[Fwd: "Adopt Your MP": Good job.]

[Andy Armstrong]

I think Danny's on FoRK, but I think other Forkers will, indeed should,
find this interesting and he'll probably be too modest to post it here.

http://www.stand.org.uk/

Danny O'Brien wrote:
> 
>   GOVERNMENT NO LONGER QUITE SO KEEN ON RIP STANDING ORDER
> 
>   As most of you will already have heard, the government has backed down from
>   the RIP s22 Order that would have given access to traffic data to dozens of
>   government departments. We thought you'd like to know that this U-turn was
>   largely down to you.
> 
>   The FaxYourMP folk say that they relayed 1789 faxes from last monday, and
>   estimate that around 1600 of those were related to the s22 RIP Order. That
>   means that, on average, every MP received at least two messages expressing
>   concern over the measure.
> 
>   We've received mail from constituents saying that their Member of Parliament
>   called them directly to discuss the issue. We've had MPs mail us with
>   advice. We've had TV companies and newspapers contact us after they'd been
>   hassled by their readers and viewers. We've even had MPs writing letters to
>   constituents explaining, mournfully, that there was nothing they could do -
>   and then had their own voters explain to them how to attend Standing
>   Committee debates, and who to get in contact with others to help fight this
>   order. Ah, those apathetic votees.
> 
>   Also, we had Hugh.
> 
>   One of the stories we've repeatedly heard is that the Home Secretary's
>   change of heart came from a briefing by his 21-year old son, Hugh Blunkett.
> 
>   Hugh, like the rest of us, uses the Internet. He knows enough to see how
>   dangerous this proposition was.  At some point - whether it was a forwarded
>   messaage, or an announcement posted on http://slashdot.org, or a link on
>   your Website - Hugh found out about this order. He read the comments, and
>   the objections posted by thousands of people online, and did something about
>   it.
> 
>   Now, of course, it does help if your dad is the Home Secretary. But if
>   there's one thing we've learnt from STAND, it's that people have greater
>   access to the levers of government than they think. From you to the Home
>   Secretary is a very short chain, and for practical purposes, we don't care
>   whether it was via Hugh or David's old classmate at Huddersfield College.
>   Someone explained to him how the rest of us feel.
> 
>   Making contact is important. The volunteers at STAND and FaxYourMP are
>   almost pathologically cynical, but we're regularly taken aback by how
>   positively MPs, editors, civil servants and peers of the realm respond to a
>   personal contact by intelligent and reasonable citizens. It's almost as if
>   they're flattered by the attention. It's almost as if they're touched anyone
>   even cares about what they do.
> 
>   At the beginning of this campaign - oh, almost a week ago now - many people
>   (from professional lobbyists to anonymous Web forum posters) told us that it
>   was futile to encourage others to make a fuss. It was too late; that
>   delegated legislation would be railroaded through; that no-one cared about
>   privacy issues; that U-turns never happen.
> 
>   Well, perhaps we shouldn't get too cocky. Even this proposal has only been
>   "postponed indefinitely", possibly only until the next Parliament after the
>   Summer break. And there are dozens of other bits of legislation hanging
>   about with vast technological idiocies contained within
>   - the RIP Act draft Code of Practices; the EU's Copyright Directive and Data
>   Retention orders; laws against reverse-engineering; software patents and who
>   knows what else.
> 
>   But we thought it was worth saying that you won. And the next time you're
>   talking to someone about these issues, and someone says "what's the point?"
>   - well, you now may now point at yourself, and mention how you got the
>   government to blink.
> 
>   Cheers,
> 
>   The STAND team.
> 
>   PS The News At Ten people broadcast a segment about STAND member's
>   effect on on Tuesday night.  If it's before 1330pm on Wednesday when
>   you read this (and you have Real player), you can watch it here:
>   <URL:http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/tvseq/news_ost.ram>
> 
>   Many of the wine bottles behind James are now empty.

-- 
Andy Armstrong, http://www.tagish.co.uk/