The EDM is in response to the 'apparent impunity enjoyed by state forces'
A cross-party group of MPs have backed the adoption of a new United Nations (UN) Convention on the protection of journalists. The MPs – from Labour, the Lib Dems, Your Party, the Greens and Plaid Cymru – have all signed an Early Day Motion (EDM) requesting the UK government supports the adoption of the proposed UN Convention.
The EDM has been tabled in the context of what it describes as the “apparent impunity enjoyed by state forces and paramilitary operatives across the globe engaging in the targeted killing of journalists and media worker”. It goes on to acknowledge that the International Federation of Journalists has identified the killing of 128 journalists in 2025 alone, and the killing of 235 Palestinian journalists and media workers by Israeli forces since October 2023.
Later, the signatories to the EDM call on “all states to uphold international law and desist from attacks on journalists”, before requesting that the UK government supports the draft UN Convention on the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals. They go on to describe this as “a new binding international instrument dedicated to the safety of journalists proposed by the International Federation of Journalists and endorsed by the National Union of Journalists and to work through the Media Freedom Coalition and bilateral structures to advance the case for such a Convention that would require states to protect journalists in all circumstances, investigate every crime, and prosecute the perpetrators.”
The EDM has been proposed by Labour MP Rebecca Long Bailey. At the time of writing, 12 MPs have signed the EDM. The full list of current signatories is as follows:
- Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour)
- John McDonnell (Labour)
- Kim Johnson (Labour)
- Siân Berry (Green)
- Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru)
- Jeremy Corbyn (Your Party)
- Grahame Morris (Labour)
- Nadia Whittome (Labour)
- Ian Byrne (Labour)
- Brian Leishman (Labour)
- Mary Kelly Foy (Labour)
- Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour)
- Imran Hussain (Labour)
- Steve Witherden (Labour)
- Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour)
- Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat)
Early Day Motions are rarely debated, but are used as a way for MPs to raise issues, highlight campaigns and illustrate the scale of support in the House of Commons for a particular issue.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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