That this House deeply deplores the refusal of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission to entertain the complaint lodged by Derbyshire County Council against the Conservative Party political party broadcast on 6th April, which was a broadcast described by the Conservative opposition group leader on the Derbyshire County Council as basically inaccurate; further notes that the Broadcasting Complaints Commission judges that it is inappropriate to entertain the complaint because it relates to an attack made in a party political broadcast by one political party on another, the validity of which should be dealt with by political debate and not by way of an adjudication by the Commission; believes that this judgement effectively endorses the blatant peddling of untruths in such broadcasts; further believes that this judgement, the announcement of which was delayed until after the close of polls in the local elections, shows the Broadcasting Complaints Commission to be a toothless watchdog that has discredited itself by this decision and which appears to be incapable of setting standards of truthfulness and decency; and is concerned that, unless dealt with firmly by bodies such as the Broadcasting Complaints Commission, the smears and untruths broadcast on 6th April will become the all too common currency of political debate, akin to that of the United States of America, and that this will further fuel an increasing cynicism about politics.

That this House deeply deplores the refusal of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission to entertain the complaint lodged by Derbyshire County Council against the Conservative Party political party broadcast on 6th April, which was a broadcast described by the Conservative opposition group leader on the Derbyshire County Council as basically inaccurate;...

That this House notes that in the Dispatches programme which exposed the ways Ministers can withhold information from Parliament, the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs asserted he had said 'No' when asked by the honourable Member for Blaenau, Gwent whether the decision to grant support for the Pergau Hydro-electric project in Malaysia was linked to any other bilateral trade agreement because he was not prepared to go into any detailed qualification of the word 'No' since 'The Secretary of State himself was giving evidence to the Select Committee two days later' and that it seemed to him 'That's where the matter should be properly investigated'; notes that Parliament was prorogued on 5th November; notes that the Foreign Secretary appeared before the Foreign Affairs Committee on 23rd November but did not discuss Pergau before the Committee until four months later on 2nd March; further notes that at that hearing the Foreign Secretary did admit to a 'temporary entanglement' between arms sales and aid given to Malaysia; notes the Foreign Secretary failed to reveal this in replying to the Right honourable Member for Copeland's question on this matter on 25th January; is concerned that the Parliamentary Under Secretary simply referred to the Foreign Secretary's partial reply in refusing to correct his reply of 3rd November, when requested to do so by the honourable Member for Blaenau, Gwent on 26th January; believes this misrepresentation demonstrates a failure to convey the facts to Parliament; and calls for both Ministers to apologise to Parliament and then resign.

That this House notes that in the Dispatches programme which exposed the ways Ministers can withhold information from Parliament, the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs asserted he had said 'No' when asked by the honourable Member for Blaenau, Gwent whether the decision to grant support for the Pergau...

That this House deplores the serious decline in standards of honesty exemplified by the false claims made about Derbyshire County Council in a Conservative party political broadcast on 6th April; notes the inaccurate claim that a councillor in prison had claimed ??4,000 in council allowances whilst running a council housing budget whereas, in fact, that county council has no housing responsibilities and the councillor in question had automatically received ??1,231 in allowances to which he was legally entitled before his appeal was considered by the courts and his subsequent disqualification; understands that such crucial differences may not be fully recognised by a casual observer of the type that the broadcast purported to interview; further understands, however, that the comments quoted in the broadcast were not from a genuine and randomly selected member of the public but from an actor using a carefully written script which had clearly not been checked for its veracity; and calls upon the Conservative Party to clearly disassociate itself from this blatant attempt to smear the Labour Party.

That this House deplores the serious decline in standards of honesty exemplified by the false claims made about Derbyshire County Council in a Conservative party political broadcast on 6th April; notes the inaccurate claim that a councillor in prison had claimed ??4,000 in council allowances whilst running a council housing...

That this House notes that Conservatives in Derbyshire are backing an official complaint by the Debyshire County Council into a party political broadcast by their own party; supports the complaint which has been made to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission into the Conservative party political broadcast shown on television on 6th April, which has been described by the Conservative opposition group leader of the Derbyshire County Council, Mr John Morgan-Owen, as being basically inaccurate; and notes that a Conservative councillor has submitted a further complaint to the Conservative Party Central Office about the broadcast.

That this House notes that Conservatives in Derbyshire are backing an official complaint by the Debyshire County Council into a party political broadcast by their own party; supports the complaint which has been made to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission into the Conservative party political broadcast shown on television on 6th...

That this House condemns the Conservative Party for carrying a number of false claims about Derbyshire County Council in its party political broadcast shown on television on 6th April, including the claims (a) that Derbyshire County Council is a housing authority, when this function is conducted by the district councils in Derbyshire, (b) that the housing budget totals ??500 million, when a typical district council in Derbyshire only has a budget of ??19 million per annum and (c) that a former Labour county councillor had made claims of ??4,000 whilst in prison; and calls upon the Conservative Party to apologise for peddling such untruths.

That this House condemns the Conservative Party for carrying a number of false claims about Derbyshire County Council in its party political broadcast shown on television on 6th April, including the claims (a) that Derbyshire County Council is a housing authority, when this function is conducted by the district councils...

That this House notes that the burial service department operated by Birmingham City Council makes use of a single mobile telephone to assist in providing an out of hours emergency service; believes this to be a vital facility in a city of one million citizens; considers the implication in the Conservative Party political broadcast of Wednesday 6th April that Birmingham City Council was providing 400 grave diggers with mobile telephones to be quite ridiculous and that the facts were easily checkable both by Saatchi and Saatchi, makers of the broadcast, and the Chairman of the Conservative Party who represents a Birmingham constituency.

That this House notes that the burial service department operated by Birmingham City Council makes use of a single mobile telephone to assist in providing an out of hours emergency service; believes this to be a vital facility in a city of one million citizens; considers the implication in the...

That this House notes the claim in the Conservative Party political broadcast of Wednesday 6th April that Birmingham City Council spent ??400 on recycled paper clips instead of the ??12 normal cost; believes this claim was designed to ridicule Birmingham's contribution to National Environmental Week in 1992; welcomes the fact that this national event was taken seriously as an educational exercise by the Second City; understands that the modest total expenditure of ??400 included the collation, layout and publication of a programme of 70 local environmental events on recycled paper, postage costs of sending environmental educational materials to the schools and the costs of using some waste plastic to create heart shaped plastic paper clips to be given to children as an example of making a product from waste; believes all this information was known to Birmingham Conservative councillors and therefore available to Saatchi and Saatchi, the makers of the broadcast, and the Chairman of the Conservative Party who represents a Birmingham constituency.

That this House notes the claim in the Conservative Party political broadcast of Wednesday 6th April that Birmingham City Council spent ??400 on recycled paper clips instead of the ??12 normal cost; believes this claim was designed to ridicule Birmingham's contribution to National Environmental Week in 1992; welcomes the fact...