PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
WALTER TULL (19 June 2008)

That this House remembers Walter Tull for his contribution to British sport as a professional footballer for Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town football clubs; expresses its sincere gratitude for his lesser-known role as a soldier who fought in the 17th Middlesex Regiment during the First World War; notes that he was accepted for Officer Training and appointed to a Commission in the Special Reserve of Officers in 1917; remembers that he sadly lost his life as an officer of the 23rd Middlesex regiment in 1918; notes that his Commanding Officer mentioned him in despatches for his `gallantry and coolness' on the Italian Front and recommended him for a Military Cross; regrets that he was not awarded the Cross because, as a British citizen of non-European descent, he should not have been commissioned at all; and calls upon the Government to right this sizeable injustice by posthumously awarding him the Military Cross for his gallantry.

Sponsored by:
Mr Brian Binley (Conservative)