Category MP Letter Templates

UNFAIR DISMISSAL

Julie

You could use parts of this to send to your MP.. It is always better to personalise emails and ask one or two direct questions that require an answer, not more, if you rant they can just ignore it as it asks for nothing.

FAB Firework Abatement Campaign have been campaigning for over 2 yrs to ask the UK government to restrict the use of fireworks for the benefit of people and animals.

A recent petition backed by FAB achieved over 100,000 signatures in ONE MONTH, proving with  certainty that many people are just about fed up with random fireworks. We all accept the traditional dates of 5th November and 31st December along with Diwali and Chinese New Year, it is the random use throughout the year and the prolific use during ‘FIREWORK SEASON’, as it has become, that is an issue for many people.

This petition was unfairly denied a debate. Click here for letter that can be sent to your MP to complain of this unfairness and maybe achieve a change of heart from the Petitions Committee. (it is the PC that decide which petitions are debated, regardless of how many signatures they achieve).

Please amend and add your feelings to this letter to your MP..It is very easy to send an email … although a letter is better….Find your MPs postal address here, search by postcode or their name. Info on the letter campaign can be found here.

The petition in question still has over 3 months to run….please continue to share and sign.

 

SIGN HERE please to help FAB stop random fireworks. Read our HOME PAGE to see what we are about…

Please report every incidence of fireworks you hear on our FIREWORK LOG. We are collecting data to prove to the government that random fireworks do occur……They insist fireworks are mostly limited to traditional dates already. We know that is not the case.

Please WRITE TO YOUR MP and let them know how you feel.. If you don’t tell them they will continue to deny the problem.

FAB are asking the government to restrict public USE of fireworks to traditional dates. That works out about 10 days a year. So you can still have them in your gardens around Guy Fawkes and New Year, Diwali and Chinese New Year.. There will still be displays and fireworks competitions as there are now, just no random unexpected fireworks to frighten people and animals.

#fabuk

MP Letter Campaign

Julie

THE MP LETTER CAMPAIGN

Send your MP’s response to Diane

(preferably: email/text, jpg/png, pdf)

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Your MP

The only people in Britain who can change the law are MPs. They are, therefore, our most important audience. FAB has been at the forefront of the UK campaign to make a restriction on firework use by the general public a political issue. The way to support us is by writing to your MP. Every letter and email counts.

Progress comes from engaging with the system and advancing what is an overwhelmingly powerful argument with patience and determination.

Writing To Your MP

Many MPs gauge public opinion by the number of letters and emails they receive on a particular subject, so writing to them is important.

You can either e-mail your MP or write by regular mail. Some people think a letter is more likely to get a response, but there’s probably no truth in that. However, most MPs will reply by post.

You can write to your MP as often as you like, but if you regularly bombard him or her with irate e-mails, the chances are you will be ignored.

How Do I Contact My MP?

To find out who your MP is and to email  go to  writetothem.com  and enter your postcode into the box. The click on MP..

For snail mail, which is better, the postal address is:

(Name of MP, e.g. George Osborne MP)

House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

If you wish to obtain any other specific details about your MP, then you can contact their local surgeries or their secretaries by calling the House of Commons Switchboard on 0207 219 3000 and asking to be put through to their office.

Whether you write by post or e-mail, always include at the head of your letter or e-mail:

Your full name and address, including post code (very important).

If you don’t include your full address, your letter will be ignored, as MPs are only obliged to respond to their own constituents.

What To Include In The Letter

Keep it short. The basic letter should be no more than one side of A4, although you can include additional information such as photocopies or scans of documents etc.

A carefully considered letter is far more effective, and will attract greater support, than an intense, ill-thought out tirade. Don’t make more than one, or perhaps at most two key points and keep your argument factual, if possible backing it up it with references to research documents, newspaper reports etc.

It’s always good advice to plan your letter or email carefully, to leave it for a few hours and then to read it again before posting. That way you can be sure of making the points you intended to make. Ensure you include your full name and address.

It is always important that you ask your MP something concrete; for example ask them whether they would support moves to reform current firework laws, or you could just ask them to clarify their position and give reasons for it.

If the issue you are raising is of particular relevance to you, then ensure you highlight your personal interest because your MP is more likely to pay greater attention it.

If you have a question for a minister, the convention is that you write to your MP and ask him or her to pass your letter or e-mail onto the minister on your behalf. You don’t need to know the minister’s name, just their correct title.

