PRIVATE MILITARY AND SECURITY COMPANIES

Early day motion 785, tabled 24 January 2008 by David Anderson (Labour). Signed by 92 members.

That this House is concerned by the exponential growth of private military and security companies (PMSCs) since the invasion of Iraq; is disturbed by the substantial rise of reported incidents of civilian killings and human rights abuses by PMSC guards in Iraq who remain unregulated and unaccountable; further notes that problems posed by proliferation of PMSCs were highlighted in a Green Paper in February 2002 that originated in a request from the Foreign Affairs Committee but that, six years later, there is still no United Kingdom legislation regulating PMSCs; believes that self-regulation by the industry is not appropriate in this instance; and urges the Government to bring forward legislative proposals for the control of the PMSC sector as an urgent priority.

Signatures by party: Labour 52, Liberal Democrat 29, Plaid Cymru 3, Scottish National Party 3, Conservative 1, Independent 1, Independent Labour 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1, UUP 1.