Parliamentary activity

That this House notes that 2003 is the 15th anniversary of the strike by P&O seafarers in Dover who fought for 14 months to retain conditions of service and protect safe manning standards in the wake of the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster; recalls that P&O's response, in breach of ILO Convention 87/9 was to sack the whole workforce of some 2,000 people without options of redundancy or recompense; believes that the strikers were unfairly dismissed; notes that the then opposition front bench...

That this House condemns the failure of the British shipping industry to remedy the inherent instability of roll-on roll-off ferries; is astonished that 10 years after the 'Herald of Free Enterprise' disaster, the Marine Safety Agency is not aware of any British vessel that has implemented the safety measures agreed at Stockholm; notes that five vessels only may be improved by 1998 and that 60 ferries, 60 per cent. of those using British ports, will not meet these basic requirements until Oct...

That this House notes with regret that the honourable Member for Dover has refused to withdraw his deplorable comment that 'There was one simple, basic reason why the 'Herald of Free Enterprise' went down - alcoholism among certain members of the crew'; reminds the House that the investigation into the disaster by Mr Justice Sheen found no evidence that alcohol misuse was in any way connected to the sinking of the ferry; hopes that the honourable Member for Dover will take the opportunity to ...

leave out at from `House' and add `congratulates the honourable Member for Dover for his continued vigorous defence of Dover's ferry industry; notes the extensive support and sympathy that the honourable Member for Dover has given to those who suffered bereavements in the `Herald of Free Enterprise' disaster at religious services and other services in Dover; recognises that at the Coroner's inquest held after the Sheen Report, evidence of alcohol consumption was admitted to by a crew member w...

That this House deplores the comments made by the honourable Member for Dover during a House of Commons debate on Ferry Safety on 21st February in which he said, 'Alcoholism caused the 'Herald of Free Enterprise' to go down. People did not do their jobs because they were drunk'; notes that his comments are in contradiction to those made to the House by the then Secretary of State for Transport on 24th July 1987 and the detailed report by Mr Justice Sheen, both of whom failed to mention alcoho...

That this House notes that P&O, the owners of North Sea Ferries, made an operating profit of ú120 million in the first six months of this year, an increase of 50 per cent. over the same period last year; further notes that contributory factors in the sinking of the 'Herald of Free Enterprise' were crew fatigue and a reduction in the number of officers; and therefore condemns the proposal by P&O North Sea Ferries to reduce leave periods for the crew of the roll on-roll off ferry MV 'Norsky'.