That this House congratulates the Financial Services Authority for imposing a time and compensation requirement of ??52 million on the Royal Scottish Assurance for mis-selling endowment mortgages; and looks forward to further fines and the punishment of directors and salespersons of companies who have acted improperly and impoverished millions of people by mis-selling pensions, mortgages and general insurance policies.

That this House congratulates the Financial Services Authority for imposing a time and compensation requirement of ??52 million on the Royal Scottish Assurance for mis-selling endowment mortgages; and looks forward to further fines and the punishment of directors and salespersons of companies who have acted improperly and impoverished millions of...

That this House is alarmed at the continuing high sales of endowment mortgages; agrees with the Consumers' Association that endowments are 'risky inflexible products which typically pay seven times the commission of repayment mortgages'; calls for legislation to end the hidden charges and high redemption charges in other mortgages; and urges speedy compensation for the victims of mis-selling and the establishment of a financial advice service that will be independent of the selling process.

That this House is alarmed at the continuing high sales of endowment mortgages; agrees with the Consumers' Association that endowments are 'risky inflexible products which typically pay seven times the commission of repayment mortgages'; calls for legislation to end the hidden charges and high redemption charges in other mortgages; and...

That this House is alarmed at the evidence published in Financial Adviser and The Sunday Times that reveals that more than two million people may have been mis-sold endowment mortgages; notes that leading independent financial advisers stress that endowment mortgages have been unsuitable for virtually everyone for the past 10 years; regrets that the Personal Investment Authority/Financial Services Authority have not already acted despite evidence of widespread mis-selling revealed by the recent mystery shopper exercises by the Consumers' Association and Suffolk Trading Standards; and calls on the Treasury and FSA to launch an immediate investigation into mis-selling and urges them to consider outlawing endowment mortgages, as the United States has done, and to further consider whether compensation should be paid to those who have suffered financial losses.

That this House is alarmed at the evidence published in Financial Adviser and The Sunday Times that reveals that more than two million people may have been mis-sold endowment mortgages; notes that leading independent financial advisers stress that endowment mortgages have been unsuitable for virtually everyone for the past 10...

That this House applauds the Daily Mail's description of the action of banks and building societies in failing to reduce interest rates as 'greed, naked and unashamed'; notes that half of all mortgages were mis-sold in a recent survey in Suffolk; is concerned that a mortgage mis-selling scandal of epic proportions is occurring; believes that the mortgage industry should be placed under the control of the Financial Services Authority and that a windfall tax should be imposed on its unfair profits; and calls on the Government to establish a fee-based independent advice service to provide the public with advice on pensions, mortgages, investments and endowments that would be separate from the paid commission.

That this House applauds the Daily Mail's description of the action of banks and building societies in failing to reduce interest rates as 'greed, naked and unashamed'; notes that half of all mortgages were mis-sold in a recent survey in Suffolk; is concerned that a mortgage mis-selling scandal of epic...

That this House condemns the disgraceful behaviour of Mr J Mole who owns a number of petrol stations in the North-West and sells petrol at ??4.55 per gallon, in comparison with other retailers who are charging ??2.70 per gallon; notes that he mislead motorists about his prices and exploited loopholes in the law concerning the advertisement of petrol prices; and therefore calls upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the President of the Board of Trade to bring forward legislation immediately to stop this despicable practice and to ensure motorists are properly informed about the sale price of petrol.

That this House condemns the disgraceful behaviour of Mr J Mole who owns a number of petrol stations in the North-West and sells petrol at ??4.55 per gallon, in comparison with other retailers who are charging ??2.70 per gallon; notes that he mislead motorists about his prices and exploited loopholes...

That this House condemns the editor of The Sunday Times for declining to publish a letter from Councillor Theresa Stewart, Leader of Birmingham City Council, refuting claims that the council has mis-spent public money and citing the comments on the district auditor that this was 'a proper part of the democratic process'; notes that, despite claims by The Sunday Times on 22nd January, the council employs no female liaison officers, that the budget for the women's festival for 1994 was ??35,600 and not ??100,000, reducing to ??25,660 this year, and that no workshops for lesbians with disabilities are or have been held; and calls upon the editor to show a higher standard of integrity and regard for the facts in reporting the affairs of Birmingham City Council and other local authorities.