The golden rules when writing to your MP is to include contact details, be formal but polite, keep it short, make one or at most two points and ask a direct question to discover his or her attitude to the issue at hand.

Your MP splits their time between their constituency office, and their parliamentary office where they are required to attend debates and meetings in the House of Commons.

_______________________________________________________________

westminster-hallWestminster Hall

The FAB Guide To Lobbying MPs

Lobbying is the process of attempting to influence the decisions made by officials in the government. As a member of the public, the best mechanism you have to do this is through the use of your local MP. If you don’t attempt to inform and influence the decision making process then your concerns won’t be heard or considered. Don’t leave it to someone else to speak up for you, they might not exist!

Whether or not you voted for your local MP, or even agree with their political views, you can lobby them to gain their help with your campaign. They are able to submit parliamentary questions, write a letter to the relevant minister, or even arrange a meeting with the minister responsible for the issue of concern to you. Lobbying also enables you to force an MP to show where their allegiance lies on a particular subject.

Other than writing to them, you can lobby your MP in a number of ways: You can set up a meeting with them or use your local media by getting them to raise the issue or highlight a campaign, challenging your MP for a response.

Politicians are particularly keen to be seen engaging with young people, so if you are first-time voter, make that clear from the outset.

You can request a meeting with your MP at anytime. The easiest way, however, is to request an appointment during their ‘surgery’ hours. All MPs hold local surgeries – the dates, times and locations are advertised in advance, you can obtain this information from their own website or by contacting their offices directly.

Needless to say if you do get a meeting with your MP, make an effort to be clean and presentable.  Be polite and have your case prepared in advance so you can make your argument clearly and concisely. Take copies of any supporting documents with you to give to him or her.

NB…. All constituency members are entitled to a free tour of the Houses of Parliament by their MP, by arrangement obviously! This is a good opportunity to raise any issues you might have. If you do, ensure that you have a side of A4 with all points clearly highlighted. In addition to this you can attend any debates in the house, and every week each MP has two tickets to PMQs, if you contact their office they can book you in for free.

Britain's Prime Minister, Theresa May, addresses the House of Commons during her first Prime Minister's Questions in LondonPrime Ministers Questions.. (PMQs)

Another tool that we have at our disposal is a MPs ability to table or sign Early Day Motions. EDMs are good for publicising the views of individual MPs, drawing attention to a specific campaign or event; they can also be used to determine parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view. Write to your MP and say ‘I wish for you to table an Early Day Motion on the following subject ……. for the following reasons……..” be sure to use a convincing argument! You can also ask them to sign and show support for an existing EDM that has already been tabled.

When you have sent your letter or contacted your MP please let us know, we keep a list of those MPs contacted. When you receive your reply, good bad or ugly.. Please  remember to send all MP replies to Diane.

 Thank you and good luck with your lobbying..

MP Letter Ideas

datadeli

Unfortunately the firework problem is not going away and therefore neither am I. I am currently working with a campaign group FireworkABatement who have a government petition running to change the current legislation governing the use of fireworks in this country. We have the fastest growing facebook page ever, with 1—–  members and counting. The petition is currently at —— and is rising at a rate of approximately  —- signatures every day. —- of those signatures are from your constituency, so whilst I maybe the only one contacting you directly I am not the only one unhappy with the current firework season.

We are collating all reports of fireworks being set off from our members and the reports are coming in so thick and fast that our admin team struggles to keep up. Our sister page Firework Damage is collating the reports of the damage being caused by fireworks, both firsthand accounts and those that have been in the news. So I have some numbers for you. These have all happened in the past couple of weeks, since just before Halloween:-

Property damaged

Building burnt down in Tottenham

Field shelter burnt to a shell, horse only just rescued in time

House damaged by a rocket going into the bathroom

Explosion in Leeds – firework thrown through window.

Injuries

One dog

Two horses

3 yr old boy taken to A and E after being hit by stray firework

3 teenagers hit by fireworks at Formby display

Elderly lady in Loughton treated for serious burns after lit firework was put through her letterbox.

Deaths

One foal

One unborn foal

Six cows

Three horses

Five dogs

Four rabbits

One guinea pig

One cat after a lit firework was deliberately inserted into its rectum

Deliberate attacks

Fourteen year old boy burnt on neck, chest and hair after firework thrown at him

Fireworks thrown at moving cars in Rotherham

Police attacked with fireworks at a Yorkshire house party

Police attacked with fireworks in Sheffield

PCSO burnt when attacked with fireworks in Enfield

Tesco delivery man – lit firework thrown at van

Firefighters attacked in Stoke

Police horses injured in London riots

Fireworks thrown at the Blackpool/Huddersfield football match

50 yobs attack a group of special needs students in Doncaster

Firefighters attacked in Sheffield

Soughton Mains – police attacked with fireworks

Tyne and Wear – 3 kids on horseback had fireworks thrown at them.

