A UK House of Commons motion urging lawmakers to reaffirm India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity over Jammu and Kashmir has three signatories, while Parliament’s register lists no date for debate.
Conservative MP Bob Blackman filed Early Day Motion 936 on Oct. 12 under the title “Jammu and Kashmir Accession Day.” Parliament records Blackman as a member for Harrow East and lists his signature on the filing date. Democratic Unionist Party MP Jim Shannon and Labour MP Gill Furniss signed on Oct. 13.
The motion seeks support from the Commons, but the filing is not a House vote. UK Parliament’s guidance describes Early Day Motions as a way for individual MPs to register views and says a debate may take place later without a set date. Only a small fraction are debated, the guidance says, and signatories can indicate the level of support among MPs. The names establish support from three lawmakers, not the Commons’ position as a whole. The entry for EDM 936 gives no debate date.
The motion says UK residents with Jammu and Kashmiri heritage continue to mark Accession Day on Oct. 26. It dates Maharaja Hari Singh’s execution of the Instrument of Accession to Oct. 26, 1947.
The filing expresses sympathy for civilians killed or injured in acts of terror, including in areas it calls “Pakistan occupied regions.” It also raises civilian and security personnel casualties and targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits; these are concerns stated in the motion.
The motion uses the phrase “State of Jammu and Kashmir.” India’s Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, formed the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and a separate Union Territory of Ladakh from the former state.
Parliament lists a similarly titled motion tabled by Blackman on Oct. 27, 2025. Its signatories were Blackman, Shannon and Conservative MP Louie French. The current register lists no date for the Commons to consider the 2026 motion.
