FREE PRESS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Early day motion 1064, tabled 11 April 2003 by Harry Barnes (Labour). Signed by 25 members.

That this House condemns without reservation the boycott of the Sunday World newspaper endorsed by the so-called Loyalist Commission based in Belfast; notes that UDA gangs have been intimidating newsagents and van drivers into not selling or delivering the newspaper; further notes with alarm that the Belfast-based editor, Jim McDowell, his family and staff members have been threatened, and that one staff member has had to be relocated after a recent gun attack on his home; remembers with sorrow the fact that one of the Sunday World's reporters, Martin O'Hagan, was murdered by the Loyalist Volunteer Force in 2001; and supports the call from Jim McDowell, a call echoed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the leaders of the Ulster Unionist Party and the Social and Democratic Labour Party, for the boycott to be lifted and for all threats and intimidation to cease immediately, and for the Loyalist Commission to issue an unequivocal public statement to this effect.

Signatures by party: Labour 11, Liberal Democrat 5, Conservative 4, UUP 3, Labour/Co-operative 1, Plaid Cymru 1.