[NOTE: Amendments are linked to the original EDMs which Julian amended.]
EDM 2467 – 29 June 2006
MOUNTAINEERING ACHIEVEMENT OF RHYS JONES
[This EDM was supported by 40 Members of Parliament.]
That this House salutes the achievement of scout leader and mountaineer Rhys Jones of Bartley in the New Forest who has conquered the highest mountain on each of the seven continents of the world, beginning with Mount McKinley in June 2003 at the age of 17 and concluding with Mount Everest in May 2006 at the age of 20; and wishes him well in his further objective of raising £1 for every foot of the height of Everest for the charity Wessex Heartbeat.
EDM 1805 – 13 March 2006
PROPOSAL TO HONOUR KARL MARX
[This EDM was tabled jointly with Philip Davies and Andrew Rosindell.]
That this House notes the irony of the proposal by a firm of builders, reported in the Evening Standard, to re-brand Archway Shopping Mall as Karl Marx Square in order to make it more commercially profitable; and views the plan as deeply offensive to the thousands of victims of Communism given shelter in this country and insulting to the millions killed in the name of the ideology it espoused.
EDM 1595 – 7 February 2006
ADMIRAL SIR ALAN WEST DSC AND THE ROYAL NAVY
[This EDM was tabled jointly with the rest of the Defence Team. It was supported by 60 Members of Parliament.]
That this House salutes Admiral Sir Alan West on his retirement as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff; acknowledges his physical courage in the Falklands conflict and his moral courage in speaking up for his Service while in office; endorses his concern that cutting destroyer and frigate numbers to only 25 "involves taking risk on risk" and his comment that not to allow for attrition "seems a little bit silly"; agrees with his view that the Armed Forces are threatened by legal encirclement; notes his assessment that now is the time to start design work on replacement submarines if the UK is to maintain the minimum deterrent; and thanks him for all he has done to ensure the defence of this country and its interests, particularly in the bicentenary year of Nelson's victory at Trafalgar.
EDM 1429 – 19 January 2006
ARCTIC STAR EMBLEM
[This EDM was co-sponsored with Mike Hancock. It was supported by 99 Members of Parliament.]
That this House welcomes the creation of the Arctic Star Emblem, which recognises the heroism of the veterans of the Merchant Navy, Royal Navy, RAF and Army who took part in the horrendous four-year Arctic Campaign during the Second World War; notes that the emblem finally recognises the feats of those who sailed in sub-zero conditions, under constant attack from German dive bombers, submarines and battleships, to get vital supplies to the Soviet Union, keeping an important ally in the war; further notes that the campaign for this recognition enjoyed excellent cross-party support and congratulates the Secretary of State for Defence for bringing a speedy resolution to this 60-year injustice, just months after his appointment; congratulates Commander Eddie Grenfell of Havant, Hampshire, one of the few survivors of a ship sunk in the Arctic, who was elected to lead the campaign for recognition by the Russian Convoy Club; further notes that, now aged 86, he tirelessly fought on for the last eight years, at great personal expense, and never gave up in the face of adversity; and further congratulates The News in Portsmouth, which has vigorously supported Commander Grenfell, not least through the provision of office facilities for the campaign.
EDM 1276 – 14 December 2005
ROYAL FLEET AUXILIARY
[This EDM was co-sponsored with Dr Andrew Murrison. It was supported by 62 Members of Parliament.]
That this House congratulates the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) on reaching its 100th birthday; acknowledges the superb seamanship involved in RFA operations, in particular in manoeuvring vessels at close proximity in heavy seas with poor visibility; remembers the sacrifices made by its personnel in the defence of the United Kingdom; and welcomes the development of the RFA as a complex multi-purpose flotilla that is an integral part of the UK's defence capability providing replenishment, training and forward repair capabilities for the Royal Navy and secure sea-borne logistic support for all three services.
EDM 1110 – 24 November 2005
MERGER OF HAMPSHIRE CONSTABULARY
[This EDM was co-sponsored with Maria Miller.]
That this House believes it is important that police forces continue to build and maintain strong links with local communities and that Hampshire is best served by retaining a stand-alone police force; further believes that the Government's proposals to require mergers between existing forces could make them more distant from the communities that they serve; further believes that the Government's proposed amalgamation of Hampshire Constabulary with another force or forces risks it becoming detached from the community it serves thus defeating the aims of the current proposals and does not properly take account of the needs of the vast and diverse area served by Hampshire Constabulary; and further believes that the alternatives for the region provide unacceptable and retrograde solutions for policing the communities of southern England.
