I just mailed my MP

http://www.writetothem.com/

Dear Andrew Slaughter,

I Recently contacted you expressing my desire for a fair settlement for The Gurkhas, Obviously my comments had an effect ;-), as the government has now ruled in their favour.
Feeling very empowered by this I would like to suggest some big changes in government
First of all it is surely time to bring in proportional representation, hopefully an end to safe seat MPs running up huge duck island bills etc
Secondly sort out the house of lords we need a second house but it must be fairly elected/ selected, something like jury service? not as a reward for huge Donnations or sympathetic business dealings.
Next up MPs salaries, you guys get food expenses worth more than a state pension,?!?! Fair pay rises should be awarded, we don’t want politics to be exclusively for the rich and expenses should be for real necessary expenditure, ie travel and thats it.
Also second homes should be modest government owned properties in London you have the use of whilst an MP and then no longer.
And second, third, fourth jobs are a no-no, MPs have a very important job to do focus on that and nothing else, besides the blindingly obvious dangers regarding conflicts of interest.
On the subject of money- Party funding, if you pay a lot of money to a party or even a peer you are going to expect some sort of a comeback, donations need to be limited and some form of state funding and definitely a cap for parties is required.
Things must be made more transparent as well, self regulation has obviously failed, I see from your voting record that, until recently, you were absent on most of the previous FOI votes, Ill assume you had pressing constituency matters.
We also desperately need to see a change in party politics, I am soooo tired of politicians too afraid to speak their mind, trotting out the same tired party sound bites to avoid answering questions on Newsnight, do you have any idea how much this makes me want to scream at the MP “just answer the question you spineless ….” anyway the whips need less power, you should be able to vote as your conscience dictates after weighing up all available information. (with only one job MPs should have plenty of time to read and digest new legislation and pertinent information)
This should hopefully lead to more mature debates in the house and less of a schoolboy shouting match
The selection process for MPs also needs overhaul, some of the statements made by rt hon members up to their eyeballs in manure lately have been incredible, we need a process that selects the best brightest and most capable, not the idle rich, oxbridge bully boy or career MP who has worked for the party since uni and has no concept of the real world. Also, where are all the women at?, Im not sure whether quotas are the way forward but can you please explain why there aren’t 50% female MPs in parliament? If the HoC was a nightclub I believe it would be termed ,in the vernacular, ‘a cockfest’, and too much testosterone leads to too much drinking and fighting and not enough partying, or in the House’s case too much jeering, harrumphing, and shouting and not enough actual debate.
The rules for running the house desperately need to change secret ballots eg to select a speaker, ridiculous ways of addressing one another and so on, the palace of Westminster provides you with all the sense of history and tradition you need.
And also we want and need a proper constitution!
And finally as spiderman knows with great power comes great responsibility, those who have failed to act responsibly, who have lied or committed fraud should be kicked out and prosecuted in the same manner as anyone else, you are not above the law.
The expenses row has given us an amazing opportunity to sort out our archaic and anachronistic parliament at a time when we desperately need strong governance.
Question Time and This Week were given prime time slots on BBC1 last night the current interest in politics is unprecedented. The last 2 elections have seen the lowest turnout since the war, this is an opportunity to reverse that, offer the public what they want and healthy democracy can be resurrected from this mess.
It seems likely that the tories will sweep into power next time round, so what have you got to loose? labour could spend its last nine months actually leaving a real legacy for the country not just a bitter taste and a mountain of debt.
Who knows, if you did all this you might even see the miracle of re-election!
Like most voters I can see very little difference between any of the major parties, morally or politically any one of them could use a platform of actual reform (when i say reform i mean exactly that not years of tedious committees and quangos) to get themselves elected and respected by the voters.
All it will take is an MP or group of MPs with the ‘testicular fortitude’ to sort this mess out.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Kimberley

Do you think he will read past the first line?

Ever thought about a job in politics Chris?

