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Early day motion tabled by primary sponsor Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour), on Thursday, 16 May 1996, in the House of Commons. It is signed by 46 members in total.

CONDUCT OF THE HONOURABLE MEMBER FOR DOVER AND WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL

That this House notes with serious concern the untrue allegations made by the honourable Member for Dover in the debate on Tuesday 14th May on the District Auditor's finding concerning Westminster City Council; further notes that, contrary to the allegation made by the honourable Member for Dover, only one of the original 13 objectors has withdrawn their objection, and that the honourable Member for Workington remains an objector; affirms that the allegations that companies owned by three of the objectors 'have earned ??1 million in fees for planning consultancy political work obtained through their membership of the Labour Party' are totally untrue, that neither of the companies are 'political consultancies', that the companies win virtually all their work in competition and that they work for many private sector organisations, non-political voluntary organisations, local authorities run by different political parties, institutions such as development corporations, HATS, TECs and Government departments; further acknowledges that all of the allegations made against the objectors are untrue and scurrilous, that the honourable Member for Dover must have known them to be untrue and that his speech was therefore a gross abuse of parliamentary privilege and entirely contrary to the Prime Minister's amendment stating 'that parliamentary privilege is a powerful weapon for the protection of individuals and should not be used to provide cover for party political attacks.'.

Amendments

The Early day motion has received an amendment.

CONDUCT OF THE HONOURABLE MEMBER FOR DOVER AND WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL (902A1)
The Early day motion has received an amendment sponsored by Robert G Hughes (primary, Conservative) and tabled on Monday, 20 May 1996. It has been signed by 2 members in total.
leave out from `House' to end and add `congratulates the honourable Member for Dover for informing the House about a number of matters in relation to the Westminster objectors which the Labour Party had concealed; notes that Andrew Arden QC, for the Westminster Objectors Trust, informed the public hearing held by the District Auditor that the objectors he had been formally instructed by were Neale Coleman, Steve Hilditch, Coucillor Peter Bradley and Dr Richard Stone and that he further stated "The remaining objectors no longer play an active part in these proceedings"; notes that the four active objectors are all life-long Labour Party activists; notes that Neale Coleman failed to give evidence to the Inquiry despite originally being put forward by Mr Arden; notes that Mr Hilditch has told newspapers that ??210,000 of money was raised by the Trust without disclosing a list of the donors; calls on the trustees, which include the honourable Member for Birmingham, Sparkbrook, to disclose the names of the donors; notes that the honourable Member for North West Durham has confirmed that Messrs. Bradley, Coleman and Hilditch have obtained contracts worth over ??1 million in fees in the last five years, much of which has been connected to the public sector and the taxpayer; notes that their companies earn these without advertising or appearing in registers of consultants and that their annual reports filed at Companies House describe their activities as "provision of consultancy services for local government and the voluntary sector" and "public relations"; and calls on the Labour Party to disclose all informations still concealed.'.

Secondary information

Type
Early day motion
Reference
902 
902A1 
Session
1995-96
Subjects
Westminster City Council Shaw, David
Link
View this Early day motion on www.parliament.uk