Session 2014-15
House of Commons
16th March 2015
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
695 SOCIAL SECURITY (S. I., 2014, No. 3270) 15:1:15
34That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I., 2014, No. 3270), dated 10 December 2014, a copy of which was laid before this House on 15 December, be annulled.
782 BETTING, GAMING AND LOTTERIES (S. I., 2015, No. 121) 10:2:15
52That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (S.I., 2015, No. 121), dated 2 February 2015, a copy of which was laid before this House on 4 February, be annulled.
851 FUNDING OF FURTHER EDUCATION COLLEGES 9:3:15
30That this House believes that further education colleges are central to improving the nation's skills; shares the concerns of those working and studying in further education regarding the recently announced 24 per cent cuts to non-apprenticeship adult education funding in England; recognises that this will have a devastating effect on the sector and will shut the door on those sections of the community that rely on adult education the most; and therefore urges the Government to rethink this spending reduction which could threaten the future prospects of hundreds of thousands of people across the country.
853 THE LATE LORD MOLYNEAUX OF KILLEAD KBE PC 9:3:15
11That this House notes with sadness the passing of Lord Molyneaux of Killead KBE PC who faithfully served the constituencies of South Antrim and Lagan Valley as a member of this House from 1970 to 1997 and was highly respected by colleagues across the political spectrum throughout his parliamentary career; praises the leadership that he provided in Northern Ireland during the dark and difficult years of the 'troubles' and the part he played with John Major and others in laying the foundations for the progress that has been made towards peace and stability; and expresses its heartfelt sympathy to his family circle.
854 STATE OF MEDIA FREEDOM IN TURKEY 9:3:15
20That this House is concerned about widespread reports of growing authoritarianism in Turkey, particularly illustrated by, but not restricted to, the state censorship and imprisonment of journalists in Turkey; notes the continued imprisonment since 14 December 2014 of Hidayet Karaca who is the chief executive of a Turkish television network of channels, and the arrest of 20 journalists in a series of dawn raids in Turkey in mid-December 2014, including Ekrem Dumanli, who is the editor-in-chief of Turkey's largest circulating newspaper and Sedef Kabas, who is a television presenter facing a prison sentence for posting a tweet about a corruption probe involving high-profile names, and most recently the arrest, charge and remand of investigative journalist Mehmet Baransu; welcomes the statement by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the EU Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations that the latest crackdown is against the European values and standards Turkey aspires to be part of; further notes the need for the Turkish authorities to remove travel bans imposed on journalists and to drop all criminal charges against them and release all other journalists behind bars in the country; and further calls on the Government to raise these and other concerns that give rise to a growing sense of authoritarianism in Turkey with their counterparts in Turkey.
856 PARITY OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR 10:3:15
22That this House notes with concern that some outsourced providers of public sector contracts are failing to pay their employees on the same terms and conditions as those carrying out the same work directly for the public sector; believes that all employees carrying out public sector work should have parity of pay and conditions whether employed directly or by an outsourced employer; further notes that some private sector contractors are failing to pay the living wage to their employees; further notes that employment terms and conditions drive low pay and that low pay contributes to poverty in the UK; and calls on the Government to ensure all public sector contracts which are outsourced to private sector providers include measures to ensure that workers are given parity of terms and conditions with workers carrying out the same or similar work directly for the public sector.
858 GENDER EQUALITY 10:3:15
23That this House welcomes the broadcast of the BBC's documentary India's Daughter, which draws attention to the rape and murder of Jyoti Singh and other women; applauds the students from Jawaharlal Nehru University who marched to protest against the treatment of women; commends the police force and justice system of India that arrested those responsible and brought them to trial; notes the documentary brought home the pain of Singh's parents, the brutality of rape and the loss of an empowered woman; acknowledges the economist Amartya Sen's article entitled More than 100 million women are missing, which highlights the unequal rights for women in the developing world and the resulting attitudes to women; further notes that 8 March 2015 was International Women's Day which represents an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women while calling for greater equality; and calls on the Government to promote gender equality in the UK and around the world.
