Redundant Trawlermen

EDM number 217 in 1995-96, proposed by Austin Mitchell on 18/12/1995.

That this House condemns the abrupt and ill considered decision by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Competition and Consumer Affairs at the Department of Trade and Industry to wind up the special unit set up by the Department of Employment to process redundancy claims by former fishermen and to refuse all applications for such payments after the end of this year; considers that this decision displays a lack of concern for fishermen who have been fighting for 20 years to get the Government to recognise their rights to redundancy; believes that, since the Government has been forced to accept the decision of the courts, it is adding insult to injury to allow only three years for claims; suggests that now that the principle of a right to redundancy payments has been established it would be wrong to refuse to entertain them after a set date; points out that this directly contradicts the assurance given in November 1992 to honourable Members and the British Fishermen's Association that there would be no time limit on applications; and asks the Government to reconsider a decision which is unfair and unreasonable.

This motion has been signed by a total of 65 MPs.