Obscene Telephone Calls
EDM number 153 in 1989-90, proposed by Mildred Gordon on 05/12/1989.
That this House notes with concern the results of a gallup poll conducted by Channel 4 Television showing that every year over eight million obscene telephone calls are received by women in Britain and that every day more than two thousand of these calls also threaten violence, that a number of women terrorised by such repeated calls move house or have mental breakdowns, that nevertheless telephone companies and the police rarely give this matter priority or attempt to trace the offenders, that the penalty for sending obscene letters through the post, Malicious Communications Act 1988, is higher than for making obscene calls, Telecommunications Act 1984, that fifteen per cent. of the callers know the women they call, though the women may not know them, and that some rapists also make obscene calls which are themselves a form of violence and an invasion of privacy; and therefore asks the Home Secretary to set up an inquiry into the extent of this problem, to examine the work of the special department of Bell Telephone Incorporated of New Jersey, United States of America which helps victims trap offending callers, to take measures to improve the rate of detection and conviction of offenders and to take steps leading to the amendment of the said Telecommunications Act 1984, section 43 increasing the penalty; and calls upon the Director General of Telecommunications to make a condition of granting licences to British Telecom and Mercury that they each set up a department at their own expense to trace obscene phone calls when requested to do so in writing by victims.
This motion has been signed by a total of 69 MPs, 1 of these signatures have been withdrawn.
MP | Date | Constituency | Party | Type |
Mildred Gordon | 05/12/1989 | Bow and Poplar | | Proposed |
Jimmy Hood | 05/12/1989 | Clydesdale | | Seconded |
Alice Mahon | 05/12/1989 | Halifax | | Seconded |
John Battle | 05/12/1989 | Leeds West | | Signed |
Gerry Steinberg | 05/12/1989 | Durham, City of | | Signed |
George Foulkes | 05/12/1989 | Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley | | Signed |
Paul Flynn | 05/12/1989 | Newport West | | Signed |
Jimmy Dunnachie | 05/12/1989 | Glasgow, Pollok | | Signed |
Bob Cryer | 05/12/1989 | Bradford South | | Signed |
Harry Cohen | 05/12/1989 | Leyton | | Signed |
Nigel Spearing | 05/12/1989 | Newham South | | Signed |
John Smith | 05/12/1989 | Vale of Glamorgan | | Signed |
John McAllion | 06/12/1989 | Dundee East | | Signed |
Harry Barnes | 06/12/1989 | North East Derbyshire | | Signed |
Llin Golding | 06/12/1989 | Newcastle-under-Lyme | | Signed |
John Cummings | 06/12/1989 | Easington | | Signed |
Frank Cook | 06/12/1989 | Stockton North | | Signed |
Ronnie Campbell | 06/12/1989 | Blyth Valley | | Signed |
Richard Caborn | 06/12/1989 | Sheffield Central | | Signed |
Keith Bradley | 06/12/1989 | Manchester, Withington | | Signed |
Bill Michie | 06/12/1989 | Sheffield, Heeley | | Signed |
Alan Meale | 06/12/1989 | Mansfield | | Signed |
William McKelvey | 06/12/1989 | Kilmarnock & Loudoun | | Signed |
Tony Lloyd | 06/12/1989 | Stretford | | Signed |
David Hinchliffe | 06/12/1989 | Wakefield | | Signed |
Ernie Ross | 06/12/1989 | Dundee West | | Signed |
Terry Patchett | 06/12/1989 | Barnsley East | | Signed |
Jim Wallace | 07/12/1989 | Orkney & Shetland | | Signed |
James Wray | 07/12/1989 | Glasgow Provan | | Signed |
Alan Williams | 07/12/1989 | Swansea West | | Signed |
Tony Banks | 07/12/1989 | Newham North West | | Signed |
Win Griffiths | 07/12/1989 | Bridgend | | Signed |
Charles Kennedy | 07/12/1989 | Ross and Cromarty and Skye | | Signed |
Robert Hughes | 07/12/1989 | Aberdeen North | | Signed |
Doug Hoyle | 07/12/1989 | Warrington North | | Signed |
Dennis Skinner | 07/12/1989 | Bolsover | | Signed |
Jeremy Corbyn | 07/12/1989 | Islington North | | Signed |
Diane Abbott | 08/12/1989 | Hackney North & Stoke Newington | | Signed |
Peter Hardy | 11/12/1989 | Wentworth | | Signed |
Norman Godman | 11/12/1989 | Greenock and Port Glasgow | | Signed |
Lawrence Cunliffe | 11/12/1989 | Leigh | | Signed |
Tom Cox | 11/12/1989 | Tooting | | Signed |
Ian McCartney | 11/12/1989 | Makerfield | | Signed |
Eric Illsley | 11/12/1989 | Barnsley Central | | Signed |
Jeff Rooker | 11/12/1989 | Birmingham, Perry Barr | | Signed |
Martin Redmond | 11/12/1989 | Don Valley | | Signed |
Robert Parry | 11/12/1989 | Liverpool, Riverside | | Signed |
Peter Pike | 11/12/1989 | Burnley | | Signed |
Maria Fyfe | 12/12/1989 | Glasgow, Maryhill | | Signed |
Joan Walley | 12/12/1989 | Stoke-on-Trent North | | Signed |
Dawn Primarolo | 13/12/1989 | Bristol South | | Signed |
Kenneth Eastham | 13/12/1989 | Manchester, Blackley | | Signed |
Terry Davis | 13/12/1989 | Birmingham, Hodge Hill | | Signed |
Chris Smith | 14/12/1989 | Islington South & Finsbury | | Signed |
George Galloway | 14/12/1989 | Glasgow Hillhead | | Signed |
Joan Ruddock | 20/12/1989 | Lewisham, Deptford | | Signed |
Jack Thompson | 21/12/1989 | Wansbeck | | Signed |
Eddie Loyden | 12/01/1990 | Liverpool, Garston | | Signed |
Tommy Graham | 18/01/1990 | Renfrew West and Inverclyde | | Signed |
Gareth Wardell | 22/01/1990 | Gower | | Signed |
Audrey Wise | 23/01/1990 | Preston | | Signed |
Allan Rogers | 25/01/1990 | Rhondda | | Signed |
Max Madden | 29/01/1990 | Bradford West | | Signed |
Martyn Jones | 31/01/1990 | Clwyd South West | | Signed |
Ralph Howell | 01/02/1990 | North Norfolk | | Signed |
Dale Campbell-Savours | 08/02/1990 | Workington | | Signed |
John Garrett | 08/02/1990 | Norwich South | | Signed |
Hilary Armstrong | 19/02/1990 | North West Durham | | Signed |
Norman Buchan | Unknown | | | Withdrawn |
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