859 ADULT SKILLS FUNDING IN LEICESTER 10:3:15
6That this House is deeply concerned that funding for adult learning has been dramatically cut in Leicester, leading to the closure of the Leicester Open Distance Learning Centre and the Evington Road Centre; notes that the adult skills budget has fallen by over 30 per cent since 2010, and will fall by a further 24 per cent in 2015-16 for many colleges; understands that this will have a serious impact on the ability of education providers, such as Leicester College, to support the necessary number of learners; recognises the importance of adult and community learning to economic growth and providing people with the opportunity to gain skills which can benefit their lives and the lives of their families; and calls on the Government to review its cuts to the adult skills budget, and specifically the cuts in Leicester.
861 SALVATION ARMY 10:3:15
29That this House congratulates the Salvation Army on reaching its 150th anniversary; acknowledges the great work that General William Booth began and that still continues in communities throughout the UK to this day; and commends it for its passion and dedication in the service of others.
863 SAFETY AND SECURITY ROLE OF RAIL STATION STAFF 11:3:15
21That this House is concerned for the safety of the travelling public by threats to reduce the number of station staff; notes that the platform train interface is a major risk on the railways; further notes that Passenger Focus supports proper staffing at stations and has called for obligatory staffing initiatives as part of the Government's franchise agreements with operators; is further concerned that numerous stations are already de-staffed and further cuts at railway and tube stations will increase platform train interface risks to passengers as well as stations becoming unwelcoming and inaccessible places; believes that rail passengers deserve, and are entitled to, safe staffed stations; and therefore calls on the UK and Scottish Governments and the Mayor of London to ensure that all rail operations guarantee a sufficient number of trained station staff to safely dispatch trains, protect the travelling public and maintain security at all stations.
864 ENGLISH TOURISM WEEK, 14 TO 22 MARCH 2015 11:3:15
4That this House recognises the importance of tourism to the national economy and to the Ribble Valley during English Tourism Week; and notes that local businesses such as The Whalley Wine Shop, Mytton Fold Hotel, Huntley's, D Byrne & Co and Cowman's Famous Sausage Shop encourage visitors to come to Lancashire and provide vital employment for local people.
865 McDONALD'S TAX AFFAIRS AND THE EXCHEQUER 11:3:15
13That this House is gravely concerned at evidence of the aggressive tax avoidance strategies pursued by global fast-food chain McDonald's over several years up to 2013; commends the work of the worldwide coalition of trade unions and global justice campaigns that resulted in the disclosure of these findings in the Unhappy Meals report; notes that the company has potentially cost up to £818.7 million to the UK Exchequer alone in tax by diverting franchise payments to McD Europe Franchising Sàrl, a Luxembourg-resident intellectual property holding company with a Swiss branch, then shifting McDonald's European headquarters from London to Geneva for the purposes of tax avoidance; understands that this was a direct response to a tax policy change in Luxembourg allowing companies to benefit from significant reductions of their tax rate on income earned from intellectual property; further notes that McDonald's and its franchisees, which openly employ much of their workforce on zero hours contracts, earned £2,335.5 million in sales in the UK; and therefore calls on the Government to ensure that such multinational corporations are obliged to pay their fair share of tax on profits generated from UK operations.
866 VAT ON WOMEN'S SANITARY PRODUCTS 12:3:15
4That this House is concerned about the level of Value Added Tax (VAT) levied on women's sanitary products, such as tampons and sanitary towels; notes that, whilst female sanitary products are subject to a five per cent rate of VAT, shaving razors are subject to a zero per cent rate, as are other essential items such as food and children's clothing; believes that sanitary products are also essential and should be subject to the zero per cent rate of VAT; further notes Treasury estimates that VAT on these products raises just £15 million in revenue per year; acknowledges that the setting of VAT rates is a matter for the EU; and calls on the Chancellor to urge the European Commission to bring forward a proposal to remove VAT from women's sanitary products as part of measures in the 2015 Budget.
