Session 2013-14
House of Commons
18th October 2013
Notices of Motions for which no days have been fixed
('Early Day Motions')
The figure following this symbol is the number of Members who have added their names in support of the Motion, including the Member in charge of the Motion.
After an Early Day Motion (EDM) has been printed for the first time, it is only reprinted when names are added or amendments tabled; only the first six names and any names added since the last printing are included. After the week in which a Motion is first printed and the following week, added names and amendments appear only in a separate paper, Mature EDMs, distributed the next Thursday. In the meantime, they are available for inspection by Members in the Table Office and the Library or on the EDM database at edmi.parliament.uk
529 PROTECTION OF WORKERS SERVING THE PUBLIC 8:10:13
46That this House is appalled at levels of violence suffered by workers who deal with the public, as evidenced in the 2013 survey from the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, which showed that four per cent of shopworkers had been physically attacked in the previous 12 months and 35 per cent had been threatened with violence, and at the traumatising effects of these incidents for staff who have to face the continual possibility of attack or abuse throughout their working day as they are on the frontline of dealing with the public; is concerned at the paltry level of sentences meted out to offenders, often with a suspended sentence or with no custodial element; and calls on the Government to introduce a specific offence of assaulting a worker who is serving the public in order to ensure that victims of such violence are given the justice they deserve and to provide a deterrent.
552 APPRENTICESHIPS AND PUBLIC CONTRACTS 9:10:13
31That this House celebrates the value of apprenticeships in providing opportunities and developing skills; notes the need for more apprenticeship opportunities particularly for young people at a time when there are almost one million young people out of work; believes that government and public authorities are uniquely placed to use the leverage of the money they already spend on procurement to promote skills training and provide new apprenticeship opportunities and that this should be part of the procurement process; resolves therefore that suppliers winning public contracts worth over £1 million should be required to offer apprenticeship opportunities on public contracts; further notes that the Fifth Report from the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, Session 2012-13, on Apprenticeships has recommended this approach and estimates that at least one new apprenticeship place could be provided for every £1 million of procurement spend; further notes that this approach was successfully pursued by the previous Government; and further notes the widespread support for the Apprenticeships and Skills (Public Procurement Contracts) Bill introduced by the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish to promote apprenticeships.
557 SUPPORTING IRISH IMMIGRANTS 14:10:13
23That this House acknowledges that many of the Irish emigrants who came to the UK in the 1950s are now elderly and that some are facing isolation and poverty; believes that some Irish emigrants who came here are still among the most marginalised groups in society; thanks the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain (ICB) for supporting many vulnerable and isolated Irish emigrants in the UK, irrespective of beliefs and attitude to the Christian church; and further acknowledges the wide range of welfare services provided by ICB and other organisations including the Southwark Irish Pensioners Project which works with Irish older people, and other organisations which have worked with members of the Irish Traveller community and Irish prisoners for up to five decades.
563 HUMANITARIAN WORK IN MALAWI 14:10:13
16That this House congratulates the teams from Glasgow's City Building and Access who recently travelled to Malawi to deliver humanitarian aid; notes that the trip to Malawi is through the Lord Provost Office as sole organiser for City Building and Access; further notes that the City Building has won the Queen's Award for Enterprise Sustainable Development; further notes that the City Building team was made up of seven staff and two apprentices and the Access team, four staff, and that, in 12 days, they used their skills to refurbish a building that had been lying empty; further notes that 14 rooms were refurbished and the building was rewired and made accessible to all by the addition of a ramp; further notes that the team also built a small children's play area beside the building; considers that this was a challenging build and a difficult timeframe to meet but that the team rose to the challenge; further considers this is a great example of the work being done by many organisations from Glasgow and across the UK to assist around the world; and commends the City Building team of Scott McEwan, Paul Brown, Graham Robb, Martin Bredin, Simon Young, Chris Devlin, Lee Thomson, Lee Raeburn and Paul Carey and the Access team of Robert McPhee, Sammy Birnie, Maria Zon Quintas and Ashley Bickerstaff for their hard work in refurbishing this building, which, it considers, will have a lasting impact on the community.
568 NUCLEAR SUBSIDIES AND THE COALITION AGREEMENT 14:10:13
10That this House recalls the Coalition Agreement said that new nuclear power stations would be permitted 'provided that they receive no public subsidy'; believes that the present proposed deals guarantee a fixed subsidy for 40 years at double the current cost of electricity; further notes that any future cost escalation will be paid for from the public purse as a subsidy; further notes that the current nuclear waste clean-up costs being met by taxpayers add up to over £75 billion; further believes that any deal done with Chinese financiers to support the building of nuclear power plants will inevitably result in massive future liabilities to British taxpayers; and calls on the Coalition to honour its own agreement and cancel all subsidies.
569 BANGLADESH INTERNATIONAL CRIMES TRIBUNAL AND CASE OF ABDUL KADER MULLAH 15:10:13
14That this House is very concerned about the failure of the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), which despite its name is a domestic court, to uphold international fair trial standards; is particularly alarmed about the denial of due process rights in the case of Abdul Kader Mullah, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party convicted of war crimes, who has recently been sentenced to death with no possibility of the sentence being reviewed, in contravention of Bangladesh's international human rights obligations; notes also the criticisms raised in connection with the trial of the Bangladesh National Party MP, Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, who was recently convicted on charges including murder and genocide and sentenced to death, subject to an appeal; notes that, while holding perpetrators to account for the atrocities committed in the 1971 war of independence is important, the denial of due process in these trials threatens to undermine the very legitimacy of the ICT and result in further political instability and violence; and calls on the Government to raise these concerns as a matter of urgency with the government of Bangladesh and to urge it to end the possibility of the death penalty being handed down in these trials and allow legal experts from the international community to support the work of the ICT.
579 TYPE 2 DIABETES DIET AND EXERCISE STUDY 15:10:13
18That this House welcomes the news that British universities will partake in a wider study into the effect of different diet and amounts of exercise on diabetes; notes that this is the first study to compare types of diet and exercise and intends to find the right lifestyle to prevent Type 2 diabetes; recognises the importance of diet, exercise and lifestyle in the prevention and combating of Type 2 diabetes; hopes that the results of the study, due in three years, will produce a firm set of guidelines for sufferers and others; and urges the Government to help GPs and healthcare practitioners to offer regular diabetes tests and guidance for those at risk.