The Shrewsbury 24 Cleared by the Court of Appeal

That the Parliament congratulates the trade unionists known as the Shrewsbury 24 on fighting what it sees as a tireless 47-year campaign for justice and whose convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal on 23 March 2021; believes that the building workers, who were picketing, faced a state-sanctioned, politically-motivated set of charges and that their only crime was to fight against low pay and insecure and degrading working conditions; considers that this action against legitimate trade unions members was an example of abuse of state power for political ends and a stain on society; believes that the damage it caused to the lives of the 24 men and their families is immeasurable; remembers today one of the pickets, the late Des Warren, whose health deteriorated as a result of his years as what it sees as him being a political prisoner, which included him spending time in solitary confinement; further remembers the others who have since passed away; understands that many of those affected were blacklisted and unable to find work afterwards; believes that the purpose of their prosecution was to intimidate trade unionists and prevent others from taking similar action; considers that this strategy failed and has now been exposed for the human rights abuse that it believes it was; pays its respects to the fantastic work of the Shrewsbury 24 campaign researcher, Eileen Turnbull, for her diligent work over so many years and all of the union branches and activists who supported and helped fund the campaign, and believes that this is an example to trade unions and campaign groups in Scotland and across the world never to give up in the pursuit of justice.