PROPOSED DISBANDMENT OF THE POLICE SILVER BAND IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Early day motion 404, tabled 17 December 2002 by Jeffrey Donaldson (UUP). Signed by 15 members.

That this House deplores the decision of the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to disband in 2003 the Police Silver Band that was formed in 1922 and has played at the funerals of hundreds of courageous police officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary who were murdered by terrorists and that also carried out considerable charitable work, often on a cross-community basis; notes the claim that this decision was motivated by the need to have more police officers on operational duty; and calls for the scrapping of the discriminatory 50/50 recruitment policy which is seriously inhibiting the ability of the PSNI, both to attract sufficient new recruits and to employ adequate numbers of civilian staff, which will release more police officers into the district command units.

Signatures by party: UUP 5, Conservative 4, DUP 3, Labour 2, Liberal Democrat 1.