The UK Parliament Early Day Motion on Panorama

expatbrit

You may recall reading in another thread a BBC update to their Panorama programme. It went as follows:

Panorama was congratulated in the House of Commons on its showing of Suffer the Little Children. There were immediate calls for the Government to institute an inquiry into the circumstances of past and present cases of child abuse amongst Jehovah's Witnesses in an Early Day Motion supported by 34 MPs.
Following the programme Hilary Benn MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Community and Custodial Provision, met reporter Betsan Powys to discuss in detail the allegations made and the huge, international response to the programme by telephone and e-mail. A Radio Five Live phone-in immediately after the programme received an unprecedented number of calls, many from people who were speaking out for the first time. Hilary Benn has since invited the Watchtower Society to a meeting at the Home Office to discuss the failings of their child protection policy.
Over the summer Panorama was contacted by past and present Jehovah's Witnesses from four continents, all keen to let us know that the programme had caused uproar and huge embarrassment to the organisation. Meetings were held at every single Kingdom Hall to discuss its implications. Many hoped the programme would lead to real change.

The Early Day Motion is basically Parliament's equivalent of starting a thread on JW com. One MP starts it, and then other Mp's sign their support. Should an EDM get enough support, it may well be discussed further and action may be taken.

The EDM concerning the Panorama programme was as follows:

EDM 1624
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 15.07.02
Clark/Helen
That this House congratulates the BBC on its showing of the Panorama programme which exposes the lack of an appropriate child protection policy amongst Jehovah's Witnesses, since it is the organisation's policy to consider congregation members accused of child sexual abuse innocent unless there are two witnesses, even in the case of listed paedophiles; notes that previous attempts on the part of victims of this abuse to obtain official recognition of the issues involved have been unsuccessful; and calls upon the Government to institute an immediate inquiry into the circumstances of the past and present cases of such abuse.

There were in fact 38 signatures to this EDM. Here is a list of the signatories:

Clark/Helen

BUT, an EDM only remains current for the rest of the session in which they were put down. At the end of the session, they "fall" i.e. expire. However, an EDM can be reintroduced in the following session. The signatures it has gained are NOT automatically carried over to the next session if the EDM is renewed.

What does this mean? It means that the Panorama EDM has fallen, since the session it was put down in has ended. I've checked on the UK Governments EDM database, and it has not been renewed.

For all practical purposes, then, the Panorama issue is currently dead as far as the House of Commons goes. BUT, it could be resurrected if Ms. Clark would put it down again.

So, how about it UK'ers? How about sending Helen Clark MP a nice email thanking her for taking an interest in the issue and for putting down the EDM, and asking her if she would be so good as to reintroduce this EDM in the current session?

Here is a link to a page listing UK MP's which you can use to send email messages:

http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/alms.htm

Also, since the signatures are not carried forward on EDM's, perhaps an email to the signatories would be a good idea too. Note that on the MP's email page it will tell you that :

Please note that MPs will generally only deal with cases concerning their own constituents. It is therefore important that you include your full address and postcode in this form.

This means that if you actually live in the constituency of one of the above signatories, your email will be given much greater weight.

And if your MP didn't sign, perhaps an email to them hoping that said EDM can be reintroduced and encouraging them to sign it might be an idea.

Are EDM's of any use? Most of them never result in anything because they simply fall and die. But some do get results. The process leading to the fall of the Labour Government in 1979 began with a humble EDM.

Expatbrit

expatbrit

I wonder if the Watchtower met with Hilary Benn. He is MP for Leeds. Any of constituents among the JW.com throng who would be willing to email him and find out?

Expatbrit

Simon

I think emailing or writing all those who supported it thanking them and those who didn't expressing disappointment would be good (esp. for us in the UK).

nicolaou

Thanks for bringing this to our attention Expat'. Contrary to what has been posted elsewhere about the futility of trying to 'reform' the Watchtower, I feel that keeping the pressure on can sometimes effect a change.

A lot of MP's prefer fax to email and getting your message to them this was is real easy, just be sure to only fax your own MP. Non-constituent faxes will be ignored and, worse, could damage our objective. Be polite, brief and to the point.

Have your message all ready in Notepad then just enter your postcode in the blue box below and follow the simple instructions.
Good luck!

Nic'

ChristianObserver

Hello :o)

As these 38 have expressed an interest, one possible course of action would be to find a constituent who is a past or present member of WTBTS or who is a victim of the policy, to ask their MP (ie 1 of the 38) to ask Hilary Benn for a report on his meeting with the WTBTS. Someone with a *locus* is needed in this instance! There is a good chance that such a person would receive an answer from their MP and a VERY SLIM chance that the question would be raised on the floor of the House.

Another route would be to mail information to the charities - NSPCC, Childline, Children's Society etc - and ask whether they have taken this up with the minister. Has anyone on this board contacted any of the charities......?

searcher

I did contact all of the MP's listed ( who had email addys) with a short thank you note as below,

Thank you for supporting EDM 1624. I see that the motion has fallen due to the end of the session, I hope you will support the EDM again in the next session, as I am sure Mrs.Clark will put the motion down again. I realise that I am not a member of your constituancy, but Child Abuse is a problem that should be addressed by everyone is it not ?
Thank You.

Although I am not in any of the constituancys, no politition is going to ignore the thanks of the public.

If we show them that we have an interest, then it is highly likely that they will take note.

searcher.

waiting

I think Searcher answered my question..........but to be sure (and a friendly bttt) -

are only UK'ers to respond?

South Carolina 'mercun waiting

onthego

Thanks Bill and everyone including Erica Garza for speaking out to start the ball rolling, all the way to Parliament.

expatbrit

Waiting:

By all means give 'em the Mercun point of view. ("Do you speak English over there?"....lol)

Seriously though, the positve side is that if they read your mail it'll emphasise that this is not just a few local incidents, as the WT is trying to spin it. The negative side is they may not even get to see your mail, it's sort of like a Canadian emailing a US member of congress.

Expatbrit

searcher

I have recieved two reply emails already from politians who state they will support the motion when it is put down again, so the emails are worth doing.

searcher.

	JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE	15.07.02
	Clark/Helen

The UK Parliament Early Day Motion on Panorama

Share this