PRISON OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION

EDM number 276 in 1991-92, proposed by Gerry Steinberg on 26/11/1991.

That this House deplores the recent attacks made by some honourable Members and the media, particularly Robert Kilroy-Silk's article in the Daily Express on 28th October, on the Prison Officers' Association; condemns the irresponsible rhetoric of those who have pointed the finger at members of the POA, suggesting they are the source of all the nation's penal system grievances and are responsible for the tension and mistrust in prisons, when it is clear that Government policies have led to prison overcrowding, the closing of prison workshops and the cancellation of education classes; notes that the charges of greed and insensitivity are unsubstantial fits of name-calling; and calls on the Government to oppose these scathing attacks and protect the integrity of the members of the POA and their families.

This motion has been signed by a total of 69 MPs.