SALE OF HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE

EDM number 304 in 1996-97, proposed by Brian Wilson on 04/12/1996.

That this House notes with extreme distaste the financial connections between the companies involved in the purchase of the former Her Majesty's Stationery Office and the Conservative Party; recalls that HMSO was sold for a mere ú54 million, thereby ending a long and honourable tradition of public service; notes that the beneficiaries of this transaction were a consortium known as Electra Fleming, the constituent parts of which are the Electra Investment Trust and Robert Fleming merchant bank; further notes that Robert Fleming have donated ú527,000 to the Conservative Party while the Electra Investment Trust has chipped in at least ú40,000; further notes that Electra Fleming itself is a member of the Millennium Club, which offers access to senior Cabinet ministers in return for money; further notes that the Executive Board of the Electra Investment Trust includes the Right honourable Member for Bridgwater and the Conservative peer, Lord Vinsom of Roddam Dene; concludes that the whole deal is hopelessly tainted and against the public interest; and condemns Her Majesty's Government for selling off a valuable and respected public asset to its political funders at a fraction of the true value.

This motion has been signed by a total of 63 MPs.