That this House recognises the 33 years of public service given to the people of Glasgow by Councillor Susan Baird CBE, JP, D. Univ, OSJ, DL, who represented the Parkhead and Braidfauld wards on Glasgow District Council and Glasgow City Council from 1974 until 2007; notes that she was a distinguished Lord Provost of the city from 1988 to 1992, hosted the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988 and the European City of Culture in 1990 and in 1992 was awarded the St. Mungo Award for services to the city; and wishes her a long, happy and healthy retirement.

That this House recognises the 33 years of public service given to the people of Glasgow by Councillor Susan Baird CBE, JP, D. Univ, OSJ, DL, who represented the Parkhead and Braidfauld wards on Glasgow District Council and Glasgow City Council from 1974 until 2007; notes that she was a...

That this House congratulates Westminster City Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg on the outcome of the Local Government Standards Board inquiry and Adjudication Panel hearing into his conduct, which after almost two years of investigations and hearings has vindicated his whistleblowing over Conservative-controlled Westminster City Council's failure actively to pursue the recovery of the debt due from former Conservative Westminster City Council leader Dame Shirley Porter over the infamous homes for votes scandal; notes that Councillor Dimoldenberg's revelations led to the recovery of ??12 million from Dame Shirley Porter; believes the outcome exposes the vindictive and politically motivated actions of Westminster's Chief Executive and Director of Legal Services in referring the case to the Standards Board and also calls into question the judgement of the Standards Board itself in pursuing the case at much cost to the public purse without due regard for any sense of proportionality or recognition that Councillor Dimoldenberg's actions were in the public interest; and calls upon the Government to review the rules under which the Standards Board operates so as to ensure that such ill-conceived witch hunts do not occur again.

That this House congratulates Westminster City Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg on the outcome of the Local Government Standards Board inquiry and Adjudication Panel hearing into his conduct, which after almost two years of investigations and hearings has vindicated his whistleblowing over Conservative-controlled Westminster City Council's failure actively to pursue the recovery...

That this House notes that in December 2001 the Law Lords delivered a unanimous judgement that Dame Shirley Porter and David Weeks, two Conservative ex-leaders of Westminster City Council, were guilty of 'deliberate, blatant and dishonest abuse of public power' amounting to 'political corruption'; further notes that on 30th May 2003 the European Court of Human Rights rejected Dame Shirley Porter's appeal as 'manifestly ill-founded' and 'inadmissible', and that there is now no further legal recourse available to her; further notes that she is liable for a surcharge which, with interest, totals in excess of ??37 million towards which she has so far contributed ??3,000 and a gold-plated toilet seat; recalls the numerous undertakings given to the House by Conservative ministers of the day that, once the judicial process had been exhausted and the charges of gerrymandering upheld, they would condemn the perpetrators; in particular recalls the assurance of the Right honourable Member for Chingford and Woodford Green that they 'must be subject to the due process of law and that if they are found guilty they should be sanctioned accordingly' 14th May 1996, Official Report, column 849; and calls on the Right honourable Member unequivocally and without further delay to fulfil his pledge and do what no senior Conservative has done to date by apologising publicly for the crimes committed in his party's name and, should she remain a member, expel Dame Shirley Porter from the Conservative Party.

That this House notes that in December 2001 the Law Lords delivered a unanimous judgement that Dame Shirley Porter and David Weeks, two Conservative ex-leaders of Westminster City Council, were guilty of 'deliberate, blatant and dishonest abuse of public power' amounting to 'political corruption'; further notes that on 30th May...

That this House condemns the statements in the article There's Nothing Wrong with Racism on the website of Professor Geoffrey Sampson, Conservative councillor on Wealdon District Council; considers as indefensible and deeply offensive his comments 'Negroes tend to be less bright than whites, multi-culturalism is just wicked madness' and other comments about ethnic minorities, asylum seekers and women; and calls on the Right honourable Member for Chingford to condemn these statements and expel Professor Sampson from the Conservative Party.

