Prostitution And Call-Barring

EDM number 560 in 2004-05, proposed by Karen Buck on 19/01/2005.

That this House notes the significant and growing problem of prostitute carding in telephone boxes in the UK, which has been acknowledged by the Government in its review of prostitution; further notes that carding is simply a visible top layer of criminal activity behind which lies a range of serious crimes, including human trafficking, illegal immigration and drug dealing; welcomes the leadership shown by BT to tackle prostitute carding by barring incoming calls to any BT owned telephone number appearing on the cards; further welcomes the recent agreement by NTL and Telewest to support and implement this system; expresses disappointment at the continued inaction of mobile phone operators in implementing this simple, cost -effective measure; recognises that the only viable option for an effective solution will come through a statutory system of call-barring; further notes that the Home Office's original intention was that such a system would be set in place to complement the criminalisation of carding in the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001; and calls on the Government to take the necessary steps to introduce statutory call-barring at the earliest opportunity.

This motion has been signed by a total of 94 MPs.