There is a SERIOUS problem with fireworks in this country. Those are the major incidents that have been reported. They don’t even begin to touch on the number of people who have suffered immense distress and will continue to do so into the new year. Our group has been contacted by numerous families of war veterans suffering from PTSD for whom this time of year is literally hell as the constant explosions trigger major flashbacks to the war zones they served in. Their family members are in despair as they watch their loved ones reduced to shaking, crying wrecks night after night. In the worst cases it can cause a complete disassociation with reality. This goes on virtually every night for three months.

We have also been contacted by families with autistic children, again struggling to cope night after night as their children become agitated and distressed by the unexpected and random nature of the explosions. It can often take hours for them to calm down, only for them to have to go through the same thing again the next night, and the next and the next.

Then there are many elderly people for whom this time of year is frightening and distressing. A couple of years ago I found my elderly neighbour outside her house beside herself with panic as she thought we were being bombed and she couldn’t find anything to black out her windows. She was panicking because she thought she was going to be responsible for her neighbours being killed. I have heard many similar stories since joining this group.

I suggest you look at our sister page Firework Damage and read the human stories behind the numbers.

So far the responses from all the MPs that have been contacted have been virtually the same – we are a minority, it is a tradition and there is already a law in place. The fact is the current legislation is as effective as a chocolate teapot. The figures that we are collating show that the curfews in place by the law are pretty much ignored with fireworks regularly being set off after midnight, 1am, 4am. And there is nothing the police can do because it is very difficult to pinpoint the noise as the sound of legal level fireworks travels roughly a mile. And bull fighting is a tradition, that doesn’t make it right.

On top of that the events over the past few weeks with fireworks being used as weapons against the police, firefighters and the public cast serious doubt upon your statement that the public is capable of using fireworks responsibly. Readily supplying the public with explosives is sheer folly. The CAA released figures in the last couple of weeks confirming 80 near misses and a number of direct hits on passenger jets. Most from careless firework displays but at least 8 were direct hits from deliberate attacks.

It is time that the government sat up and faced reality, there is a huge problem with fireworks in this country. Even the so called responsible displays in people’s back gardens cause untold distress and harm to those within a mile or so. One MP has remarked that he thinks it would be unfair to stop people being able to buy fireworks – but how is it fair for people to have them forced on them? It is the only antisocial behaviour that I know of that is not only allowed, but appears to be endorsed by the government. So I have to question why the apathy and reluctance by our MPs to stand up for the people affected? Surely at the very least our veterans deserve your protection? There are only two reasons I can come up with. The first is the ‘I’m alright Jack’ syndrome, if it doesn’t directly affect you then it isn’t important – you don’t have riots in your constituency so why bother about the distress caused. Or is it once again money? I assume the government makes a fair amount of money from the VAT on the sale of fireworks.

The campaign is growing in numbers all the time, the amount of people negatively affected, harmed and injured by fireworks cannot go on being ignored. To ignore the issue of fireworks and to write us off as simply a minority is irresponsible and negligent.

Please do not answer my concerns with another apology or insult my intelligence with another banal quote from the current, pointless legislation. I have already had those from yourself, Vince Cable and John Whittingdale, as have most members of the group from their MPs.

Instead I want to know how many have to suffer injury, loss or emotional trauma before you consider us to be a big enough section of the population to be counted as important. We are not killjoys, but we do believe that at no point should one person’s fun and entertainment be more important than another’s suffering.

All we are asking for is stricter regulation on the number of days that the public can set fireworks of, or restrict the use of rockets, mines and bangers for use at public displays only so that private displays are virtually silent. There are precedents for these kinds of restrictions being successful e.g. Denmark and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland only had six firework related injuries. The UK will have well over a thousand before the season has finished.

Angela Smith MP Sheffield

I am writing to you as a representative for the Facebook campaign group FireworkABatement (FAB). We are the fastest growing facebook group ever (11, 775 members in 35 days) and are pushing an online petition asking for the tightening up of firework legislation which is at 38,608 and is growing at a rate of roughly 4000 signatures a day.