That this House condemns the statements in the article There's Nothing Wrong with Racism on the website of Professor Geoffrey Sampson, Conservative councillor on Wealdon District Council; considers as indefensible and deeply offensive his comments 'Negroes tend to be less bright than whites, multi-culturalism is just wicked madness' and other...

That this House condemns the comments made by Welsh Nationalist Plaid Cymru Councillor, Seimon Glyn, Chairman of Housing on Gwynnedd County Council, accusing English residents of 'invading' Wales and calling for such incomers to be monitored; and believes that Councillor Glyn's comments are wholly unacceptable in a civilised and tolerant society and that they have caused hurt and distress to many residents from all cultures and backgrounds who have settled in Wales and brought richness and diversity to that country.

That this House condemns the comments made by Welsh Nationalist Plaid Cymru Councillor, Seimon Glyn, Chairman of Housing on Gwynnedd County Council, accusing English residents of 'invading' Wales and calling for such incomers to be monitored; and believes that Councillor Glyn's comments are wholly unacceptable in a civilised and tolerant...

That this House welcomes the decision of the electorate in Stockport to reduce the number of Liberal councillors on Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council on 4th May, so ending their control of the Council; deeply regrets their decision to offer Independent Councillor Goddard a place back on the planning committee in exchange for his becoming a Liberal councillor; notes that he resigned from the Labour Group because the Labour Party decided not to re-appoint him to the planning committee in May 1999; further notes that this was because of his friendship with a property developer, and the apparent use of his position on the planning committee to help that developer and in particular to gain planning permission for him for building in the green belt; and believes in local government matters it is essential that local councillors are both honest and seen to be honest, and that the Liberal Group on Stockport Council is setting an appalling example in bribing Councillor Goddard to support them so they can cling on to power.

That this House welcomes the decision of the electorate in Stockport to reduce the number of Liberal councillors on Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council on 4th May, so ending their control of the Council; deeply regrets their decision to offer Independent Councillor Goddard a place back on the planning committee in...

That this House congratulates the District Audit on its damning Review of Grant-Funded Economic Development Schemes of Gwynedd Council, published in November 1999 and reported to the Wales Office (Office of the Secretary of State for Wales); deplores the actions of Plaid Cymru members of the Council criticised in the Review for not declaring their interests in companies of which they were directors when discussing the allocation of public funds to those companies; further notes the failure of a Plaid Cymru councillor to fulfill his statutory obligation to register directorships of companies; notes the many further irregularities disclosed in the Review and, recognising that Gwynedd is included in the area awarded Objective 1 status secured by a Labour Government, believes that decisive action is required by the Council because, in the words of the District Audit, 'it must now ensure it has adequate arrangements in place to ensure that value for money is obtained from Objective 1 investment and the highest standards of probity are maintained'; and calls on the said Plaid Cymru councillors to resign and for the Council urgently to implement the recommendations of the Review, failing which this House believes the public will not have confidence in Gwynedd Council.

That this House congratulates the District Audit on its damning Review of Grant-Funded Economic Development Schemes of Gwynedd Council, published in November 1999 and reported to the Wales Office (Office of the Secretary of State for Wales); deplores the actions of Plaid Cymru members of the Council criticised in the...

That this House congratulates the record number of Labour councillors elected on 4th May and, in particular, the 1799 new Labour councillors elected in seats gained and those Labour councillors elected in the 42 councils where Labour gained control; and notes that with 48 per cent. of the vote this was Labour's best ever Local Government result and that Labour now has more seats than the Tories and Liberal Democrats put together and that while the Tory vote fell to its lowest level, the Liberal Democrats also saw their share of the vote fall by 4 per cent. from 1994 giving a clear message from the public across the whole country of their trust in and support for Labour councils at the local level and the quality of services they provide and their belief that, at national level, only Labour offers the hope of a real and viable alternative to this discredited and untrustworthy Tory Government.

That this House congratulates the record number of Labour councillors elected on 4th May and, in particular, the 1799 new Labour councillors elected in seats gained and those Labour councillors elected in the 42 councils where Labour gained control; and notes that with 48 per cent. of the vote this...

