Dear Angel, I’ve been overwhelmed by the response to my email on Saturday. An incredible 85,000 of us have already filled out the survey on voting and elections. The staff team turned all of the feedback into a report which is currently in the hands of the committee of MPs. It’s fair to say they’ll be reading some home truths about the way 38 Degrees members view politicians! I’ll be giving evidence to the committee in person on Thursday. They’ve sent over some questions they might ask me. I want to make sure I speak for as many of us as possible. So will you take a few minutes to fill out the survey now? https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/your-views-on-voting-and-elections Here’s what some 38 Degrees members have been saying already about why so many people choose not to get involved in elections: I would respect politicians more if I thought they were people of integrity interested in the common good rather than personal agendas and naked ambition. Most [politicians] are hard-working and committed to improve the lives of people in the UK but the party political system often means they cant achieve much. And here’s what some of us are saying about ways to get more people involved: Change of voting system to something more representative - there are too many safe seats, and elections are decided by too few people. Making voting compulsory, even if people spoilt their ballot paper, might help. What do you think? Is there something you’d like to add? Please fill out the survey now so I can represent as many of us as possible when I walk into the meeting on Thursday. https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/your-views-on-voting-and-elections Thank you for being involved and everything that you do, David Executive Director 38 Degrees PS: Are you in London on Thursday, and do you want to come along to the evidence session? It’s open to the public so anyone can go, though it’s only a small room so places are first come first served. The session is with the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee. It’s at 10am on Thursday, in the Wilson Room at Portcullis House, Westminster. The entrance is on the Victoria Embankment. You’ll need to go through airport type security before you can get in, but there will be people there to help and show you the way. There are more details on the Parliament website. parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/watch-committees-and-debates/committees/ And if you can’t make it in person, the session will be broadcast live on Thursday at 10am here: parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=15138 - - - - - - - In case you missed it, heres last weeks email: Dear Angel, Whats gone wrong with politics in the UK? An influential committee of MPs have asked me to give evidence to them next week. Theyre investigating why so many people choose not to vote or to get involved in the formal political process. Please can you help decide what I should say? I have a hunch that Ill have to tell the MPs some home truths. Lots of 38 Degrees members have told me before that they feel there are big problems with our democracy and our politicians. Thats certainly how I feel. I want to be sure Im speaking for all 38 Degrees members, not just giving my own opinions. So what do you think? Do you think there are enough candidates worth voting for? Is it easy enough to vote? Are traditional political parties past their sell by date? What could be done? Please take a couple of minutes to fill out this quick survey about voting and elections. Id really appreciate getting your thoughts by Monday. Click here to get started: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/your-views-on-voting-and-elections The number of people who vote in elections has been declining for decades. At the last election over one third of people didn’t vote. Membership of political parties is at an all time low. As is trust in politicians. Yet groups like 38 Degrees prove that we havent all become apathetic. We might not all like party politics, but we do care about the future of our country and our democracy. 38 Degrees members come together to stand up for what we believe in in ever-greater numbers. The ‘Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee’ wants to look into these trends. Why is party politics so unpopular? What turns people off voting? Could people-powered groups like 38 Degrees have something to teach parliament? I want to be speaking for thousands of people from across the UK. Whatever your view, this is a chance to be heard together. The more of us that take part the more weight our views will carry and the more the MPs are likely to listen. Please take the quick survey now: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/your-views-on-voting-and-elections Thanks for everything you do, I look forward to seeing your thoughts, David Director, 38 Degrees PS: This week, one MP, David T.C. Davies of Monmouth, said this about 38 Degrees members: Health campaigners today have been talking today about the amount of salt that we take but one has to take dangerously large pinches of salt with anything that comes out of that organisation. These people purport to be happy-go-lucky students. They are always on first name terms; Ben and Fred and Rebecca and Sarah and the rest of it. The reality is that it is a hard-nosed left-wing Labour-supporting organisation with links to some very wealthy upper middle-class socialists, despite the pretence that it likes to give out… I do not think that we have to take any lessons from 38 Degrees...” Does this type of attitude to voters put people off voting? Take the survey: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/your-views-on-voting-and-elections
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 06:27:10 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015