Home > Current Affairs > Articles >

Early Day Motions

Please contact your MP and ask her/him to sign the following EDM's

• Posted on Apr 29, 2008

As the Parliamentary web-site explains: ‘An Early Day Motion, or EDM, is a motion put down ("tabled") by Members of Parliament calling for a debate on a particular subject. In practice, there is rarely time to debate EDMs nowadays and their true modern-day purpose is to enable MPs to draw attention to an issue and to canvass support for their views by inviting other Members to add their signatures in support of the motion.’
You can fax your MP for free @ http://www.writetothem.com/

EDM 1309    ETHICAL TRADING AND THE 2012 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES
Tabled by Don Foster 2 April 2008
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35550&SESSION=891

That this House recognises the importance of taking a stand against abuses of workers' rights; believes that all who work to make London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games a success should have the right to decent work, living wages, and all provisions of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) core conventions; appreciates the opportunity the Games present to set an example of ethical trading; welcomes the progress made by the organisers of the Games so far, their statement that suppliers and licensees will be required to comply with the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) base code, and their involvement with the Suppliers Ethical Data Exchange; notes that similar such commitments at previous Olympic Games have not been particularly successful due to a lack of effective monitoring and remediation measures; and consequently urges the Government to use its influence within the Olympic Board to ensure that contractual arrangements are in place that hold all manufacturers of official merchandise, equipment and clothing for the Games to account for the conditions in which they are produced, according to the standards of the ETI base code.

EDM 1203/Deportation of asylum seekers at risk of religious persecution
Tabled by Greg Mulholland:     [57 signatures @ 28/03/08]

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35429&SESSION=891
That this House notes with deep concern and regret that many of those who come to this country seeking asylum are currently facing deportation to countries where they are at risk of persecution, torture and worse as a result of their religious beliefs; believes that this is the case with deporting practising Christians to Iran with evidence that shows that they face persecution; notes the case of Mr Ali Pourakaberian who faces deportation back to Iran despite the fact that the Iranian authorities are aware that he is a practising Christian; and believes that there should be a moratorium for all those facing deportation when there is a serious and credible risk that they will face persecution in their country of origin as a result of their religious beliefs and that this should include Iranian Christians.
Tabled: 17.03.2008

EDM 1180 IRAQI OIL LAW Tabled by Katy Clark MP,

EDM 1371 Strangers Into Citizens Campaign EDM 1371, tabled by Jon Cruddas MP
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=33150&SESSION=885
That this House recognises the Government's commitment to tighten UK borders and introduce new monitoring and assessment systems into the immigration process; notes the Home Office assessment that up to 500,000 irregular migrants currently live and work in Britain; further recognises that the overwhelming majority of such migrants make a valuable economic contribution despite living under the shadow of illegality; acknowledges the IPPR estimation that regularisation of certain groups of migrant workers could raise £1 billion in taxes; congratulates the Strangers into Citizens campaign for the one-off regularisation of long-term irregular migrants through a pathway to citizenship; and calls for a full cross-party debate to consider granting a two year work permit to migrants who have lived in the UK for more than four years, following which they would be granted indefinite leave to remain, subject to an English test and positive references from an employer or person of standing in the community.
More info: "A pathway to legal status for long-term migrants"
http://www.strangersintocitizens.org.uk/proposal.html

EDM 961: COMPETITION COMMISSION SUPERMARKET INQUIRY
Tabled by: George, Andrew, 22 February.2007
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=32681&SESSION=885
That this House recognises the vital and unique role that independent locally run shops play in communities and is concerned at the continuing decline in their number; supports a sustainable UK farming sector and food supply chain whilst seeking to ensure that overseas suppliers are treated fairly; believes that the major supermarkets are now abusing the power that they have in the food supply chain to the detriment of their smaller and dependent suppliers and small shops and welcomes the acknowledgement of these issues in the Competition Commission's Emerging Thinking report published in January 2007; and urges the Commission to recommend the introduction of effective solutions to the competition and planning problems in the grocery market which will provide redress and reasonable protection for suppliers and small retailers, thereby preserving sustainable competition in the grocery market and genuine choice for consumers.

EDM 736    CLIMATE CHANGE BILL21.01.2008
Tabled by Nigel Griffiths
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=34898
That this House welcomes the introduction of the Climate Change Bill to Parliament and the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP's) recent Human Development Report which described the Bill as a bold and innovative proposal to create a national carbon budget; notes however that the UNDP also warned that the Bill needed improving as its targets were not ambitious enough, and international aviation emissions were excluded, meaning that even if the Bill were applied to every developed country, global temperature would rise well beyond the two degrees Celsius limit and perhaps as high as four or five degrees; congratulates the Prime Minister on his speech on 19th November 2007, when he acknowledged the evidence now suggests that as part of an international agreement developed countries may have to reduce their emissions by up to 80 per cent.; and urges the Government to support amendments to the Bill during its passage through Parliament to address the UNDP concerns, making it an unequivocally world-leading response to climate change.

EDM 579: CONSULTATION ON TRIDENT
Tabled by: Jon Trickett, Tuesday 9 January 2007
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=32245&SESSION=885  That this House notes the Prime Minister's statement in the House of 28th June 2006 that the White Paper The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent would be accompanied by an announcement on the means of consultation for the fullest possible debate; is concerned that there has been no provision made for public consultation; believes that a period of three months is insufficient for a discussion on a decision of this magnitude; and calls on the Government to extend the period of consultation to enable all political parties and other organisations with a legitimate interest to undertake full discussion and consultation which will enable them to present their views and make representations to hon. Members before a debate and vote.

EDM 406: RAPE AND FEMALE ASYLUM SEEKERS. Tabled by: John McDonnell MP on 5 December http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=32035&SESSION=885  That this House welcomes research by Black Women's Rape Action Project and Women Against Rape into the experiences of rape survivors at asylum appeal hearings; calls on the Home Office to ensure that women seeking asylum or refuge in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights after fleeing sexual violence perpetrated by agents of the state are enabled to speak about all the violence they have suffered, and to have access to adequate legal representation and appropriate medical and other expert advice; and calls on the Home Office to ensure that women seeking asylum are treated according to international precedents and to the 2000 Asylum Gender Guidelines, which must be assigned statutory status, and that they are granted refugee status or human rights protection in the same ways as men who are found to have suffered from torture or inhuman and degrading treatment.
(to coincide with the launch the Dossier: Misjudging Rape; Breaching Gender Guidelines & International Law in Asylum Appeals.  For more information about the Dossier, please see www.womenagainstrape.net