Whether it's Climate Change, the Iraq
War, Civil Liberties, Trade Justice or issues which affect your
community, how has your MP represented you? Get the facts
with which to Hold 'Em To Account!!
How has
your MP voted? What parliamentary questions have they asked? What
speeches have they made? What Early Day Motions have they signed?
Does your MP blindly follow the Party Whip, continuously following
orders or do they represent you? Use the following links for MP
Votes, MP Questions & EDMs:
MP VOTES, GOV'T JOBS & COMMITTEES. (Source: The Guardian)
Click
on your MP's name, then the following;
'How have they voted' to bring up details of their key
votes within parliament (brilliantly straight forward and summarised
- an excellent source of info with which to hold your MP to account!).
'Jobs
and Committees' to find out what positions they hold within government.
MP VOTES (Source: Publicwhip.org.uk)
Get your MP's attendance record at parliament and a list of the
votes in which your MP has rebelled against the party whip, (i.e
the party leadership and they are either representing your community
or their 'special interests'. Which?). At the top of the screen
click on 'All Votes' to bring up all the parliamentary votes your
MP has participated in.
MP DEBATES, VOTES & WRITTEN QUESTIONS (Source: TheyWorkForYou.com)
Brilliant
website. Click on the following;
'Voting
Record' for a nice summary of votes by issue. click on 'speeches'
for debate participation and written questions and responses.
'Performance
Data' for a summary of how your MP compares against others.
'Recent
Apppearences in Parliament' for recent debates and written questions.
Use
the 'Search this MP's Speeches' box if you are concerned about
an issue not covered in 'voting record'.
(Find
out what your MP has to say when addressing parliament personally,
does he speak for your constituency?).
EARLY
DAY MOTIONS (Source: Parliamentary Information Management
Systems)
Select
your MP from the list. You will find a comprehensive list of all
Early Day Motions signed by your MP. Do you agree/disagree with
them? Are there other motions you think he should have signed?
(All EDMs are listed on this site)
Who
does your MP work for? Does he hold directorships or shares? Has
he received payment, financial or in kind, from big business?
Has he been on all expenses foreign trips thanks to big business?
Does he seem to be using his position as your elected representative
to represent corporate interests? Use the following links to find
out:
MEMBER'S
INTERESTS (Source: House of Commons)
Click
on the most recent session and find your MP for the most up to
date list of his declared 'interests' (which doesn't mean them
all by a long way). Are there any 'renumerated employment, office
provision etc' listed? Have any 'gifts, benefits or hospitality'
been received from corporate interests? Or 'overseas visits' paid
for by big business? What are his 'registrable shareholdings'?
Look at your MP's voting record, written questions and speeches
and then look at his 'interests'. Ask yourself, who does your
MP represent?
PARTY
DONORS (Source: Cleanpolitix.com)
Click
on 'Who Funds Who' to find out who the big donors are to the different
political parties. Again, look at your MP's record and ask yourself,
are these 'interests' being represented or are yours?
LABOUR
PARTY FRIENDS & DONORS - (source: Red Star Research)
Great
(if not unbiased) resource detailing New Labour's corporate friends,
including donors, special advisers, taskforces etc.
How
do MPs work within parliament? What are your your rights regarding
your MP? When can and can't your MP do something? What channels
are available to enable an MP to hold the government to account?
(EDMs, Private Member's Bills etc). Find out:
WHAT
CAN MY MP DO? (Source: FaxYourMp.com)
Click
on the question you want answering.
Armed
with the facts you can now Hold 'Em To Account!! To
find your MP's address, e-mail, website and telephone number,
in order to confront them with their record and urge for change,
use the following links:
MP
CONTACT DETAILS. (Source: The Guardian)
Click
your MP's name and scroll down to 'contact details'. Take a note
of their e-mail, addresses and telephones numbers. Also through
'useful websites' you may find your MP's own website. In which,
no doubt, they will pay the usual lip service to popular concerns.
It's a good idea quote an MP's own rhetoric when confronting them
with regard to their actual performance/actions. It forces them
to either look like a hypocrite or actually do something to make
good anything they have said.
CONTACT
- E-MAIL YOUR MP (Source: WriteToThem.com)
Enter
your postcode to bring up your MP, your MEP and your Local Councillors.
Complete the template with the letter you want sending.
Find
the contact details of your local constituency party to urge them
to deselect your MP if he's not up to scratch:
CONSTITUENCY
PARTY ADDRESSES:
LABOUR
CONSERVATIVE
LIB
DEM
Find
your local constituency party websites and addresses. If you can't
find yours, go to the main party website and e-mail a request
for your local party branch details.
Now
you know the facts, here is your opportunity to name and shame,
tell the world what your MP has been up to and how he (mis)represents
you, (give good feedback as well, let's not just be negative here).
In addition to having your say here, post what you find to your
local Indymedia and share your info with other constituents. It
is essential to let the world know the facts once you have them,
be the media:
HAVE
YOUR SAY - NAME & SHAME
E-mail
us with what you have found out about your MP, we will post your
findings to the 'Have your say - Name & Shame' section.
INDYMEDIA
Click
on 'Publish Your News' in the top right corner. Complete the form,
(ticking the boxes of the IMCs in your region) and publish your
article. If you could mention PowerToThePeople.org.uk
it would be much appreciated. We need to get others to find out
and publicise how they are (mis)represented themselves in order
to have any impact.
Special
thanks must be given to those people involved in the websites
used above. The internet has enabled a massive leap in parliamentary
transparency, greatly aiding us in the fight for real democratic
accountability. Use it. Get the facts and pass them on. Hold 'Em
To Account!!
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