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20 December 2012 – VISCOUNT DOWN BOOK NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE – www.amazon.com/dp/BOOAQVO6KS

BREAKING NEWS! THE DEAFENING SILENCE.

U.K. PARLIAMENT – 5th FEBRUARY 2013

EARLY DAY MOTION

VISCOUNT MASSACRES
• Session: 2012-13
• Date tabled: 05.02.2013
• Primary sponsor: Hoey, Kate
• Sponsors:
o Bellingham, Henry
That this House notes that 12 February 2013 will mark the 34th anniversary of the shooting down of Air Rhodesia Viscount Flight RH827 (the Umniati) by members of the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) in the former Rhodesia resulting in the death of all on board; further notes that this was the second such shooting down of civilian airliners by ZIPRA and followed the shooting down of Air Rhodesia Flight RH825 (the Hunyani) by the same means on 3 September 1978; further notes that the 107 victims comprised civilian men, women and children, some of whom survived the crash of the Hunyani and were subsequently murdered on the ground by bayoneting and shooting; further notes that the victims included citizens from Switzerland, Scotland, Belgium, New Zealand, the UK and South Africa; recalls that the failure to officially condemn these atrocities, as articulated in the sermon by the late Very Reverend John da Costa known as The Deafening Silence, was an act of moral cowardice and deplores such failure; and commends the work done by Keith Nell and his Viscount Down Team to ensure that these atrocities are not forgotten and their ongoing efforts to alleviate suffering amongst the pensioner community of Zimbabwe.

NOTE ON EDM’S:
An early day motion (EDM), in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament that formally calls for debate “on an early day”. EDMs can be tabled on matters ranging from trivial or humorous topics to those of great importance. The censure motion by which the Labour Government of James Callaghan was ejected had its origin in an early day motion (no. 351 of 1978–79), put down on March 22, 1979, by Margaret Thatcher.

MPs may ensure the text of an EDM is printed in Hansard by mentioning it by number in questions to the Leader of the House of Commons after the Business Statement (normally on a Thursday when the house is in session).

EDMs tabled on serious topics have included one demanding the release of Nelson Mandela when he was incarcerated in apartheid South Africa.

COMMENT
For the past two years, a great deal of work has gone into raising awareness and support to break the deafening silence.
The Viscount Team have stood solidly together to break THE DEAFENING SILENCE, and will continue to do so.
There are a growing amount of MP’s signatures being added to this EDM.
We are supported by much more than by what meets the eye.

ONWARD!

KEITH NELL & THE VISCOUNT TEAM