EDMs
For a full list of all the Early Day Motions tabled by George Galloway, please consult his section the Hansard website.
Latest EDMs
31st March
Panorama and the mayor of Tower Hamlets
That this House believes that the recent Panorama programme about the mayor of Tower Hamlets was petty, ill-informed and politically-motivated; queries how much of the licence fee was spent to produce a programme which alleged that the mayor as chief executive had made an executive decision to move around £2million in grants to organisations which have a Bangladeshi or Somali chair; points out that around £1.6million of a £9.7million programme goes to organisations with a Bengali or Somali chair, which is 16.5%, while ethnic communities are over 35% of the population; urges the BBC Trust to cast judgment on a programme which can only have been intended to influence the outcome of May’s elections; and calls on the communities minister to make a statement to the House, rather than on television, which exonerates the mayor.
No subscription charge for the NHS
That this House totally rejects any proposal to charge a monthly membership premium to receive NHS services: believes that the £10 fee mooted by Lord Warner would, if implemented, not only damage the health of the nation’s poorest people but would be yet another attempt at privatising the NHS by stealth; notes the noble lord’s track record of voting for this Government’s privatisation proposals and his post as health minister in the Blair government which introduced foundation hospitals and his former role as a paid adviser to the General Healthcare Group, and that his private company presently advises a major German health provider with NHS contracts; and concludes that his lordship is the last possible person to take advice from on the National Health Service.
Deaths of miners in the world wars
That this House pays tribute to the hundreds of miners who lost their lives in the two world wars; points out that the deaths of those, like the miners, in reserved occupations, have received no recognition; notes that September sees the centenary of the start of the First World War in which 165 men and boys lost their lives in the Yorkshire coalfield alone while in the Second World War a further 385 perished in Yorkshire; believes that in recognition of their part in keeping the home fires burning and industry turning a fitting statue should be erected at the National Arboretum and that plaques bearing the names of all those killed at work in these conflicts should be added to war memorials throughout the country so that families can pay their respects on Remembrance Day.
That this House believes there is no justification for Sport England providing £30million in funding to the Football Association to develop grassroots football; points out that while welcoming the cut of £1.6million in the grant, the FA has an annual income of over £300million and presides over the richest football organisation in the world, the Premier League; believes that senior football clubs, and principally those in the Premier League, have failed to properly invest in grassroots football; notes that Premier League currently gives just 3.7% of its annual turnover to amateur and non-senior football, some £45million, and contrasts that with the wage bill of just one club, Manchester City, which last year spent £233million on salaries; is convinced that the lack of sufficient local high-standard facilities is responsible both for the drop in numbers of those playing the amateur game and is hindering the development of young talent; and calls on the Football Association to ensure that the Premier League is made to double its annual contribution, joined by the Government, so that more people are playing the game, particularly young people, which can only benefit the clubs and the national team.
Selective application of principle
That this House believes that the Prime Minister is being partial and selective in the principle he espoused that there should be a rules-based system where countries obey the rules; points out that while he was quick to cite that over the annexation of Crimea he entirely failed to apply it on his recent visit to Israel; notes that in a speech to the Knesset he did not call for Israel to cancel its illegal annexations of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights; further notes that neither did he ask when Israel would be ending its 47-year military occupation of lands taken by force in 1967; and calls on the Prime Minister to be consistent by now calling on Israel to follow the will of the United Nations by relinquishing territories it seized by military might.