The awful scenes that happened in Sheffield and London last night highlight a serious problem with fireworks in this country. There appears to be an increase in the use of them as weapons (if you look at our sister page on facebook Firework Damage we have been collating stories and incidents as they are reported – the list is staggering).

However, this is a new twist to the problem with fireworks and is not even the reason the group originally started. It used to be that Bonfire night was just that, a night. Now, however, we have firework ‘season’ that stretches from mid October to mid January and in many areas it is virtually constant every night for over seventy nights.

The distress and trauma caused to animals by fireworks is well documented with many animals utterly terrified, many to the point of injuring themselves or even to the point of death – there have been numerous deaths of horses, dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs since Halloween weekend directly attributable to fireworks and the season has only just started. There has even been a highly disturbing case of a cat that has had to be euthanised after a firework was inserted into its backend.

However, what is less well publicised is the effect fireworks have on different groups of vulnerable people. War veterans suffering from PTSD suffer terribly at this time of year with the explosions triggering powerful flashbacks, autistic children find the random nature of the explosions very difficult to cope with, becoming very agitated and distressed, and elderly people on their own can also struggle at this time of year. This suffering goes on endlessly for three months. The reports of fireworks going off outside of the 5th November have come in so thick and fast that our admin team have struggled to keep up and their computers have almost crashed.

We very much welcome your statement that you intend to bring up the need for tighter legislation in Parliament. Many of our members have been in contact with their local MPs and Mr Whittingdale addressing our concerns. Every single one has received a standard response of ‘there is nothing they can do, we have no intention of changing the current legislation’, our concerns just brushed under the carpet.

The use and abuse of fireworks is now out of control in this country and something has to be done. The misery, distress and injury caused by them is unacceptable. The precedent has been set by other countries recently for example Denmark and Northern Ireland have both introduced strict new controls, last year the total injury rate for Northern Ireland was six.

So the basic gist of this very long winded email is to let you know that we fully support your action in bringing this problem to Parliament.

Please look at our pages, or contact us for more information about what we are looking to achieve with the petition and we wish you the best of luck bringing this issue up,

Remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason and plot’. Remember when it was just the 5th of November? When a firework display was something organised by a group, put on by a professional company, that parents took their children to for a night out, for that night and only that night?

Somehow, we have moved from firework night to firework season – three whole months starting mid October and running to mid January. Fireworks are now used to celebrate everything from weddings, christenings and half term to just an ordinary Monday or Wednesday night with fireworks readily available for members of the public to buy, often with discounts or half price deals for the periods around November the 5th and New Year. Under the current legislation, it is legal to set off fireworks anytime between 7am and 11pm (midnight for 5th November and New Year’s Eve, 1am for Diwali) any day during the year as long as it’s not in a public place.

The FireworkABatement Campaign group is looking to change the current legislation to restrict the sale and use of fireworks to return to the traditional date of the 5th November as well as Diwali, Chinese New Year and New Year’s Eve. The campaign group is the fastest growing facebook group ever and the government petition is currently at 62,000 signatures and is increasing at a rate of around 2000 signatures per day. We are not looking to ban fireworks, but to introduce a compromise which will allow those who enjoy fireworks to do so, whilst minimising the impact on those who don’t want to. Something that the current legislation doesn’t do.

The negative impact that fireworks have on pets, farm animals and wildlife is well documented and this is why the group and the petition was originally set up, hence the wording on the petition. The constant explosions cause untold fear and suffering in many pets including dogs, cats, horses, rabbits and guinea pigs. Unfortunately, in the worst cases it results in the death of the animal, this year alone the number of animals killed as a direct result of fireworks is into double figures including a cat that was deliberately attacked with a lit firework, and there is still almost two months to go.

However, as the campaign has progressed and the group has increased to more than 16,000 members we have discovered that the range of people whose lives are seriously impacted by the excessive use of fireworks is far wider than expected.

Families of ex-servicemen suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have contacted the group, expressing their gratitude that this issue is finally being highlighted. For a veteran suffering from PTSD, the fireworks sound like gunshots and explosions. At the less extreme end of the spectrum, they can still rationalise that it is fireworks, whilst experiencing feelings of anxiety and panic as they anticipate the next explosion. At the most extreme end of the spectrum it can cause such a strong flashback that they become totally separated from reality as they find themselves reliving the horrors of the war zones that they served in.