That this House notes with concern that documents revealed by the District Auditor's public hearings into gerrymandering by Westminster City Council indicate that Councillor Mike Young, current leader of the Council, was fully aware of the strategy to secure electoral advantage by concentrating resources on marginal or key wards; notes that he was in charge of the so-called Quality of Life initiative, one of the schemes within the strategy; further notes that the Auditor is now considering adding Miles Young to the list of those facing surcharge over the Homes for Votes scandal; therefore believes it to be totally inappropriate for him to lead a group of Conservative councillors to picket the offices of the Auditor on 22nd February and to issue a press release calling for 'urgent action ... to rein in the Audit Commission'; and further believes he should immediately resign as Leader of the Council in view of the conflict of interest between his potential liability to audit action and the urgent need to restore proper standards of conduct to Westminster City Council.

That this House notes with concern that documents revealed by the District Auditor's public hearings into gerrymandering by Westminster City Council indicate that Councillor Mike Young, current leader of the Council, was fully aware of the strategy to secure electoral advantage by concentrating resources on marginal or key wards; notes...

That this House notes that Brent Conservative councillor, Mr Bill Duffin, the current Chair of the Housing Committee and former Tory councillor, Leslie Winters, failed to declare a financial interest in a planning application by their employer which they promoted in the council; notes that Tory councillor, Mr David Tobert, was in breach of the council's code of conduct for members involved in planning applications; further notes that the current Tory group leader, Mr Bob Blackman, has blatantly ignored the Prime Minister's call for Tories to oppose sleaze and corruption by refusing to condemn this breach of the electorate's trust; calls on the Prime Minister to make good his promises to rid the Conservative Party of sleaze and corruption by taking immediate firm action against Tories on Brent Council in accordance with his statement to the House made on Tuesday 18th October in Prime minister's Questions; and regrets that Tory rule in Brent has sullied the name of the area, associating it with bribery, corruption and a complete lack of principle in the pursuit of power.

That this House notes that Brent Conservative councillor, Mr Bill Duffin, the current Chair of the Housing Committee and former Tory councillor, Leslie Winters, failed to declare a financial interest in a planning application by their employer which they promoted in the council; notes that Tory councillor, Mr David Tobert,...

That this House notes that two Brent Conservative councillors, Mr Bill Duffin, the current Chair of the Housing Committee, and Mr David Tobert, have failed to declare a financial interest in a planning application by their employer which they promoted in the council; further notes that the current Tory group leader Mr Bob Blackman has blatantly ignored the Prime Minister's call for Tories to oppose sleaze and corruption by refusing to condemn this breach of the electorate's trust; calls on the Prime Minister to make good his promises to rid the Conservative Party of sleaze and corruption by taking immediate firm action against Tories on Brent Council in accordance with his statement to the House made on Tuesday 18th October in Prime Minister's Questions; and regrets that Tory rule in Brent has sullied the name of the area, associating it with bribery, corruption and a complete lack of principle in the pursuit of power.

That this House notes that two Brent Conservative councillors, Mr Bill Duffin, the current Chair of the Housing Committee, and Mr David Tobert, have failed to declare a financial interest in a planning application by their employer which they promoted in the council; further notes that the current Tory group...

That this House notes that the decision of Brent Council's Development Control sub-committee to ignore the advice of their officers and grant planning permission to Mr Jim Carlon for the use of The Kingdom, 229 Kilburn High Road, as a restaurant is contrary to the policy of the council on the grounds of loss of residential accommodation, opposition to any further A3 uses on Kilburn High Road, intensification of existing use beyond a satisfactory level in terms of noise and disturbance to residents and increased parking; records its respect for councillors Janice Long (Labour) and Peter Nelke (Conservative) who opposed the decision; invites councillors Sayer (Conservative), Joseph (Labour), Maloney (Labour), Tobert (Conservative) and Cummings (Lib-Dem) to explain the reasons for their decision which has reinforced public concern at the extent of corruption in Brent Council which is so extensive that the Development Control Sub-committee has become known as the brown envelope committee.

