David Amess MP: The Edited Electoral Register – don’t edit it out of existence

David Amess is the Member of Parliament for Southend West

There are two versions of the electoral register – a full and an ‘edited’ version. The Edited Electoral Register (EER) was introduced in 2002 in order that the Full Register could be restricted for use in elections and very limited other purposes, leaving the EER to be used by business, government, the voluntary sector and individuals.  The EER is indispensable because it is the only UK wide database of people which is collated specifically with their consent.  It has considerable value both to society and the economy, and it is why I welcomed the Government’s decision last year to save the EER.

There are some common misconceptions about the EER: That it increases the incidence of fraud by making private data public, and; that it makes junk mail possible.  Both are misjudged.  Firstly, almost all online retailers rely on the EER to prevent both identity and credit card fraud. This edited version is also used for a whole host of other positive reasons: for example, by people and charities such as the Salvation Army to reunite missing families or the Antony Nolan Trust to locate bone marrow donors, journalists to validate stories as well as businesses to reduce their exposure to fraud.

Secondly, the EER in fact permits direct mail companies and fundraisers to remove people from their target mailshots and to ensure a greater degree of accuracy.  Unaddressed mailings are easily dealt with – but the easiest way is to register with the ‘Mail Preference Service’ which allows your details to be removed for unsolicited post.

But as we move to Individual Electoral Registration (IER), the EER - though saved – is still at risk of being undermined. The Cabinet Office has an important opportunity to maintain and strengthen this valuable resource.

David Amess MP: Britain should cut bilateral trade and political ties with Iran until an end is put to human rights abuses there

David Amess is Conservative MP for Southend West and a member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom.

While the world rightly sanctions Iran over its nuclear proliferation, it is has been far less forceful in censuring the appalling human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43-year-old mother of two, anxiously awaits her impending stoning sentence.

Last month the Tehran regime announced that the execution of political prisoner Jaafar Kazemi was imminent. His crime? Refusing to appear on state television to denounce the activities of his teenage son who has joined the opposition People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. In July the regime amputated the hands of six men accused of stealing.

Such brutality is not uncommon in Iran which has to date executed more than 120,000 political prisoners. In the summer of 1988, after reluctantly signing a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the massacre of 30,000 Iranian men and women who continued to support the opposition movement, according to the survivors of the slaughter.

A special body, known to prisoners as the 'Death Commission' was tasked with implementing Khomeini's fatwa. In 5-minute-long kangaroo trials, prisoners were asked about their politico-ideological allegiances. Those who showed the slightest sign of maintaining sympathy with the Mojahedin were sent for execution in groups of five or six at a time.

David Amess is Conservative MP for Southend West and a member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom.

While the world rightly sanctions Iran over its nuclear proliferation, it is has been far less forceful in censuring the appalling human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43-year-old mother of two, anxiously awaits her impending stoning sentence.

Last month the Tehran regime announced that the execution of political prisoner Jaafar Kazemi was imminent. His crime? Refusing to appear on state television to denounce the activities of his teenage son who has joined the opposition People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. In July the regime amputated the hands of six men accused of stealing.

Such brutality is not uncommon in Iran which has to date executed more than 120,000 political prisoners. In the summer of 1988, after reluctantly signing a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the massacre of 30,000 Iranian men and women who continued to support the opposition movement, according to the survivors of the slaughter.

A special body, known to prisoners as the 'Death Commission' was tasked with implementing Khomeini's fatwa. In 5-minute-long kangaroo trials, prisoners were asked about their politico-ideological allegiances. Those who showed the slightest sign of maintaining sympathy with the Mojahedin were sent for execution in groups of five or six at a time.

David Amess is Conservative MP for Southend West and a member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom.

While the world rightly sanctions Iran over its nuclear proliferation, it is has been far less forceful in censuring the appalling human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43-year-old mother of two, anxiously awaits her impending stoning sentence.

Last month the Tehran regime announced that the execution of political prisoner Jaafar Kazemi was imminent. His crime? Refusing to appear on state television to denounce the activities of his teenage son who has joined the opposition People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. In July the regime amputated the hands of six men accused of stealing.

Such brutality is not uncommon in Iran which has to date executed more than 120,000 political prisoners. In the summer of 1988, after reluctantly signing a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the massacre of 30,000 Iranian men and women who continued to support the opposition movement, according to the survivors of the slaughter.

