citizens more directly in democratic decision-making is required as a matter of urgency; and therefore supports the Citizens' Convention Bill, sponsored by a cross-party group of hon. Members, which would require the establishment of that process.
That this House congratulates the Farmers' Guardian, Country Living Magazine and Waitrose on their successful campaign, Fair Trade for British Farming, and for the efforts of the campaign to promote a fair and sustainable price for the high quality food produced by British farmers; notes that most British consumers wrongly believe that the principles of fair trade are applied to British agriculture; acknowledges that over the last 10 years British farmers' income has fallen whilst that of major retailers has increased; recognises the important contribution British farming makes to the food supply, protecting the countryside, rural employment and combating climate change; further notes the recent Office of Fair Trading probe that uncovered price fixing by supermarkets; and calls on the Government to ensure that the Supermarket Code has real teeth and that a supermarket ombudsman is introduced.
That this House notes the findings of the International Atomic Energy Agency-Iran work plan of 27th August and the IAEA's report of 15th November clarifying and clearing a number of major outstanding issues in relation to Iran's past nuclear activities; notes the judgement of the recent US National Intelligence Estimate that Iran does not have an active nuclear weapons programme at present; is strongly concerned about the continued threats of a military attack against Iran which could start another catastrophic war in the Middle East; urges immediate, direct and unconditional negotiations between the US and Iran on all points of dispute; and calls on the Government to oppose publicly any military intervention by the US and/or Israel in Iran.
That this House notes the financial pledges of around £7.4 billion from 90 countries to be made to Palestine in the follow-up to the formal re-launch of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations last month in Annapolis; notes with considerable alarm Israel's overnight extrajudicial killings of 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in a series of air attacks, bringing the number of extrajudicial killing operations launched since September 2000 to at least 256, killing at least 612 Palestinians; and calls upon the Government to apply what pressure it can to ensure Israel ceases these extrajudicial killings which have become symbolic of its disregard for international law in Articles 6 and 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
That this House recognises that the South Pennines is a landscape of national importance for its wildlife, its industrial heritage and for the benefit it brings to the wellbeing of those living in it and within the three city regions that surround it; notes that it is a cross regional asset of immeasurable importance under continuous pressure; and acknowledges the essential role of Pennine Prospects in facilitating joint working across the two regions to protect, enhance and raise the profile of this vital, upland landscape.
at end add `however this House also recognises that in the three years before the Smart meter roll out commences real time displays can provide millions of tonnes of early carbon savings by instigating energy saving behavioural change as envisaged in the May 2007 Energy White Paper.'.
leave out from `Corporation' to second `and' in line 7 and insert `believes that staff cuts should start at the top where the financial savings would be most significant and impact on services least significantly;'.
That this House disapproves of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's ruling that Alzheimer's drug treatments should only be prescribed for those in the moderate stages of the disease; notes that this ruling means that the NHS can refuse drug treatments to those in the early and later stages of the disease in England and Wales; further notes that such treatment has proved clinically effective in stabilising the symptoms of Alzheimer's and allowing the individual to retain their independence; recognises the benefits of early treatment of the disease, particularly in reducing the demands on carers; and calls on the Government to ensure that all those suffering from Alzheimer's disease are able to receive drug treatment on the NHS.
That this House congratulates Joe Calzaghe on winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2007; notes the terrific contribution he has made to Welsh sport and to boxing as World Champion over the past 10 years; also congratulates Enzo Calzaghe for winning Coach of the Year and for his contribution to boxing; and wishes the Calzaghe camp every success for 2008.
That this House condemns the decision by the Video Appeals Committee to overturn the ban on the sale of the video game Manhunt 2; notes that the predecessor to this game, Manhunt, was linked to the death of Leicester school boy Stefan Pakeerah; congratulates the Culture, Media and Sports Committee on its inquiry into the effects of video games; and calls on the British Board of Film Classification to seek a judicial review of the Video Appeals Committee's decision.
That this House supports the excellent work done by the Boyhood to Manhood Foundation; notes that the Home Affairs Committee commended the work that the Foundation has done in reaching out to educationally and socially excluded black boys of African and Afro-Caribbean descent in London; is concerned that, due to the expansion of the Foundation, it is now experiencing funding difficulties; and calls upon the Home Office to provide regular funding to allow the Foundation to remain operational.