EDM 1107 – 24 November 2005
ROLE OF COMMUNITY HOSPITALS
[This EDM was co-sponsored with Richard Taylor. It was supported by 87 Members of Parliament.]
That this House endorses the Government's pre-election manifesto commitment emphasising the vital role of community hospitals in the National Health Service; and accordingly believes that the role of community hospitals should be enhanced and developed and that proposals by primary care trusts to reduce or close in-patient beds in these hospitals, essential for intermediate care, should be resisted as it would add to the burdens on over-worked acute hospitals, reduce choice and accessibility for patients and impede the delivery of Government health objectives.
EDM 725 – 11 October 2005
COMMENTS BY THE CEO OF THE NEW FOREST AND THE EASTLEIGH AND TEST VALLEY SOUTH PRIMARY CARE TRUSTS
[This EDM was tabled jointly with Desmond Swayne and Sandra Gidley]
That this House deplores the question "Where's the bin" asked by the Chief Executive of the New Forest and the Eastleigh and Test Valley South Primary Care Trusts, after receiving a petition containing the names of 40,980 people who wish in-patient beds to remain in the Fenwick, Fordingbridge, Hythe, Milford-on-Sea and Romsey Community Hospitals; and fears that this is further evidence of the PCTs' determination to press on with an uncosted and ill-conceived scheme for treatment at home regardless of overwhelming opposition to their proposals by the residents of the Romsey, New Forest East and New Forest West constituencies.
EDM 507 – 5 July 2005
GOVERNMENT TARGETS AND HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
That this House notes with dismay that Hampshire County Council has been set a total of 400 indices, targets and standards of performance by the Government, running to more than 22 A4 pages of typescript; deplores that the council spends a sum equal to the salaries of between six and eight teachers or full-time equivalent staff to collate the relevant information about these performance measures; believes that this stultifying regime demotivates councils; and accordingly calls upon local government ministers to take an axe to it.
EDM 491 – 4 July 2005
DECOMMISSIONING OF TYPE 23 FRIGATES
[This EDM was tabled jointly with Shadow Defence Secretary, Michael Ancram. It was supported by 58 Members of Parliament.]
That this House deplores the decision made by the Government to decommission three Type 23 frigates, HMS Norfolk, HMS Marlborough and HMS Grafton, the last of which is only eight years old; notes that the Conservatives pledged before the General Election that they would keep these three vessels in service; and is concerned for the future security of our maritime interests by ever greater burdens being placed by this Government on ever fewer ships.
EDM 398 – 23 June 2005
SIZE OF THE FLEET IN TRAFALGAR BICENTENARY YEAR
[This EDM was tabled jointly with Shadow Defence Secretary, Michael Ancram. It was supported by 63 Members of Parliament.]
That this House congratulates the Trafalgar 200 team at the Ministry of Defence for organising the International Fleet Review in the Solent on 28th June, the first fleet review since the Silver Jubilee of 1977; notes with surprise the decision to rebrand the competing fleets in the re-enacted battle as Red and Blue; regrets the Government's decision to inflict cuts in the number of frontline British warships to below the total in the modern French Navy; and calls for the effects of the cannibalisation of existing Royal Navy vessels identified in the National Audit Office Report on Military Readiness, to be rectified as a matter of urgency in view of the UK's worldwide commitments in the 21st century.
EDM 151 – 19 May 2005
WARSHIP NUMBERS IN THE ROYAL NAVY
[This EDM was tabled jointly with Shadow Defence Secretary, Michael Ancram. It was supported by 104 Members of Parliament.]
That this House acknowledges that modern warships are much more powerful than their predecessors, but notes the obvious fact that the same vessel, however potent, cannot be in two places at once; deplores statements by the Government in the previous Parliament that numbers of platforms are no longer relevant; and calls for the fitting of Tactical Tomahawk missiles to those Type 45 destroyers which remain to be built.
EDM 150 – 19 May 2005
CUTS IN THE STRENGTH OF THE ARMED FORCES
[This EDM was tabled jointly with Shadow Defence Secretary, Michael Ancram. It was supported by 116 Members of Parliament.]
That this House deplores the Government's proposed cuts in the front-line strength of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force as incompatible with the requirements set out in its own Strategic Defence Review; and calls for them not to be implemented.
EDM 149 – 19 May 2005
FUTURE OF THE NUCLEAR DETERRENT
[This EDM was tabled jointly with Shadow Defence Secretary, Michael Ancram. It was supported by 106 Members of Parliament.]
That this House believes that the United Kingdom should continue to possess a strategic nuclear deterrent as long as other countries have nuclear weapons; and accordingly endorses the principle of preparing to replace the Trident system with a successor generation of the nuclear deterrent.