Dear Mr Cameron,
Your recent launch of the Quality of Life policy review and new emphasis on environmental concerns has greatly encouraged me that the Conservative party is reconnecting to important issues. I am, however, perturbed that Conservative backbenchers appear not to have understood the message yet. Why else would Eric Forth, MP for Bromley, filibuster the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy bill last Friday in the Commons?
If the Conservatives are so committed to a low-carbon future, and one in which British citizens can become ‘energy entrepreneurs’, why do its MPs persist in such behaviour? Not only does the EDM supporting the bill carry 62 signatures from Conservatives (and 317 MPs in total); Mr Forth is also going against the wishes of his own Conservative-dominated council!
As an article in the Bromley Times (8 March 2006) has it:
“Charities, residents, climate change campaigners and MPs of all political parties have backed the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy bill, which aims to cut harmful emissions and eliminate fuel poverty… Prominent Conservatives including David Cameron and shadow environment secretary Peter Ainsworth are among hundreds of MPs to support the bill.
Bromley council also voted to back the legislation at a meeting this year.â€
As a future homeowner, taxpayer and voter, with a keen interest in the promotion of sound environmental policies and domestic energy generation, may I urge you to vote for this bill when it returns to the floor this Friday (17 March 2006), and do everything within your power to prevent Mr Forth or his colleagues from wrecking its passage a second time.
Yours truly,
[Guy Shrubsole]
Letters to MPs
Guy - I just thought you'd like to see the reply I got to my e-mail to my MP today (subject posted under 'Ian' by mistake!) - my MP is very supportive and is Martin Horwood MP, Lib. Dems.:
"I am hastily trying to clear my diary for Friday although I have some rather critical meetings on issues like Battledown ward. It may not be possible but it is more important, as you say, to try to stop the Tory hooligans. I will email some experienced parliamentarians to see what arcane procedures we need to attack that allows the to do this sort of thing.
Good to meet you by the way!
Best regards
Martin
Martin Horwood
Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Cheltenham
martin@martinhorwood.net
working for a fairer, greener, safer Cheltenham"
I wrote the following to him and suggest other people write to sympathetic MPs in the same vein:-
"Is there seriously nothing you back-bench MPs can do to scupper the tactics of these conservative hooligans? Aren't there any other legitimate tactics you can employ - like ask the Whips to call them to an urgent meeting elsewhere at the crucial time or something?! If they are wrecking all this good work through being devious I don't see why you couldn't employ some similar devious tactics? Couldn't you actually appeal to the Speaker and ask him to sort these Bill wreckers out whilst they're doing it?"
Fingers crossed for Friday 17th....
...
I have written this letter, which I will also send to David Cameron. Feel free to use/abuse ;)
Reply from David Cameron
And here is the (standard) reply I got from David Cameron - does support mean he'll do anything about the MPs wrecking it, though??
"Dear Almuth,
Thank you for your email about the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill.
As you know, this has been introduced as a Private Member's Bill by the Labour Member of Parliament, Mark Lazarowicz. David Cameron and his colleagues in the Shadow Cabinet have fully supported this Bill throughout its development. Peter Ainsworth, the Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is a co-sponsor of the Bill. Greg Barker, our front bench spokesman on the environment, has been heavily involved in strengthening the provisions of the Bill in Committee stage.
We regard this Bill as a worthwhile step forward which would help to ratchet up environmental standards in buildings; improve energy efficiency; and enable residents and local authorities to make better use of renewable energy sources. It is closely aligned with the initiative we announced recently on decentralised energy, which our Quality of Life Policy Group is now considering at David Cameron's request.
In short, the Conservative Party is fully supportive of this Bill and we very much hope that it becomes law."
Easy Urgent Email Campaign
I have just received this email alert from Friends of the Earth Scotland. It makes it easy for all of us to write to David Cameron and to our MPs:
http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/cyberaction/cyberaction_200603.html
I have forwarded it to all my local email contacts.
Almuth Ernsting