That this House notes that the decision of Brent Council's Development Control sub-committee to ignore the advice of their officers and grant planning permission to Mr Jim Carlon for the use of The Kingdom, 229 Kilburn High Road, as a restaurant is contrary to the policy of the council on...

That this House notes with concern the activities of local developer Mr Jim Carlon in the use of his influence within local political parties to control the planning decisions of Brent Council, in particular his attempt to pack the local Kilburn ward Labour Party selection meeting to ensure the reselection of former councillor M. Rashid, who had consistently voted to overturn local planning guidelines in order to benefit speculative developers by registering six members who he claimed lived at The Kingdom, 229 Kilburn High Road; further notes that when visited by a Labour Party official to inform him of the disqualification of these phoney members he was in the company of Councillor John Warren, former Tory deputy leader of the council and former councillor Leslie Winters (Conservative); further notes that Councillor B. Duffin (Conservative) records his employment by Jim Carlon in his entry in the members' register of interests; and calls on all Brent councillors to sever their links with Mr Carlon.

That this House notes with concern the activities of local developer Mr Jim Carlon in the use of his influence within local political parties to control the planning decisions of Brent Council, in particular his attempt to pack the local Kilburn ward Labour Party selection meeting to ensure the reselection...

That this House calls on Westminster Conservative councillors to explain why schemes in an environmental project called Quality of Life were, according to internal Tory documents, to be targeted as far as possible into eight marginal wards in Westminster; notes that this targeting was part of the so-called Building Stable Communities strategy whose aim was to gerrymander the 1990 local elections; further notes that the councillor in charge of the Quality of Life project was Miles Young, currently the Leader of Westminster Council; calls on him to explain why in 1987 he put forward proposals that were subsequently implemented for the unlawful targeting of environmental and enforcement spending in the marginal wards, his role in the eviction of homeless young people from the Ambrosden Hostel in his marginal ward of Victoria and its subsequent sale to developers at ??2 million below its market value as part of the gerrymandering strategy and his role in co-ordinating unlawful party political publicity expenditure by the council through the so-called BSC Communications Strategy; and also calls on Robert Davis, the current Chair of the Planning Committee in Westminster, to explain why he wrote a paper in 1987 advocating that planning enforcement resources should, in line with BSC strategy, be concentrated in target marginal wards to ensure that the right type of homes are provided bringing with it the right sort of voters.

That this House calls on Westminster Conservative councillors to explain why schemes in an environmental project called Quality of Life were, according to internal Tory documents, to be targeted as far as possible into eight marginal wards in Westminster; notes that this targeting was part of the so-called Building Stable...

That this House condemns the leader of the Liberal Democrats in Hackney, Councillor Colin Beadle, for not paying his council tax last year and for laughing at the overwhelming majority of people in Hackney who did pay; notes that at the last local elections Beadle's nomination for the Council was signed by a well known Nazi and former member of the National Front called Gary Russell; further notes that Beadle's only contribution in the current election campaign has been to make a number of racist allegations, which he has had to withdraw because of threats of libel writs; and calls on all decent people to have nothing to do with the Liberal Democrats in Hackney.

That this House condemns the leader of the Liberal Democrats in Hackney, Councillor Colin Beadle, for not paying his council tax last year and for laughing at the overwhelming majority of people in Hackney who did pay; notes that at the last local elections Beadle's nomination for the Council was...

That this House believes that free debate is the essence of democracy and that local government is at the front line of this democracy; regrets therefore that at the full meeting of Birmingham City Council on Tuesday 12th April the leader of the Conservative Opposition, Councillor Bernard Zissman, led a walkout of half of his group members and therefore was not present at the debate on the Education Committee Report; applauds the courage of Conservative Councillor Allan Blumenthal, a City Councillor for more than 10 years, for writing to his leader saying how embarrassed he and his colleagues were by the walkout calling for Councillor Zissman to consider his position as leader; and calls upon the national Conservative Party leadership to explain to Councillor Zissman that organising walkouts of the debating forum of the largest local authority in England is not the action of a mature political leader.

