MPs debate the Shrewsbury 24 and release of papers
23 January 2014
On Thursday 23 January, MPs debated the Shrewsbury 24 and the release of related papers. This debate was scheduled by the Backbench Business Committee following representations from Mr David Anderson, Jim Sheridan, Steve Rotheram, John Cryer.
Watch the debate and read the transcript
Mr David Anderson opened this debate, which was the first item of main business on Thursday, following the Ministerial Statement on Armed Forces restructuring: final redundancies.
- Watch Parliament TV: MPs debate the Shrewsbury 24 and release of papers
- Read Commons Hansard: MPs debate the Shrewsbury 24 and release of papers
Text of the Motion
"That this House is seriously concerned at the decision of the Government to refuse to release papers related to the building dispute in 1972 and subsequent prosecutions of the workers known as the Shrewsbury 24 and calls on it to reverse this position as a matter of urgency."
MPs voted by 120 to three in favour of the motion.
How the subject was selected
The subject for this debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee following representation from Mr David Anderson, Jim Sheridan, Steve Rotheram, John Cryer at the public meeting on Tuesday 3 December 2013.
- Parliament TV: Backbench Business Committee on 3 December 2013
- Transcript of oral evidence heard on 3 December 2013
Backbench Business Committee
The Backbench Business Committee meets weekly on Tuesdays at 3pm to consider requests for debates from any backbench Members of Parliament on any subject, including those raised in e-petitions or national campaigns.
An MP must make a representation before the Committee for an e-petition or petition to be debated; e-petitions exceeding the Government's 100,000 signature threshold are not automatically allocated backbench time.
The Committee then has to decide how to allocate the limited Parliamentary time it has at its disposal. The Committee's meetings are always conducted in public and can be watched on Parliament TV.