CHILDHOOD LEUKAEMIA AND OVERHEAD POWER LINES

Early day motion 403, tabled 23 June 2005 by Howard Stoate (Labour). Signed by 223 members.

That this House recognises that childhood leukaemia is the UK's biggest child-killer disease and that it is still on the increase; welcomes the publication of the paper, `Childhood cancer in relation to distance from high voltage power lines in England and Wales', known as the Draper Report, funded by the Department of Health; notes that the conclusion to the report states `There is an association between childhood leukaemia and proximity of home address at birth to high voltage power lines and the apparent risk extends to a greater distance than would have been expected from previous studies'; recognises that the proportion of the UK population now known to be at increased risk of childhood leukaemia from proximity to such lines is 10 times greater than previously demonstrated; endorses the call by the charity Children with Leukaemia to introduce an immediate moratorium on the building of new schools and homes in the proximity of these lines and to increase funding for research into the relationship between electric and magnetic fields and causation of childhood leukaemia; and calls on the Government to take immediate action to help protect children's health.

Signatures by party: Labour 120, Conservative 46, Liberal Democrat 43, DUP 6, Independent 2, Plaid Cymru 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Respect 1, UUP 1.