SOUTH AFRICAN TRADES UNIONS AND ZIMBABWE

Early day motion 1350, tabled 21 April 2008 by Lord Brady of Altrincham (Conservative). Signed by 77 members.

That this House congratulates the members of South African trades unions who have refused to unload a Chinese vessel containing weapons bound for Zimbabwe; notes that the An Yue Jiange is thought to be carrying around three million rounds of ammunition, thousands of mortar bombs and rocket-propelled grenades; shares the fears of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, the main trade union at the port of Durban, that the arms would be used by President Robert Mugabe against the Zimbabwean people in an attempt to prop up his tyrannical regime; and calls on the UK Government to exert pressure on the Chinese government to stop the shipment and to support an international ban on the sale of arms to Zimbabwe.

Signatures by party: Labour 43, Liberal Democrat 11, Conservative 10, DUP 5, Social Democratic and Labour Party 3, Independent 2, Plaid Cymru 1, Scottish National Party 1, UKIP 1.