BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns

Subject: BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 01 Sep 13 - 11:23 AM

Hello folks -

I post here in the belief that some of Mudcat's Brits may not be aware of the proposed Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill, but would wish to be - and to be aware of its consequences... and (like me) to take action.

I've received several e-mail "alerts" from various grassroots campaign groups, concerning this "Lobbying Bill" - one urging me to send an e-mail to minister in charge Chloe Smith, another to sign a petition, another to e-mail my MP - all of which I have done, and I do think this sounds urgent, so here are excerpts of the messages I've received, and links.

From 38 Degrees:

This proposed gagging law would have a chilling effect on British democracy and our right to speak up on issues that matter to us.

The draft law could effectively stop organisations like 38 Degrees [and HOPE not HATE, Greenpeace, etc.] from speaking out for the whole year before a general election. From May 2014, we would be banned from holding politicians and political parties to account in ways we do all the time at present.

Community groups, charities and campaigning organisations would all be hit. On the big issues of the day – whether or not to go to war, the future of our NHS, the environment, welfare, immigration, etc – we'd all be gagged.

Why are they proposing this? It's hard to say for sure. Maybe it's an unintended consequence of a badly written draft law. Or maybe it's a deliberate attempt by politicians to silence their critics.

Either way, they're trying to rush it through. MPs have their first chance to debate it this coming Tuesday, with crunch votes lined up for soon after that.

We know that when enough of us act together we can make politicians sit up and take notice. Already, by sending thousands of emails to the minister in charge, Chloe Smith, last week, we've started to force the issue into the open.

MPs have spent the last few weeks on their summer break, and the last few days focused on Syria. A huge flood of emails right now is critical if we're going to get this worrying law onto MPs' radars in time to persuade them to vote against it.

I realise that the idea of the government trying to gag campaigning groups might seem a bit implausible. You might feel like it's the kind of thing you're more used to hearing about in far away dictatorships. So don't just take my word for how bad it is – here's what some others are saying:

"This legislation is the most pernicious assault on campaigners in living memory"
Greenpeace

"Organisations' ability to react to important public policy developments…will be severely undermined"
National Council for Voluntary Organisations

"This will have a chilling effect on civic society and its freedom of expression"
Rosamund McCarthy, Senior lawyer at BWB solicitors, a charity law firm

So let's come together and stand up for democracy and our right to be heard. Please email your MP urgently and ask them to oppose this terrible new law.
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-bill-MPs

Can you email Chloe Smith now to tell her why it's important that we're able to campaign during elections, and what you think of her plans to stifle us?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-bill-MPs

E-mail Chloe Smith: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/lobbying-bill
OR: [e-mail]

If you e-mail her, you need to "include your full name and address on all correspondence. In line with Parliamentary rules I do not reply to template communications sent by people not from Norwich North," so you need to come up with your own words.

If you want to send an actual letter: Chloe Smith, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

From HOPE not HATE:

In the past only those organisations directly involved in engaging in the elections had to register as a Third Party with the Electoral Commission. Under these new proposals, every organisation which seeks to influence public opinion, in the 12 months before the General Election – either directly or as a consequence of its actions – will now be covered. This will include charities, think tanks, trade associations and even blogs and websites.

The amount an organisation can spend is being drastically cut yet the scope of costs which have to be accounted for – such as staff time – has dramatically widened. Indeed, the restrictions on third parties are now far more extensive than those on political parties.

This bill is coming before Parliament on 3 September and the Government have stated their intention to have completed its parliamentary passage by the end of the year, leaving little to no time for consultation or discussion.

What began as a bid to clean up politics and make the process more transparent has ended up as an attempt to restrict people and individuals engaging in politics and exercising their democratic rights of free speech.

Please read our Briefing note and then sign up to join our Democracy Team: http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/gagging-hope-not-hate/


From Care2/The Petition Site:

The restrictions outlined in the bill are so severe that they would outlaw campaigning against any political party. This would include campaigning against extremists such as the BNP, by any charity spending more than a tiny amount of money.

Please sign this petition to Chloe Smith and ask her to remove all parts of the bill that would affect non-profit organisations, and keep it focussed on the activities of big business.


http://www.thepetitionsite.com/793/727/418/stop-uk-lobbying-bill-that-may-crimin

=================

Thanks for reading this far (if you have); I hope at least some of you find this prospect as alarming as I do...

Subject: RE: BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Sep 13 - 08:25 PM

And send a copy, or preferably an email about it to your own MP. If it's Tory or a LibDem you could say this is the kind of thing you'd have expected from a Labour Government... Even if you don't actually believe it - it might help them take some notice of what you are saying. (And sadly, I'm not at all sure it mightn't actually be true enough, given the modern Labour Party...)

Subject: RE: BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns
From: Greg F.
Date: 01 Sep 13 - 09:22 PM

Sounds like some TeaPublicans have invaded the House of Commons.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Sep 13 - 09:28 PM

They work more discretely here. And they have even longer experience of how to run a class war against the lower classes. Which is why they have managed pretty effectively to take over the allegedly "left" parties.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 02 Sep 13 - 10:04 AM

My apologies... On re-reading my original post, I've realised that - with all the cutting and pasting - I got some links in the wrong places.

So, here they are again:

E-mail Chloe Smith: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/lobbying-bill

E-mail your MP:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-bill-MPs

Sign the petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/793/727/418/stop-uk-lobbying-bill-that-may-crimin

And for anyone who wants to go the extra "mile" and call their MP:

MPs need to hear directly from their constituents today. Please can you call your MP now to make sure he goes into tomorrow's vote fully aware that the eyes of his constituents are on him?