That this House condemns the editor of The Sunday Times for declining to publish a letter from Councillor Theresa Stewart, Leader of Birmingham City Council, refuting claims that the council has mis-spent public money and citing the comments on the district auditor that this was 'a proper part of the...

That this House deeply deplores the refusal of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission to entertain the complaint lodged by Derbyshire County Council against the Conservative Party political party broadcast on 6th April, which was a broadcast described by the Conservative opposition group leader on the Derbyshire County Council as basically inaccurate; further notes that the Broadcasting Complaints Commission judges that it is inappropriate to entertain the complaint because it relates to an attack made in a party political broadcast by one political party on another, the validity of which should be dealt with by political debate and not by way of an adjudication by the Commission; believes that this judgement effectively endorses the blatant peddling of untruths in such broadcasts; further believes that this judgement, the announcement of which was delayed until after the close of polls in the local elections, shows the Broadcasting Complaints Commission to be a toothless watchdog that has discredited itself by this decision and which appears to be incapable of setting standards of truthfulness and decency; and is concerned that, unless dealt with firmly by bodies such as the Broadcasting Complaints Commission, the smears and untruths broadcast on 6th April will become the all too common currency of political debate, akin to that of the United States of America, and that this will further fuel an increasing cynicism about politics.

That this House deeply deplores the refusal of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission to entertain the complaint lodged by Derbyshire County Council against the Conservative Party political party broadcast on 6th April, which was a broadcast described by the Conservative opposition group leader on the Derbyshire County Council as basically inaccurate;...

That this House notes that in the Dispatches programme which exposed the ways Ministers can withhold information from Parliament, the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs asserted he had said 'No' when asked by the honourable Member for Blaenau, Gwent whether the decision to grant support for the Pergau Hydro-electric project in Malaysia was linked to any other bilateral trade agreement because he was not prepared to go into any detailed qualification of the word 'No' since 'The Secretary of State himself was giving evidence to the Select Committee two days later' and that it seemed to him 'That's where the matter should be properly investigated'; notes that Parliament was prorogued on 5th November; notes that the Foreign Secretary appeared before the Foreign Affairs Committee on 23rd November but did not discuss Pergau before the Committee until four months later on 2nd March; further notes that at that hearing the Foreign Secretary did admit to a 'temporary entanglement' between arms sales and aid given to Malaysia; notes the Foreign Secretary failed to reveal this in replying to the Right honourable Member for Copeland's question on this matter on 25th January; is concerned that the Parliamentary Under Secretary simply referred to the Foreign Secretary's partial reply in refusing to correct his reply of 3rd November, when requested to do so by the honourable Member for Blaenau, Gwent on 26th January; believes this misrepresentation demonstrates a failure to convey the facts to Parliament; and calls for both Ministers to apologise to Parliament and then resign.

That this House notes that in the Dispatches programme which exposed the ways Ministers can withhold information from Parliament, the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs asserted he had said 'No' when asked by the honourable Member for Blaenau, Gwent whether the decision to grant support for the Pergau...

That this House notes that Conservatives in Derbyshire are backing an official complaint by the Debyshire County Council into a party political broadcast by their own party; supports the complaint which has been made to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission into the Conservative party political broadcast shown on television on 6th April, which has been described by the Conservative opposition group leader of the Derbyshire County Council, Mr John Morgan-Owen, as being basically inaccurate; and notes that a Conservative councillor has submitted a further complaint to the Conservative Party Central Office about the broadcast.

That this House notes that Conservatives in Derbyshire are backing an official complaint by the Debyshire County Council into a party political broadcast by their own party; supports the complaint which has been made to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission into the Conservative party political broadcast shown on television on 6th...

That this House condemns the Conservative Party for carrying a number of false claims about Derbyshire County Council in its party political broadcast shown on television on 6th April, including the claims (a) that Derbyshire County Council is a housing authority, when this function is conducted by the district councils in Derbyshire, (b) that the housing budget totals ??500 million, when a typical district council in Derbyshire only has a budget of ??19 million per annum and (c) that a former Labour county councillor had made claims of ??4,000 whilst in prison; and calls upon the Conservative Party to apologise for peddling such untruths.

That this House condemns the Conservative Party for carrying a number of false claims about Derbyshire County Council in its party political broadcast shown on television on 6th April, including the claims (a) that Derbyshire County Council is a housing authority, when this function is conducted by the district councils...

