That this House acknowledges the view of the World Bank that Israel's occupation is preventing Palestine from accessing its natural resources, including not only oil and gas but also agricultural land and water acquifers; notes the natural gas reserves of Gaza Marine One and Noa South of Gaza Marine Two are in Gaza's territorial waters and contain at least $5 billion of gas; further notes that BG Group has held a licence since 1999 but Israel's intransigence has prevented it from commencing exploration; further notes the already operational Meged oil field in Israel is believed to contain reserves of at least 3.5 million barrels and to extend into the Occupied West Bank; further notes that Israel has also issued licences for oil exploration in the occupied Golan Heights in violation of international law; recalls that the Oslo Accords oblige Israel to co-ordinate exploration for natural resources in shared territory with the Palestine Authority and share its benefits; and therefore calls on the Government, together with its European partners, to press Israel to abide by its obligations and cease obstructing legitimate Palestinian endeavours aimed at accessing its natural resources.

That this House acknowledges the view of the World Bank that Israel's occupation is preventing Palestine from accessing its natural resources, including not only oil and gas but also agricultural land and water acquifers; notes the natural gas reserves of Gaza Marine One and Noa South of Gaza Marine Two...

That this House notes the contribution of Sikh soldiers in the First World War when over 138,000 Indian troops fought in Belgium and France, many of them Sikh; recognises that more than one-quarter of these soldiers would become casualties; further notes that in March 1915, 100 years ago, Sikh troops along with counterparts from around the British Empire fought in the bloody battle of Neuve Chapelle and many made the ultimate sacrifice; further recognises that Sikh regiments lost nearly four-fifths of their men and three regiments stood at only 16 per cent of their original strength; and urges the Government to support the erection of a permanent monument in Central London to highlight and commemorate their brave actions and grave losses.

That this House notes the contribution of Sikh soldiers in the First World War when over 138,000 Indian troops fought in Belgium and France, many of them Sikh; recognises that more than one-quarter of these soldiers would become casualties; further notes that in March 1915, 100 years ago, Sikh troops...

That this House agrees with the United Nations Secretary-General that there is a dire humanitarian situation in Gaza; fears the outbreak of further hostilities unless the situation improves dramatically; notes the considerable amount of British and other international aid required to keep Gaza from deteriorating further and to assist in the reconstruction of infrastructure and homes; regrets that the Israeli authorities continue to refuse access to British elected representatives to visit Gaza via Erez checkpoint; further notes that, given the dangerous security situation in the Sinai, the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing is the only viable entry point; and asks the Government to do everything in its power to persuade the Israeli authorities to permit parliamentary access into Gaza to assess the situation, the needs of the population and how British funds are being spent.

That this House agrees with the United Nations Secretary-General that there is a dire humanitarian situation in Gaza; fears the outbreak of further hostilities unless the situation improves dramatically; notes the considerable amount of British and other international aid required to keep Gaza from deteriorating further and to assist in...

That this House condemns in the strongest possible terms the employment practices of the cleaning contractor employed by Sotheby's London branch, Contract Cleaning and Maintenance (London) Ltd (CCML), towards the cleaners and porters who are members of the trade union United Voices of the World (UVW) who have issued a notice of a formal trade dispute; is appalled at CCML's poor employment practices, which include the unwarranted suspension of a porter following a grievance he made about poor treatment, the refusal to stop using certain chemicals which leave cleaners with breathing difficulties, chest pains and rashes, the unwarranted deduction of wages and working hours, overworking and shouting at porters and cleaners, reprimanding a porter for using the toilet outside his official break time, threatening a cleaner with suspension for not being clean shaven, a refusal to discipline aggressive managers, a refusal to pay contractual sick pay instead of statutory sick pay, so as to relieve the cleaners and porters of the choice between working sick, or not working, and therefore falling behind on their rent or risk facing eviction, and a refusal of CCML to backdate the current London Living Wage to 1 November 2014; supports the demands of CCML employees for dignity and respect at work and for the London Living Wage to be backdated; calls on CCML to work to resolve this dispute; and urges Sotheby's to bring pressure to bear on CCML in resolving the dispute as a matter of urgency.

That this House condemns in the strongest possible terms the employment practices of the cleaning contractor employed by Sotheby's London branch, Contract Cleaning and Maintenance (London) Ltd (CCML), towards the cleaners and porters who are members of the trade union United Voices of the World (UVW) who have issued a...