That this House notes the statement made by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills, the hon. Member for Gloucester, in March that only 32.9 per cent. of deaf pupils in England achieved five GCSEs at grades A* to C, compared with 57.1 per cent. of all children, an attainment gap of more than 24 percentage points; expresses its concern that many deaf children are under-achieving; further notes that, as deafness is not a learning disability, there is no reason why deaf children should not achieve at the same rate as their hearing peers of similar cognitive abilities; welcomes the decisions by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to begin publishing attainment data for children with special educational needs, broken down by type of special eduactional need and local authority area, and to initiate a research project on the wide variations between local authority areas in meeting special educational needs; regrets that the Government chose not to include the attainment of deaf and disabled children in the set of national public service agreement priority indicators or to make it a statutory performance indicator within the local government national indicator set for 2008 to 2011, thereby missing an opportunity to make tackling under-achievement by deaf children a central and local government priority; and calls on the Government to commit to closing the attainment gap between deaf children and their hearing peers and to reverse the decision not to include educational attainment of deaf children as part of the national public service agreement priority indicators for 2008 to 2011.
That this House notes that the Climate Change Bill does not incorporate targets for the contributions that various sectors and technologies should make to the achievement of the UK's emissions reductions; believes in the effectiveness of such sectoral targets in order to prevent each sector passing the responsibility for reducing emissions on to others; agrees with the conclusions in July 2007 of the Joint Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill that if carbon targets are to have any credibility, they must be based on a detailed analysis of the scope and potential for carbon reductions in specific sectors; agrees also with Professor Sir David King, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, who in his evidence to that Committee said, `each sector needs to know where it is expected to go to justify private investment funds going into these sectors'; and therefore supports the Climate Change (Sectoral Targets) Bill, sponsored by a cross-party group of hon. Members, which requires the Secretary of State both to set initial targets in line with existing Government policy for emissions reductions in the commercial, residential and public sectors as well as targets for renewable energy and combined heat and power and also to set further longer term targets in these and other sectors in order to help achieve the Government's overall targets for reducing carbon emissions and meeting the UK's energy needs.
That this House welcomes the publication of the Alzheimer's Society report Home from Home which highlights large variations in the quality of care experienced by people with dementia in care homes; believes that good quality care improves quality of life for individuals living in care homes; notes that 420,000 people live in care homes in the UK and two thirds of care home residents have dementia; further notes that the primary function of care homes is now caring for people with dementia, many of whom will have complex needs; further notes that Government policy in recent years has focused on supporting people in their own homes; further believes that it is important that Government policy also considers the needs of the care home population; further notes that caring for residents with dementia is a highly skilled task; is concerned that only a minority of care home staff have adequate dementia training; believes the formation of the Commission for Quality Care should be used as an opportunity to ensure the new regulation and inspection systems focus on outcomes that matter to people with dementia, including access to outside space and activities; and urges the Government to ensure the National Dementia Strategy addresses the needs of the care home population.
That this House welcomes the progress that is being made by the Animals Asia Foundation towards bringing an end to the abhorent abuse of over 7,000 bears on farms in China; recognises that bear farmers and stakeholders in the industry continue to maintain that conditions on the farms are humane, whilst some evidence points to the contrary; notes that bears are kept for up to 22 years in cramped, rusting cages, with little room to stand up or turn around; further notes that bears continue to suffer in the most deplorable conditions, with metal catheters implanted deep into their gallbladders and infected fistula holes in their abdomens, enabling farmers to milk the bears for their bile twice daily; congratulates the Chinese government's work in partnership with Animals Asia Foundation in rescuing 218 bears from bear farms to date; and calls upon the British Government to do everything in its power to encourage the Chinese government to bring about an urgent end to this barbaric practice and to meet Chinese government officials in order to raise serious concerns at a national level.
That this House welcomes the Secretary of State's commitment in Lord Darzi's NHS next stage review - Interim report October 2007, to a comprehensive strategy for reducing health inequalities and making health care more personal; and urges the Secretary of State to consider the role of quality independent information, such as that from Developing Patient Partnerships, in educating all sectors of society about effective use of NHS services.