That this House notes that the burial service department operated by Birmingham City Council makes use of a single mobile telephone to assist in providing an out of hours emergency service; believes this to be a vital facility in a city of one million citizens; considers the implication in the Conservative Party political broadcast of Wednesday 6th April that Birmingham City Council was providing 400 grave diggers with mobile telephones to be quite ridiculous and that the facts were easily checkable both by Saatchi and Saatchi, makers of the broadcast, and the Chairman of the Conservative Party who represents a Birmingham constituency.

That this House notes that the burial service department operated by Birmingham City Council makes use of a single mobile telephone to assist in providing an out of hours emergency service; believes this to be a vital facility in a city of one million citizens; considers the implication in the...

That this House notes the claim in the Conservative Party political broadcast of Wednesday 6th April that Birmingham City Council spent ??400 on recycled paper clips instead of the ??12 normal cost; believes this claim was designed to ridicule Birmingham's contribution to National Environmental Week in 1992; welcomes the fact that this national event was taken seriously as an educational exercise by the Second City; understands that the modest total expenditure of ??400 included the collation, layout and publication of a programme of 70 local environmental events on recycled paper, postage costs of sending environmental educational materials to the schools and the costs of using some waste plastic to create heart shaped plastic paper clips to be given to children as an example of making a product from waste; believes all this information was known to Birmingham Conservative councillors and therefore available to Saatchi and Saatchi, the makers of the broadcast, and the Chairman of the Conservative Party who represents a Birmingham constituency.

That this House notes the claim in the Conservative Party political broadcast of Wednesday 6th April that Birmingham City Council spent ??400 on recycled paper clips instead of the ??12 normal cost; believes this claim was designed to ridicule Birmingham's contribution to National Environmental Week in 1992; welcomes the fact...

That this House notes that the new festive lights were first used in Birmingham in 1992; that the Birmingham Post referred to them as Christmas lights and described the Birmingham City Centre a 'a sparkling picture of colour' after they were switched on; further notes that the Editor of the Birmingham Post has now drawn attention to the omission of Santa Claus, reindeer, fairies, wise men and angels from the same festive lights in 1993; understands that he has attributed these omissions to a deliberate and insidious down-grading of the Christian significance of the festival; and that he has accused the Birmingham City Council of 'insinuating its own politically-correct views on (sic) an unsuspecting populous (sic)' as a result of the design of the lights; wonders why the Editor of the Birmingham Post sees any connection between Christianity and Santa Claus, reindeer and fairies; assumes that he was so dazzled by these lights in 1992 that he failed to spot these omissions; and concludes that he is still so dazzled by the lights that he has also lost his grasp of both grammar and spelling.

That this House notes that the new festive lights were first used in Birmingham in 1992; that the Birmingham Post referred to them as Christmas lights and described the Birmingham City Centre a 'a sparkling picture of colour' after they were switched on; further notes that the Editor of the...

That this House notes that New Street in the City of Birmingham will be illuminated from November 1993 to February 1994; also notes that these lights were used during the same period a year ago, and that the design was agreed with representatives of the traders and unanimously approved by a committee of councillors of all political parties; further notes that the Birmingham Post has now chosen to criticise the design for not including Santa Claus, reindeer, fairies, wise men and angels and attributed these omissions to an alleged outbreak of political correctness among Labour councillors; and expects the publication of similar anti-Labour fantasies by the Conservative-supporting Birmingham Post until the local elections are held in May 1994.

That this House notes that New Street in the City of Birmingham will be illuminated from November 1993 to February 1994; also notes that these lights were used during the same period a year ago, and that the design was agreed with representatives of the traders and unanimously approved by...

That this House notes that the Daily Telegraph falsely stated twice in their 8th December edition that Birmingham City Council had agreed a start-up grant of ??10,000 for a curry house in Kings Norton; also notes that, in fact, the Business Investment and Enterprise Sub-committee of Birmingham City Council has not taken a decision on this grant application; and regards this affair as an other example of reckless anti-Labour fantasy by the Conservative-supporting press in the run up to the local elections.

That this House notes that the Daily Telegraph falsely stated twice in their 8th December edition that Birmingham City Council had agreed a start-up grant of ??10,000 for a curry house in Kings Norton; also notes that, in fact, the Business Investment and Enterprise Sub-committee of Birmingham City Council has...