😉

i’m not reading all that.

summary?

no

and yes but my previous drug and sex antics would have me destroyed by the tabloids

summary:

bring in PR
sort out house of lords
sort out financing/ wages
free mps to vote as they wish
debate things properly
be honest about policies and say what you really think

Good work!

Can you do one for the “what-a-state” of America too?

That is great stuff. I liked the bit about Spiderman the best. And the use of the word “cockfest”. 🙂

I’d have used the term ‘sausagefest’.

I like the implied double meaning of “cockfest”. Subtle, see? 🙂

On a serious note I think this is all very much common sense, even self evident stuff. If someone with more of an interest in politics than me can come along and explain why it isn’t the case already, I would be very grateful.

Very good, think we should all cut and paste this into a letterhead, swap the recipient for our own local MP and get them in the post.

Top work Kimbers.

That needs a wider audience Kimbers, may I suggest a bit of viral work be done by the STW massif? I’ve started it.

Top marks fella.

G

secret ballots

You want them to be less accountable?

labour could spend its last nine months actually leaving a real legacy for the country not just a bitter taste and a mountain of debt.

Why would they want to do that when they can leave behind lots of timebombs they can blame the Torys for?

Great points, but written in a bit of a ‘keyboard bashing’ first draft style. You should have run it past a solicitor or such first to ensure the quality of language is up to scratch. Cockfest does however redeem you from this somewhat! 😀

I like the last line, do you mind if I use it in my next work report?

and yes but my previous drug and sex antics would have me destroyed by the tabloids

Sounds like you are well qualified to me, I would vote for you 😉

I’ve written one to my MP too.

Dear Mr Burnham,

I once met you in the park and in Sainsburies and you seemed like a reasonably nice chap, if a bit oily. You even patted my son on the head (we steam cleaned him that night). However, if I’d have known you were a thieving, amoral gimp master just like every other politician ever to have lived, I’d have screamed ‘rape!’ and made my son scream the same just to damage your politicial career for ever.

Love Jon.

P.S. I actually voted for you that year but here’s something you didn’t know. I was voting for the person with the fittest wife, not that yours is a babe or anything but she was a full 9 pints fitter than the munter married to the other bloke.

samurai thumbs up!

Chuckles at we steam cleaned him that night!! 🙂

pr -not a good idea – just look at holyrood.
elected second house – again not a good idea – look at the us senate.

Please stop jumping on bandwagons and do some research. 😉

Kimbers lacks two main things for a career in politics

1. A Suit
2. A haircut (and an almighty one at that!)

😉

samuri – Member

I was voting for the person with the fittest wife, not that yours is a babe or anything but she was a full 9 pints fitter than the munter married to the other bloke.

Samuri, I think you got something here, great idea.

😉

tomthumb
why nt use the single transferable vote system used by ireland, though holyrood is a mess
the main benefit would be breaking up the 2 main parties who have very little different to offer from one another anyway
and as for the lords i said elected/selected second house a combination of the two would be ideal definately to include an equal amount of women and decent representation of minorities, social and finacial backgrounds

I want to be an MP 😯

also safe seat mps have claimed far more in expenses than their more vulnerable colleagues and generally arent really that bothered by local issues
pr would end that

ski:

Do you think he will read past the first line?

I know I didn’t.

i reckon he will he seems like a mostly decent chap

certainly doesnt claim for a 2nd home and says hes never claimed for anything other than necessary expenses

i got a reply…………

Dear Chris,

Thanks for writing to Andy – it is a disappointingly rare treat to hear that a constituent feels empowered, though in this case I suspect Purdey, not Spiderman was the fictional force involved!

I will of course pass your email on to him, but in the meantime I am forwarding you a copy of his latest email newsletter. It does not cover every aspect of your wide-ranging note, but I think you will find that in several areas your ideas chime…

Yours sincerely,

John Dawson
Parliamentary Assistant

Does anyone else hear the sound of jet engines? Because that seems to have flown right over the head of a certain John Dawson.