Mrs Alice Mahon: On election day, Dr. Malko, the president of the Assyrian National Assembly, claimed that up to 400,000 Assyrians and other ethnic minorities were not allowed to vote because ballot boxes did not reach them and Kurdish militia prevented them from going to vote. He has appealed to the Prime Minister to ensure that they get representation given what happened. Has that been investigated? What...
Mrs Alice Mahon: The Minister will be aware that my hon. Friend the Member for Cynon Valley (Ann Clwyd), who is now the special envoy on human rights to Iraq, chaired an organisation, Indict, which collected evidence for years with the express view of having such a tribunal. Now that prospect is gone. Why?
Mrs Alice Mahon: I asked for this debate for three main reasons. When the tribunal was established, I was firmly of the view that it would not heal wounds or bring people together. On the contrary, I thought that it would drive communities in the former Yugoslavia further apart, that it would be conducted on a low threshold of evidence and that it would pit neighbour against neighbour. I have travelled...
Mrs Alice Mahon: I certainly do agree with that, and I will be coming to that. The decision was taken that the Serbs had to be punished collectively and that a veneer of legality would be provided by—in my view—an incompetent tribunal, not one where justice is handed out freely and fairly. If the people in South Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan can try their own people, why cannot the people of the former...
Mrs Alice Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the electoral register in Iraq.
Mrs Alice Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreignand Commonwealth Affairs what estimate his Department made of the percentage of the adult population of Iraq that was registered to vote.
Mrs Alice Mahon: I am sure that the hon. and learned Gentleman knows that Nick Griffin was arrested in Halifax and is being charged under race relations legislation.
Mrs Alice Mahon: Who decides?
Mrs Alice Mahon: Will the hon. and learned Gentleman give way?
Mrs Alice Mahon: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In our next business, we shall debate amendments dealing with religious hatred and blasphemy. I think that most Members would agree that religion is about people's consciences. I understand that some Opposition parties have been given a free vote on the issue. I have asked for one from my party and wonder whether, at this late stage, it has revealed whether...
Mrs Alice Mahon: Has the Leader of the House had time to look at early-day motion 579, signed by 77 Members, [That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2004 (S.I., 2004, No. 3372), dated 17th December 2004, a copy of which was laid before this House on 22nd December, be annulled.]? The motion reflects deep concern about...
Mrs Alice Mahon: I realise that time is against me, but I wish to support the amendment tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley, North and Sefton, East (Mr. Howarth) to bring back Tuesday evenings. When I was elected to this House 18 years ago, I was acutely aware of the privilege that the people of Halifax had bestowed upon me. This is not like any other job in the world. In this House, we have a...
Mrs Alice Mahon: I could not agree more. I also wish to reject the notion that women do not want to enter Parliament because of the hours. We have just had a selection procedure in Halifax, at which brilliant women from John O'Groats to Land's End queued up. Not one of them asked about the hours in this place. In 18 years, I have never had an e-mail, letter or message that has said, "I would vote for you, but...
Mrs Alice Mahon: I would like to lay the myth that everyone who comes here has always worked from nine till five before. My constituents keep the public services going by the 24-hour clock. I worked two nights a week when my children were little, and I thought that those were normal hours. In fact, the parliamentary Labour party's committee stopped meeting on Wednesdays because no one was attending....
Mrs Alice Mahon: I am deeply saddened by the recent torture and death of the well known trade unionist. Is not the truth, however, that the interim Government take their orders from America? We should all deplore the carnage in Falluja and the fact that this unnecessary war has claimed 100,000 victims. A support group has grown up around the Prime Minister, and it has singled out trade unionists as victims,...
Mrs Alice Mahon: Those of us who, unlike many Ministers, campaigned for years against Saddam Hussein find the suggestion that because we opposed the war we supported Saddam Hussein deeply insulting. Can we have an urgent debate on the elections? It should be made clear that if the four provinces where most of the violence is occurring do not participate, half the Iraqi electorate will not participate in the...
Mrs Alice Mahon: As joint chair of the all-party group on road safety, I am pleased about the Bill, which contains many welcome provisions. The Government's road safety strategy over the years has been progressive. It is worth repeating the Secretary of State's opening remark that we have one of the best road safety records in the world. However, it is essential to recognise that far more can be done. In...
Mrs Alice Mahon: Absolutely. I ask the Government to consider that, because we would all agree that the prize of fewer child deaths would be worth while.
Mrs Alice Mahon: The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point, and I hope that the Minister was listening to him. The Bill contains proposals to deal with fatigue-related accidents, which account for about 20 per cent. of deaths on motorways. I have been working on this issue with a small working group involving people from both the medical side and the road transport side. I welcome the inclusion in the Bill...
Mrs Alice Mahon: By any measure, this has been a hideous abuse of human rights and international law. In the context of the special relationship, if it has taken us three years to get our citizens, what hope does the Foreign Secretary have for those of other countries; and will he condemn what has happened in Guantanamo Bay?
