Early day motion tabled by primary sponsor Terry Lewis (Labour), on Wednesday, 23 January 1991, in the House of Commons. It is signed by 65 members in total.

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THE SUN NEWSPAPER & ITS HOTLINE FOR GULF FAMILIES

That this House is appalled at the nauseating opportunism of the Sun newspaper in establishing a Gulf telephone hotline charged at 33p and 44p per minute; believes this to be exploitative of worried relatives of service personnel in the war zone, who are thirsting for knowledge of their loved ones; recognises this to be typical of a publication which routinely trivialises the news and distorts the truth, even in war; further believes that the forces, whom the newspaper purports to support, will be outraged at the prospect of their families being fleeced by the greedy proprietors of the Sun in this way; draws attention to the fact that the bulletins on this service contain no information whatsoever that is any different from news already available through the media; and therefore calls upon the Director General of OFTEL to investigate this obscene and costly deception which, for the pursuit of easy profit, is being directed at the public in general and the worried families of our Gulf forces in particular.

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Secondary information

Type

Early day motion

Reference

336 

Session

1990-91

Subjects

Armed forces Iraq-Kuwait conflict Telephone services The Sun Telephone counselling

Link

View this Early day motion on www.parliament.uk