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June 24, 2009
Get your MP to sign Early Day Motion 1681
John Grogan MP has tabled an early day motion, EDM 1681, that "calls for a for a referendum regarding a more proportional voting system for elections to the House of Commons."
Already over 40 MPs have signed, including a few MPs (like John Mann) who have never before gone public with their support.
For the full EDM wording and to see which MPs have signed see: http://tinyurl.com/ldu6oc
To increase the level of support for EDM 1681 please write to your MP and ask them to sign (if they are able to). If they have signed already say thank you. If by convention they are not allowed to sign it (e.g. government ministers), then please ask them to forward your views on to the party's constitutional affairs spokesperson.
You can write to your MP c/o the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA or via the website http://www.theyworkforyou.com
Remember that:
(i) the present political moment offers a once in a life time opportunity to move towards a new kind of politics, and it is essential that voters get to decide how MPs are elected by means of a national referendum
(ii) The EDM can in theory be signed even by anti-reform MPs (Diane Abbott for instance has signed), and certainly by those in favour of AV. It is about the call for a referendum, not backing a specific PR system. So whatever their position, you should ask them to agree that the people not politicians should make the decision on how MPs are elected; and the MP would be free to argue their case for the status quo in such a referendum.
Good luck and let me know what success you have.
Posted by malcolmclark on June 24, 2009
Comments
I sent a message via writetothem.com to my local MP (Colin Challen - Morley & Rothwell [Labour]).
Turns out he's a massive supporter of PR and he's signed the EDM!
I've posted the letter I sent, and his reply on my blog,
http://nathanjmassey.co.uk/blog/?p=143
If you haven't contacted your MP about this yet, I'd recommend doing it, you might find that your MP is a bit more forward thinking than your first thought!
Posted by: Nathan Massey at June 25, 2009 12:47 PM
Great idea, but will this work over the long run?
Posted by: Nina-Trautmann at July 23, 2009 09:58 PM
We're democrats and believe in free speech, but we're also committed to civil and rational debate. We reserve the right to delete material posted to our site, but we hope and expect to exercise this right rarely if at all.