Our best chance of defeating this law is if MPs realise what it would mean if it passes, and that the people they represent are up in arms about it.

Calling today could make a huge difference. If his phone is ringing off the hook, it would show him how worried his constituents are.

All you have to do is:

- Call the Parliament switchboard on 020 7219 3000.
- Ask to speak to your MP's office.
- When you're put through, explain that you're a constituent and that you want to talk about the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill (it's part 2, the 'Non-Party Campaigning' bit, that would gag charities, local groups and campaigners).

Here are some tips for what to say:

- Don't worry if your MP isn't available to speak - he'll hear about it if his staff spend all day answering calls about the gagging law.

- Say that you're worried about the new restrictions on non-party campaigners.

- You could explain why campaigning shouldn't just be left to politicians and that it's important that independent groups are allowed to play a full role in the political process.

- If you're a supporter of other groups which would be affected by this law, mention them. Any group that speaks up on issues of the day - from the RSPB or Oxfam to The Royal British Legion or the Countryside Alliance - will be affected. So could local organisations in your area.

- If you've been part of big campaigns in the past which wouldn't have been able to happen if this law had been in force at the time, mention them. Anything from Drop the Debt to the Military Covenant campaign could have been hit.

- Remember that this law isn't all bad: we have spent years asking for the lobbying register contained in part 1. But that doesn't make part 2 any better.

That's it!

NOTES
Its official name is 'The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill 2013-2014'. You can see the Parliamentary timetable for the Bill here: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/transparencyoflobbyingnonpartycampaigningandtradeunionadministration.html

MORE INFORMATION:
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has made a briefing on the bill:
http://blogs.ncvo.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/our-briefing-on-the-Transparency-of-lobbying-bill.pdf>

Baites Wells and Braithwaites, a leading law firm specialising in charities, has produced the following briefing:
http://www.bwbllp.com/file/non-party-campaigning-pdf

The Independent View: Concerns about lobbying bill are not alarmist:
http://www.libdemvoice.org/the-independent-view-its-not-alarmist-to-raise-concerns-about-government-plans-for-nonparty-campaigning-35927.html
http://www.libdemvoice.org/the-independent-view-its-not-alarmist-to-raise-concerns-about-government-plans-for-nonparty-campaigning-35927.html

Subject: RE: BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns
From: Van
Date: 03 Sep 13 - 12:13 AM

As the PM can call an election at any time you could commit a crime when you were not aware that it was a crime. If Cameron called an election today (highly unlikely) you could have committed a crime some months or days ago.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 03 Sep 13 - 09:23 AM

Van, that did occur to me, too - I figured there must be something I'm not aware of that deals with that aspect...

Subject: RE: BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 04 Sep 13 - 07:44 AM

Excerpts from an article on the BBC News website:

Oxfam, the Royal British Legion, and the Salvation Army are among organisations voicing fears that the government's proposed bill is so complex that it is likely to be "impossible" to follow.

The statutory register would cover only lobbyists working as consultants for companies or organisations, rather than their in-house staff, with ministers saying this mirrors the voluntary code already in place across the profession.

However, the campaign group Unlock Democracy says this would exclude 80% of lobbyists from the list.

In the Commons, Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith argued that large businesses, employing their own lobbyists, would have a "disproportionate relationship" with ministers and officials, with smaller concerns losing out.


Full article here.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 04 Sep 13 - 12:56 PM

It won't hurt to point out (as I have to my MP) that those who will be silenced are the same people who will vote in the general election in May 2015, after a year of having their voices stifled.

Like chicken soup, can't hurt!

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bill to stifle grassroots campaigns
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 09 Sep 13 - 07:54 PM

An update and a video (from 38 Degrees):

Tomorrow, MPs vote on the gagging law for a second time.

If we're going to defeat the gagging law, we need to get the word out further. If everyone who's ever joined a local campaign group or taken action with their favourite charity knew that they could be stopped from doing that again, the public outcry would explode.

Can you help to get the word out by sharing this five minute video explaining the gagging law in simple terms? The more people who know what's going on and what's at risk, the more chance we have of making the outcry too big for the government to ignore.

Here's the link to the video. If everyone who gets this email sends it to just one person who hasn't heard of the gagging law, we could make sure that millions of people across the UK know what the government's planning. Could you share it with your friends and family now?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-video

Here's a paragraph which you can include with the video, or you could just press forward on this email:

You might have heard about the "gagging law" currently being voted on by MPs. If you haven't heard of it, it's really bad news. If it goes through, it will have a chilling effect on British democracy and on our right to speak up on the issues that matter to us.

Basically, the law slashes the spending limits on campaigning for the year before any election. Campaigns that have impact don't cost the earth, but they aren't free.

Community groups, charities and campaigning organisations would all be hit. Election time is when ordinary people have the most influence on our politicians. On the big issues of the day – whether or not to go to war, the future of our NHS, the environment, welfare, immigration, etc. – we'd all be gagged.

The problem is that this law has come out of nowhere and not many people have heard what's going on. If we're going to defeat it, we need to get the word out further. If every single person who's ever joined a local campaign group or taken action with their favourite charity knew that they could be stopped from doing that again, the outcry could explode.

Here's a simple five minute video you can watch for more information. Can you take a look, and then help get the word out by passing it on to your friends and family?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-video