867 ISTANBUL CONVENTION ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS 12:3:15
2That this House calls on governments across Europe to ratify the Istanbul Convention on Women's Rights; believes the Convention to be an influential tool to tackle violence which affects the lives of millions of women in Europe; further believes that countries which ratify the treaty have an obligation to support victims of violence; notes a report by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency stating that one in three women across the 28 EU Member States has suffered physical violence since the age of 15; and calls on the UK Government to commit to women's human rights by ratifying the Istanbul Convention.
868 DETENTION AND TREATMENT OF BOYS FROM HARES 12:3:15
4That this House notes that 15 March 2015, Mothering Sunday in the UK, marks the second anniversary of the arrest of five 16-year-old Palestinian boys from the village of Hares; condemns their having been dragged out of their homes at 3am by Israeli soldiers with attack dogs, taken without explanation to an adult prison, denied lawyers, tortured physically and psychologically and each put in solitary confinement until they allegedly confessed to crimes they did not commit such as stone-throwing and attempted murder; further condemns this breach of Israeli law, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 76 of the 4th Geneva Convention; and calls on the Government to honour Ms Um Fadi, who spoke in the House at a public meeting in 2014, and the other mothers and families of the five boys who have campaigned tirelessly for their release by doing all it can to get the Israeli government to return the boys to their families without further delay.
869 INQUIRY INTO BA SURVEILLANCE OF EMPLOYEES 12:3:15
3That this House calls for the setting up of an independent, judge-led, public inquiry into the surveillance of employees by British Airways and Gate Gourmet during and following industrial action undertaken by their employees.
870 CARE.DATA AND PATHFINDER AREA LAUNCH 16:3:15
1That this House views with great concern plans by NHS England to relaunch the care.data initiative in trial regions in the run-up to the general election; recalls that the previous attempt to launch care.data was an unmitigated disaster that had to be abandoned due to widespread public opposition; believes that Parliament has been misled, as it received incorrect assurances that care.data pathfinder communications would not take place before the Confidentiality Advisory Group Regulations (CAG) under the Care Act 2014 had been laid before Parliament and approved, thereby introducing strong legal safeguards for data handling before extraction began; further believes that current proposals lack clarity and transparency, as the current opt-out is now for GP data only, excluding hospital data which requires a further, separate opt-out procedure; notes that those who have already opted-out from having both sets of data extracted will receive the same communication in the pathfinder regions telling them to opt-out again and seek any further clarification from their over-stretched GP, who is unlikely to have time to discuss data protection with large numbers of patients; further notes that previous consent definition errors which impact on the ability of patients to receive direct care have yet to be remedied; and calls on the Government, as a matter of urgency, to delay the pathfinder launch at the very least until after the general election, so that outstanding issues can be resolved in a considered and transparent manner.
871 NHS AND THE TRANSATLANTIC TRADE AND INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP 16:3:15
1That this House notes with concern that the NHS is still included in the scope of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) despite the risk of this leading to a privatised, fragmented service that is run for private profit rather than public wellbeing; recognises that only a complete and explicit exemption of the NHS from TTIP will protect the UK's health service from inclusion in the treaty; reminds the Government that the risks of not ensuring that the NHS is excluded from TTIP include increasing deaths from tobacco and higher costs for vital medicines; observes that the TTIP investor-state dispute settlement provision would allow companies to sue governments which bring in legislation to protect public health for billions of taxpayers' money as lost future profits; further notes with concern that this is already happening around the world under existing trade deals; further observes that allowing greater competition into the NHS would lead to further fragmentation and cherry-picking of profitable services, damaging the quality of healthcare available to citizens; further observes that the primary function of governments is to protect citizens' rights and wellbeing, including where necessary by defending them from the greed of global corporations; further notes that the Prime Minister has the right to insist that the UK's NHS is explicitly excluded from TTIP; and calls on him to use this right to protect the health and wellbeing of the citizens he was elected to serve, rather than the profits of private healthcare companies and their shareholders.
872 REDUCING PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY BOUNDARIES 16:3:15
1That this House asks the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee to reconsider the issues and conclusions in its Eighth Report on fairer constituency boundaries and fewer hon. Members.