�The Citizens’ Action workshop at conference explained that if we want new laws such as the Road Traffic Reduction (National Targets) Bill we have got to lobby our MPs more powerfully than we do at the moment.
In a lot of cases, the party whips tell MPs which way they should vote. This means that if your MPs hasn’t been vigorously lobbied by his/h�er constituents the MP may be persuaded to follow the whip’s advice. Ron Bailey, FoE parliamentary campaigner, told us that a MP’s own party will create scandal about them so that they will obey the Whips!
Due to this pressure, we have to lobby, lobby and lobby our MPs so that they listen to us instead of the whips. If local support for an issue is so great the MP will not risk losing his/her seat so will vote as the local people wish.
To lobby MPs we need to write letters to them, visit them in surgeries and write to local newspapers about the issue. It is vital that we encourage other people to do the same. If you do get involved with writing letters to your MP make them brief but to the point. Also send copies of any replies to our normal address.
The other parliamentary campaigns FoE may start to work on include drawing up the best 12 MPs and the worst 12 MPs so people know who to vote for and who to reject at the ballet box.