That this House believes that free debate is the essence of democracy and that local government is at the front line of this democracy; regrets therefore that at the full meeting of Birmingham City Council on Tuesday 12th April the leader of the Conservative Opposition, Councillor Bernard Zissman, led a...

That this House deplores the shameful attacks made by Conservative Councillors on Leicester City Council against the Right Reverend Thomas Butler, Bishop of Leicester, following his plea in the Leicester Mercury for tolerance, respect and understanding between people of different religions and cultures; fully supports the views of the Bishop that it would be `tragic if local politics began to be divisive of the communities' in Leicester; calls on the Prime Minister forthwith to dissociate himself from the unwarranted and disgraceful attack by members of his party on the integrity of the Bishop of Leicester; and asks him to join with all people of goodwill to reaffirm the commitment to the promotion of good community relations throughout Britain.

That this House deplores the shameful attacks made by Conservative Councillors on Leicester City Council against the Right Reverend Thomas Butler, Bishop of Leicester, following his plea in the Leicester Mercury for tolerance, respect and understanding between people of different religions and cultures; fully supports the views of the Bishop...

That this House notes with alarm the contents of a confidential memorandum written by Nigel Rix, former land and property manager for Hertsmere District Council naming Conservative Council leader Michael Byrne at the centre of irregularities in property dealings worth ??1 million; notes the memorandum discloses that senior council officials were involved in meetings with Councillor Byrne, who urged that Rialto Homes be allowed to join the shortlist of second round tenders even though their initial bid for ??1,700,000 was not amongst the top six; further notes the same memorandum reveals that in August of 1993 Councillor Byrne engaged in further advocacy on behalf of a Rialto subsidiary, Bayfordbury Estates, who had bid ??306,000 for land which had attracted a best bid of ??430,000 and that Councillor Byrne then indicated that Bayfordbury would increase its bid to ??450,000 if Hertsmere would allow 15 rather than 11 dwellings on the site; believes this case demonstrates the need for legislation to protect whistle-blowers; and urges the Right honourable Member for Sutton Coldfield, as Tory Party Chairman, to make clear that Back to Basics does not mean back to backhanders by instituting an urgent internal inquiry into the dodgy dealings of Tory councillors on Hertsmere Borough Council.

That this House notes with alarm the contents of a confidential memorandum written by Nigel Rix, former land and property manager for Hertsmere District Council naming Conservative Council leader Michael Byrne at the centre of irregularities in property dealings worth ??1 million; notes the memorandum discloses that senior council officials...

That this House applauds the action of the Liberal Democrats' London Region in issuing an ultimatum to the Liberal Democrat councillors in Tower Hamlets to accept the findings of the internal party inquiry which found that Focus leaflets pandered to racism; but regrets that purposeful action to root out racism in the Liberal Democrats has been dismissed by the Liberal Democrat Lancashire County Councillor, Tony Greaves, as 'political correctness'.

That this House applauds the action of the Liberal Democrats' London Region in issuing an ultimatum to the Liberal Democrat councillors in Tower Hamlets to accept the findings of the internal party inquiry which found that Focus leaflets pandered to racism; but regrets that purposeful action to root out racism...

That this House congratulates Mr Albert Annett, Chairman of the Planning Committee of Medina District Council on the Isle of Wight, for resigning from the Tory group in protest against what he calls 'unacceptable pressure' from freemasons; wonders why the Government's alleged commitment to openness has not so far extended to obliging disclosure from freemasons who are public servants; notes with satisfaction that, in the absence of Government action, an increasing number of local authorities are making freemasonry a declarable interest; and hopes that others will do so, particularly in the Isle of Wight.

That this House congratulates Mr Albert Annett, Chairman of the Planning Committee of Medina District Council on the Isle of Wight, for resigning from the Tory group in protest against what he calls 'unacceptable pressure' from freemasons; wonders why the Government's alleged commitment to openness has not so far extended...