A special body, known to prisoners as the 'Death Commission' was tasked with implementing Khomeini's fatwa. In 5-minute-long kangaroo trials, prisoners were asked about their politico-ideological allegiances. Those who showed the slightest sign of maintaining sympathy with the Mojahedin were sent for execution in groups of five or six at a time.

David Amess MP: It is time for us to actively support the organised Iranian opposition

David Amess is Conservative MP for Southend West and a member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom

It emerged last week that oil giant BP recently instructed its European operations not to provide fuel to Iranian planes following the adoption of international sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's gasoline industry over its nuclear proliferation. That's a positive step. But in order to bring an end to Iran's nuclear weapons programme without the prospect of a war, more aggressive measures are needed now by the British Government and our allies.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said recently that Britain had worked hard with other nations on proposals to secure new United Nations and European action to reinforce diplomatic pressure on Iran.

But the hardline Iranian President has described the most recent bout of sanctions as a "pathetic" act, and Iranian military commanders have warned they would reciprocate any hostile action by the West.

With Iran continuing to enrich uranium needed for a nuclear bomb to higher levels, Mr. Hague is correct to want to increase pressure on Tehran; but ultimately the policy of tougher sanctions will only work if the West firmly abandons the engagement track with the mullahs and instead looks to support the Iranian pro-democracy forces.

David Amess is Conservative MP for Southend West and a member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom

It emerged last week that oil giant BP recently instructed its European operations not to provide fuel to Iranian planes following the adoption of international sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's gasoline industry over its nuclear proliferation. That's a positive step. But in order to bring an end to Iran's nuclear weapons programme without the prospect of a war, more aggressive measures are needed now by the British Government and our allies.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said recently that Britain had worked hard with other nations on proposals to secure new United Nations and European action to reinforce diplomatic pressure on Iran.

But the hardline Iranian President has described the most recent bout of sanctions as a "pathetic" act, and Iranian military commanders have warned they would reciprocate any hostile action by the West.

With Iran continuing to enrich uranium needed for a nuclear bomb to higher levels, Mr. Hague is correct to want to increase pressure on Tehran; but ultimately the policy of tougher sanctions will only work if the West firmly abandons the engagement track with the mullahs and instead looks to support the Iranian pro-democracy forces.

David Amess MP: Time for a new EU policy on Iran

David Amess is Conservative MP for Southend West and a member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom

Europe needs a new policy on Iran - one which actively engages the Iranian people who are longing for genuine change, 30 years after Ayatollah Khomeini brought a reign of terror under the banner of fundamentalist Islam.

Today, Iranians are perhaps the most pro-Western population in the Middle East. But for the past eight years, the European Union has done a great injustice towards the people of Iran and the possibility of engaging Iranian society.

The EU blacklisted the main Iranian Resistance group, the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), in 2002. The group, which was the first to reveal the regime's nuclear weapons sites in 2002, has by far proven to be the force most feared by the mullahs. Still, EU officials have conceded that they banned the group at the behest of Tehran and in order to win economic contracts from the ruling mullahcracy.

David Amess MP: Supporting Iran's internal resistance

David Amess, MP for Southend West, calls for full sanctions against Iran and the delisting of the PMOI as a terrorist organisation.

Tensions between Iran and the international community have always been over the three major issues of human rights abuses, the Iranian regime’s widespread support for terrorism, and its nuclear weapons programme. The latter two have been considered more important in recent time as the international community fears for peace and stability in the Middle East and wider world.

The issue of international terrorism is intertwined with the spread of Islamic fundamentalism. At the heart of this terrorism lies two Iranian groups, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Qods force, the IRGC’s international body. We have seen this terrorism cause death and destruction across the Middle East. Since the invasion of 2003 Iraq has been the regime’s frontline in support for terrorism and spread of Islamic fundamentalism. On a daily basis the Iraqi people and coalition troops face death and injury at the hands of the Iranian regime.

Of even greater threat is Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. This programme had been hidden for 18 years until the Iranian opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) exposed it back in 2002. This left the international community needing to deal with the possibility of the world’s largest supporter of terrorism having nuclear weapons capabilities. The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has played a critical role in attempting to provide the world with the answer to the most significant of questions: does Iran have a nuclear weapons programme?