WHALING AND THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN

Early day motion 1482, tabled 25 January 2006 by Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative). Signed by 1 member.

That this House condemns the government of Japan for its current scientific whaling within the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary; deplores the cruelty of Japanese whaling operations as shown in recent film footage of harpooned minke whales suffering long and painful deaths; deeply regrets that more than 6,800 minke whales have been killed in the name of science in Antarctic waters since the moratorium on commercial whaling was introduced in 1986; fears that Japan is close to commanding a majority bloc in the International Whaling Commission; welcomes the 17-nation demarche in January 2006, which included the United Kingdom, calling on the government of Japan to cease immediately its lethal scientific research and curtail its current plans to catch 935 minke whales and 10 endangered fin whales; notes the huge public interest in and sympathy for the northern bottlenose whale recently found in the Thames; and strongly urges the United Kingdom Government to recognise the public interest in whales and put further pressure on the government of Japan at the highest diplomatic levels to cease its whaling programme.

Signatures by party: Conservative 1.