That this House expresses its concern about the European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment made on 11th December against the Finnish seafarers' right to take action on the grounds of employers' freedom of establishment; notes specifically that this ruling would allow Viking Line to ignore collective agreements made with Finnish unions, re-flag its vessels to Estonia and recruit local crews on lower rates of pay; notes that at the same time the ECJ recognised that the right to take industrial action is a `fundamental right of overriding public importance'; is further concerned that this contradictory judgment has profound longer term implications as courts and legislators may in future take the judgment as a licence to undermine industrial action and decide the legality of industrial action under EC law; considers that this judgment provides further evidence that the European Union is increasingly promoting a neo-liberal economic agenda which will further restrict and weaken trade union and worker rights; believes that this process will be strengthened with further integration of the European Union under the Lisbon Treaty; and therefore calls for a referendum on the Treaty as a matter of urgency.
That this House expresses its deep disappointment that once again during this festive season the UK's railways will undergo a 58 hour shutdown with no services whatsoever being provided on the overwhelming majority of lines; that in most areas there will be no buses running over a similar period; further notes that this is in stark contrast to the situation that prevails in the rest of Europe where regular services run throughout the Christmas holidays; applauds the efforts of Merseytravel, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authorities and Transport for London to run a decent level of bus services on Boxing Day and calls on other areas to follow suit; further notes that the closure of the rail and bus network leaves many people without access to transport to visit family or friends or attend sporting events; and calls on the Department for Transport, the Passenger Transport Authorities, the Association of Train Operating Companies and the Confederation of Passenger Transport to work together to ensure that from 2008 an adequate rail and bus service is provided on Boxing Day at least.
That this House notes with concern that VAT is currently charged on charity donations sent via text message; further notes that text messaging has proven to be one of the fastest growing areas in the communications sector; believes that text donations should receive the same zero rate as cash donations; recognises the significant financial benefits that this may have for the charities sector; further recognises the exceptional example of the Asian Tsunami text appeal which, exempted from VAT, raised over £1 million in three days; and calls upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer to assist charities by abolishing the VAT on text message donations.
That this House notes with concern the decision to deport Alhassan Bangura to Sierra Leone; expresses alarm that Mr Bangura is being forced to return to the country he fled at the age of 15, escaping witchcraft and threats to mutilate him; notes that this deportation affects not only Mr Bangura but his girlfriend and newly born child and ignores the valuable contribution he has made to his community through playing for Watford Football Club; further notes the overwhelming support from fans at the Championship football club where a rally in support of Mr Bangura was held on Saturday 15th December; welcomes the support of the honourable Member for Watford who has drafted a petition calling for Mr Bangura to remain in Britain; emphasises that this high-profile case is one among many facing the same grave situation; and calls upon the Home Secretary urgently to review the case of Mr Bangura and grant him indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
That this House welcomes Paul Coleman's walk from Hong Kong to Beijing to help to encourage China to host an environmentally-friendly Olympics in Beijing in 2008; supports his effort to raise awareness of these issues; welcomes the support of the Chinese Forestry Ministry for his walk; encourages and supports China's effort to develop sustainability; wishes for a successful Beijing Olympics; urges all concerned with the 2012 London Olympic games to ensure that they will be truly sustainable; and acknowledges that a green London Olympics will advance British environmental industries and technologies that will ultimately benefit the global environment.
That this House welcomes the progress made at the Vienna International Conference, the most recent stage in the Oslo process, launched in February 2007 with the aim of agreeing a new treaty banning cluster munitions; recognises that this process is, now, supported by 138 countries and has the full backing of the United Nations; applauds the position taken by the vast majority of these nations who support a comprehensive treaty banning all forms of cluster munitions; is concerned, however, that a number of countries that currently stockpile cluster bombs, including the United Kingdom, are seeking to water down the treaty by introducing an exemption for cluster munitions that have self-destruct mechanisms, such as the Israeli manufactured M85; points to the most recent evidence from Lebanon showing that the M85 self-destruct mechanism has a failure rate close to 10 per cent. rather than the 1 per cent. rate claimed by manufacturers; and therefore calls on the Government to work for a robust treaty that will ban all cluster bombs.
That this House welcomes the proposals for National Policy Statements (NPSs) contained in the Planning Bill; expresses concern however that existing policy documents such as the Air Transport White Paper may be designated as NPSs; considers that such documents were produced for a different purpose and before requirements under the strategic environmental assessment directive or the habitats directive; believes that this process would also afford those policy documents far greater status in the planning system than the public could reasonably have assumed at the time of the original consultation; and calls on the Government to ensure all NPSs are subjected to a full process of parliamentary and public consultation and scrutiny.
