COMMEMORATING WILLIAM WILBERFORCE AND THE PASSING OF THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE ACT

That this House notes that 2007 marks the bicentenary of the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act; extends its full support to plans being made in many parts of the country to commemorate the anniversary of this important turning point in national history; further notes the significance of the slave trade's abolition in the struggle against human rights abuse across the globe and condemns its persistence in modern Britain in the form of human trafficking; acknowledges the key role played by Hull Member of Parliament William Wilberforce in the passage of this Act; and believes that his tireless campaigning against the cruelty and inhumanity of the slave trade should be honoured by placing his portrait on a new issue of the £10 banknote.