SCOTTISH WOMEN'S RURAL INSTITUTES AND MRS MAY KIDD

EDM number 18 in 1993-94, proposed by Nigel Griffiths on 18/11/1993.

That this House congratulates the National Federation of Women's Institutes, whose 300,000 members and staff have helped millions of people; but expresses its deep concern at the malice and incompetence of its Chairman in Scotland, Mrs May Kidd, whose actions are bringing the 35,000 members in Scotland into disrepute; believes that the Chairman's unfair and arbitrary dismissal of the general secretary, failure to use the SWRI solicitors Wright, Johnson & MacKenzie and failure to respond to four requests from the Department of Employment for information deprived that employee of entitlement to unemployment pay for two months; notes that the SWRI receives over ú38,000 in public money from the Scottish Office Education Department; notes that staff are forced to copy all incoming and outgoing mail for all four office bearers; notes the failure of the office bearers to follow fair and recognised disciplinary procedures; deplores the attempts by the Chairman to denigrate the outgoing Chairman Marie Mackie; calls on the Secretary of State for Scotland to establish an investigation into the running of the SWRI, and into why the SWRI failed to comply with the Scottish Office Education Department grant conditions and reversed his Department's 1991 office efficiency review; notes the failure of the SWRI to integrate its magazine staff and HQ staff in defiance of their agreement with his Department; notes the failure of the SWRI to produce a salary scale or job description for the new general secretary; and calls on the President of the Board of Trade to suspend Mrs Kidd from the Scottish Consumer Council pending his Right honourable Friend's investigation.

This motion has been signed by a total of 27 MPs, 1 of these signatures have been withdrawn.