That this House welcomes the Government's stated intention to integrate planning policy with the crucial commitment to address climate change; notes that the Planning Bill imposes a duty on local authorities to produce policy that contributes to the mitigation of climate change; strongly believes that this duty should be strengthened and imposed on Ministers when drawing up National Policy Statements (NPSs) and on the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC); further considers that the Committee on Climate Change should be a statutory consultee in NPSs and Major Infrastructure Projects processes; and urges that mechanisms are put in place to monitor and report on the discharge of this duty.
That this House welcomes the Government's stated intention of improving public involvement in the Major Infrastructure Projects (MIPs) planning process; believes that the Planning Bill and the legitimacy of MIP decisions would be considerably strengthened if they retained the existing public right to appear at inquiries and meaningfully scrutinise proposals; considers that this right should also be extended to the public consultation process on National Policy Statements; regrets the value of pre-application public consultation by applicants as limited unless it is backed by a clearly defined and binding guidance and a requirement to report on issues raised during consultation and action taken on them; and calls on the Government to strengthen the provision for public involvement by ensuring impartial and transparent framework for consultation and by encouraging active measures to encourage participation.
That this House welcomes the Government's aim of streamlining the planning process in respect of Major Infrastructure Projects (MIPs); expresses serious concern, however, that whereas planning applications determined under the Town and Country Planning Act will retain a strong local democratic component with major projects requiring a Ministerial decision, the Planning Bill would put decisions on MIPs entirely in the hands of the proposed Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC); believes the proposed powers of the IPC as presently contained in the Planning Bill, including the ability to amend legislation, are inordinate and unprecedented; and calls on the Government to restore the Ministerial role in deciding major planning project applications, if necessary drawing on the advice of the IPC or any body ultimately identified for discharging such an advisory duty.
That this House notes that the City is expected to hand out £7.4 billion in bonuses this year; further notes that the International Monetary Fund has branded the City an onshore tax haven for its role in helping companies dodge tax, and that Britain has many offshore tax havens including Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man; believes that there is a strong case for a windfall tax on City bonuses; and calls on the Government to take steps to end the tax avoidance culture in Britain which, as War on Want has shown, mostly damages developing countries who lose out on £250 billion per year in lost tax revenue as a direct result of corporate tax avoidance.
That this House notes the Government's responsibility to implement the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent relevant Resolutions of the World Health Assembly (WHA) through national measures to protect breastfeeding and to ensure the safe use of breastmilk substitutes if these are necessary; regrets its failure to act on the advice of its own Scientific Committee on Nutrition, LACORS, the health professional bodies, and health advocates making up the Baby Feeding Law Group, through the proposed Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations, by failing to prohibit promotion of follow-on formula, health and nutrition claims and companies targeting parents or to require improved warnings and instructions to reduce risk of formula use; and urges the Government to bring the regulations into line with the International Code and WHA resolutions which call for such prohibition.
That this House notes with concern that the Chancellor's statement on the loss of data by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) failed to make reference to the impact of job cuts and budget cuts in HMRC, including the loss of 158 jobs in HMRC's Information Management Services in the last six months, cost cutting meaning that the Department may have been unable to afford the costs associated with filtering the child benefit data for the National Audit Office and the failure to ensure that the manual on protective security referred to by the Government is available to the majority of staff; and urges the Government to halt the job cuts, examine the role of the private sector and ensure that HMRC has the resources it needs to restore public trust.
That this House congratulates the Government on its announcement on the extension of the Financial Assistance Scheme, providing the just and final settlement for 140,000 people who lost their savings when their employers' pension schemes collapsed; and calls on all parties to co-operate to establish an effective mechanism as quickly as possible to get the money to the pensioners as soon as possible.
That this House welcomes the recent TNS/System Three poll which shows that support for Scottish independence has surged to 40 per cent., up from 35 per cent. within the last four months, while the number who oppose independence has fallen to 44 per cent. from 50 per cent.; notes that this strong improvement in polling support reflects the impressive record and ratings of the SNP Scottish Government; and highlights the success of the Scottish Government's National Conversation which is leading the constitutional debate on the future of Scotland.