That this House notes that Shell UK Ltd has awarded the Swiss-based Allseas Group SA the contract for the removal, transportation and load-in to shore of the topsides of three of its Brent platforms that are situated on the UK Continental Shelf; further notes that Allseas will use its newest vessel the Pieter Schelte for the task; further notes that the vessel operates under a Panamanian flag of convenience and is named after the Company owner Edward Heerema's father who served as a Waffen SS officer and was jailed for war crimes at the end of the war; further notes that events were recently held throughout the UK to commemorate the Holocaust and crimes committed against humanity during the war; believes that communities throughout the UK will be outraged that a vessel named in honour of a Nazi officer is to be utilised in the North Sea; and calls on the UK and Scottish Governments to protest to Allseas Group SA and Shell UK Ltd with the demand that until such times as there is a change of name, this vessel does not operate.

That this House notes that Shell UK Ltd has awarded the Swiss-based Allseas Group SA the contract for the removal, transportation and load-in to shore of the topsides of three of its Brent platforms that are situated on the UK Continental Shelf; further notes that Allseas will use its newest...

That this House salutes Red Spokes for organising the Big Ride, a sponsored bicycle ride by some 1,000 cyclists from Edinburgh to London to be held from 1 to 9 August to raise money for the Middle East Children's Alliance, a non-profit organisation which is dedicated to helping deprived children who are war victims in Gaza; and hopes that not only will this venture be financially successful but will draw increased attention to the plight of Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank.

That this House salutes Red Spokes for organising the Big Ride, a sponsored bicycle ride by some 1,000 cyclists from Edinburgh to London to be held from 1 to 9 August to raise money for the Middle East Children's Alliance, a non-profit organisation which is dedicated to helping deprived children...

That this House recognises the enormous cultural, academic and economic contribution that international students studying at UK universities make to the country; is concerned at the dramatic drop in students enrolling to study at UK universities from some of the UK's major international trading partners; believes that the public does not generally view international students to be migrants and does not wish to see their number reduced; and urges the Government to exclude university students from efforts to bear down on immigration including by removing university students from any target to reduce net migration.

That this House recognises the enormous cultural, academic and economic contribution that international students studying at UK universities make to the country; is concerned at the dramatic drop in students enrolling to study at UK universities from some of the UK's major international trading partners; believes that the public does...

That this House recognises that there were 7.5 million electors missing from the electoral register in 2010 and that no improvement has been made in registering these missing millions of voters over the past five years; notes this figure has now increased by the loss of one million young voters; further recognises that in the 2010 General Election the Electoral Commission set itself a very low target to register just 1.8 per cent of unregistered voters, totalling 142,000 people; further notes that the Electoral Commission 2014-19 Corporate Plan, page 16, continues with a lack of ambition as it is prepared to accept similar low levels of non-registraton of 7.5 million over the next five years; further notes that the Electoral Commission has failed to take effective action against electoral registration officers who repeatedly fail to implement their statutory duties; and further notes that the cumulative effect of this inaction and low ambition will have a negative effect on voter turnout and engagement in the General Election and leave off millions of voters when the new parliamentary boundaries are redrawn in December 2015.

That this House recognises that there were 7.5 million electors missing from the electoral register in 2010 and that no improvement has been made in registering these missing millions of voters over the past five years; notes this figure has now increased by the loss of one million young voters;...

That this House recognises the cross-party unity in implementing the Electoral Administration Act 2009 to introduce individual electoral registration (IER); notes that the timescale for its introduction was after May 2015; further notes that the reason for this long lead in time was to register the 7.5 million missing voters; further notes that this cross-party unity was shattered in 2010 when the Coalition Government brought forward the date for the introduction of IER; further notes that the stated reason for bringing forward the date for introduction of IER was public concern over electoral registration fraud; further notes that only one person had been successfully prosecuted for electoral registration fraud in the previous four years; further notes that the Government has failed to reduce the number of non-registered voters over the past five years; further notes that this figure has now been increased by an additional one million young people left off the new register; further notes that a possible additional 5.5 million voters could fail to be transferred to the new IER register; and further notes that the combined impact of these failures will have a detrimental effect on the General Election and a detrimental impact on the number of people excluded from the calculations in the new Parliamentary Boundary Review which starts in December 2015.

That this House recognises the cross-party unity in implementing the Electoral Administration Act 2009 to introduce individual electoral registration (IER); notes that the timescale for its introduction was after May 2015; further notes that the reason for this long lead in time was to register the 7.5 million missing voters;...

