PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
BICENTENARY OF THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE ACT 1807 (No. 2) (26 March 2007)

That this House notes with regret that many thousands of Africans suffered horrific, degrading and immoral treatment as a result of the slave trade; commemorates the dignified and brave manner in which enslaved Africans rose up against their oppressors; further commemorates 25th March as the bicentenary of the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act 1807 by Parliament; notes that the barbaric slave trade saw millions of enslaved persons transported through British ports; acknowledges that many of its past victims are the ancestors of present-day British citizens; recognises that the UK's economy directly benefited from the trade; calls on the Government to establish an annual National Slavery Memorial Day on 23rd August to memoralise both the outlawing of the slave trade and the resistance to it by enslaved people; further cautions that in 2007 hundreds of thousands of adults and children are still being trafficked and sold into forms of slavery such as forced labour and prostitution in a global criminal trade, causing devastating human suffering both abroad and in the UK; congratulates the Government for signing the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings on Friday 23rd March 2007; and further urges the Government to take any other steps that may be necessary both to combat modern day slavery and to raise awareness about modern and past slavery, in co-operation with partners in the UK and abroad.

Sponsored by:
Keith Vaz (Labour)