COUNTERFEIT PRODUCTS ONLINE AND ELECTRICAL SAFETY

Early day motion 632, tabled 15 December 2014 by Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour). Signed by 47 members.

That this House recognises the work of Electrical Safety First, a charity dedicated to preventing deaths, injuries and damage caused by electricity, to raise awareness of people being put at risk by a new trend in which thousands of potentially dangerous counterfeit products are out on sale on social media; notes that sales of illegal, fake goods on social media have increased by nearly 15 per cent in the last year; further notes that, in the past year, the percentage of counterfeit goods seized by authorities because they posed a threat to people's health and safety has doubled, with the number of mobile telephones seized for this reason increasing by over 50 per cent in the last year; further notes that counterfeit electrical products often contain faulty parts, causing electric shocks, overheating and the ability to catch fire contributing to nearly 6,000 house fires; and calls on the Government to assess and tackle the number of dangerous counterfeit electrical goods being sold on social media in the UK.

Signatures by party: Labour 26, Liberal Democrat 9, DUP 5, Independent 2, Plaid Cymru 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Conservative 1.