That this House expresses concern that the Home Office has made a rule change, due to be enforced on 26 January 2015, so that asylum seekers who have been refused leave to remain will have to submit evidence in person in Liverpool regarding their case, regardless of where they are living; notes that asylum seekers who have been refused leave to remain can under current arrangements present evidence at a local centre; further notes that this means it is more affordable for charities, other organisations and individuals to help pay for an asylum seeker's travel fare or volunteer to take somebody who cannot use public transport due to a disability or other reasons; expresses further concern that the rule change will make it much harder for asylum seekers to present evidence which may be crucial to correctly resolving their case; and urges the Government to abandon this rule change and ensure that people seeking protection in the UK are able to present evidence relating to their case.

That this House expresses concern that the Home Office has made a rule change, due to be enforced on 26 January 2015, so that asylum seekers who have been refused leave to remain will have to submit evidence in person in Liverpool regarding their case, regardless of where they are...

That this House notes that racehorses are routinely beaten with a whip under rules set by the industry's regulatory body, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA); further notes that these rules explicitly sanction this violent treatment in order that jockeys may encourage racehorses to improve their chances of winning, even though evidence indicates that whipping for this purpose is counter-productive; further notes that no other animal can be legally beaten in such circumstances and that a 2014 YouGov poll found that 70 per cent of all respondents oppose racehorses being whipped; recognises that, for genuine purposes of safety where other methods have failed to bring a horse under control, a whip can be legitimately employed, as is the case in Norway; and calls on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ensure that the BHA's rules are amended to forbid use of the whip for encouragement or for equivalent reasons.

That this House notes that racehorses are routinely beaten with a whip under rules set by the industry's regulatory body, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA); further notes that these rules explicitly sanction this violent treatment in order that jockeys may encourage racehorses to improve their chances of winning, even though...

That this House condemns the arbitrary nature of the minimum income threshold in the Immigration Rules; notes that the requirement for citizens to be earning at least £18,600 for their non-EU family members to be able to migrate to the UK unfairly discriminates against those who live in areas of the country with lower wages, and those who may have an income below £18,600 but are still able to accommodate a family member, such as pensioners; further notes a study by Middlesex University which found that the financial requirement costs the Government money due to the loss of migrants' economic activity; and calls on the Government to introduce more flexibility into the financial threshold to ensure that families are not unnecessarily kept apart.

That this House condemns the arbitrary nature of the minimum income threshold in the Immigration Rules; notes that the requirement for citizens to be earning at least £18,600 for their non-EU family members to be able to migrate to the UK unfairly discriminates against those who live in areas of...

That this House notes the recent report by Professor Peter Walton on the likely impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 on insolvency litigation; further notes that Professor Walton's empirical evidence shows that from April 2015 the Act will have a negative impact on creditors, including the taxpayer and businesses, as well as the public interest; notes concerns from business groups representing creditors, including the Institute of Credit Management and the British Property Federation; is concerned that more than £160 million owed to businesses and the taxpayer each year could remain with directors or third parties that have wrongly, negligently or fraudulently taken money out of a business as a result of the Act; and calls on the Government to review the legislation before it comes into force in April 2015.

That this House notes the recent report by Professor Peter Walton on the likely impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 on insolvency litigation; further notes that Professor Walton's empirical evidence shows that from April 2015 the Act will have a negative impact on creditors,...

That this House welcomes the Ending Cold Homes: Affordable Warmth Manifesto launched by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, an alliance of over 50 poverty, environmental and consumer groups, trade unions and other civil society organisations; supports the Manifesto's core aim of ending the misery of fuel poverty in the UK; further supports the six key pledges set out in the Manifesto: to improve the energy efficiency standards of all low income homes to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C by 2025, to make energy efficiency a national infrastructure priority, to implement a cross-departmental fuel poverty strategy, to use trusted agencies and organisations, such as local authorities, to improve homes and encourage health and social workers to refer people for home improvements, to require fuel companies to provide a better deal for low income households, with rebates on fuel bills to all low income consumers and to ensure employment and income policies provide a sufficient income to pay fuel bills and maintain a good standard of living; and therefore urges current and future governments to support the Affordable Warmth Manifesto and take immediate action on fuel poverty to improve the quality of millions of people's lives across the UK.

That this House welcomes the Ending Cold Homes: Affordable Warmth Manifesto launched by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, an alliance of over 50 poverty, environmental and consumer groups, trade unions and other civil society organisations; supports the Manifesto's core aim of ending the misery of fuel poverty in the UK;...