In the words of one of our supporters, a veteran’s wife whose husband suffers from PTSD and who therefore sees the effects first hand, ‘the simple answer is that it is not only the bang of the firework. It’s the smell, the flash and if he is close enough, the feel of them going off as well. It simply takes him back to a war zone situation, which in turn means more than the usual amount of nightmare and flashbacks. Cold sweats, anxiety induced IBS, hyper-vigilance, fear of not being in control. Living with PTSD daily is enough but to have the added bonus of a couple of months of fireworks just takes its toll’.

We have also been contacted by the families of children with autism. Autistic children find the unexpected and random nature of fireworks very difficult to cope with and it can cause them to become extremely distressed and agitated, often not calming down for hours. This in turn creates a great deal of stress for the parents trying to calm their children, knowing that this is going to happen night after night after night for three months.

Every time someone sets off an explosion in their garden (the legal limit is 120db), they inflict it on everyone around them for half a mile or so and there is no escaping the noise. When they are only used for the occasions mentioned above, it is only four nights of the year. When it is only four specific nights it is possible for people to be prepared, to ensure their pets are safely indoors, medicated if necessary, or to go away for a couple of days to get away from the noise. When it is every night for three months it is impossible to prepare for.

One person’s entertainment should not come at the price of another’s misery or peace of mind.

MP Letter Template 1

datadeli

Following on from the success of petition 109702 which was debated on 6th June 2016 in Westminster Hall. I would like several issues to be investigated and discussed with a view to changing the legislation on the dates fireworks can be used.
I have signed petitions calling for a change in the law. I believe that the initial petition and debate brought to the fore the problems that pets and their owners have with random fireworks. During the campaign on petition 109702 it became very apparent that not only people with illnesses signed the petition but many people who don’t like fireworks and most tellingly many people who like fireworks but feel that the use on as many nights as the current law permits is too much.
Again the petition is not calling for a ban on domestic fireworks but for the use of them to be curtailed to the traditional dates of Bonfire Night and the weekend of, Chinese New Year, Diwali and New Years Eve. We as a campaign have no desire to impact on professionally organised firework displays as long as they are well advertised.
Both Anna Soubry MP in her written replies and Joe Johnson MP in his closing statement during the debate said the Government believe that there is some use of fireworks and outside the traditional periods, the Government also believes that the majority of people who use fireworks do so at the appropriate times of year. I would like to ask how the Government has come to this conclusion? Is there documented evidence to show that this is in fact the case and not just supposition? As my MP I would ask that you forward this information to me proving this.
It was also suggested during the debate that the current legislation and guidelines are sufficient and that there are guidelines on the use of fireworks on both the Government website and on firework sites. Guidelines are only guidelines and do not take into consideration that many people will not visit these sites, indeed they will only give a cursory look at the instructions enclosed. It does not stop the biggest issue that people currently have with fireworks which is the random use over the year.
It is said that many millions of people enjoy fireworks, what is not said is that there is an equal amount of people who do not. Many of those who enjoy fireworks only enjoy them at the appropriate times of year and abhor the over use of fireworks for any and all reasons. What was once something to look forward to over a few special nights during the year has now become as frequent as a no.37 bus.
In conclusion I would like to say that I am fully aware of firework legislation and the appropriate channels for reporting illegal/misuse of fireworks. I would also take this opportunity to inform you that the campaign is not about the sales of fireworks and to reiterate it is not about a ban. As my MP I require answers to the questions in bold, paragraph 4.
To keep you up to speed I have included links for the original executive summary, the full report and the Hansard transcript.
Executive Summary http://bit.ly/21iMd5f
Full report http://bit.ly/1UOZe1L
Hansard http://bit.ly/1UMpexx

MP Letter Template 2

datadeli

Attn: <MP Name>
<MP Location>

<Date>

<Your address>

<Your email address>

<Your telephone number>

Dear <MP Name>,

I am writing to you with regard to the extremely distressing subject of random fireworks.

When I was growing up in the 1980s, fireworks were only let off on Bonfire Night and the nearest Saturday to it. Nowadays, we have fireworks also for New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year. However, backyard fireworks are regularly let off by people from early October through to January, and I can personally vouch that in my local area this happens almost every single evening during those periods (and sometimes during the day as well).

From my own point of view, this causes immense anxiety and stress for my pets, which is distressing to observe, and sometimes in the past they have bolted and disappeared for a few days. I can contain this to some extent if I am prepared for the possibility of fireworks, and make special arrangements to bring them inside before dusk, but even in the house with the TV turned up they are still absolutely petrified and jump out of their skin and hide wherever they can. From a practical perspective, this is also a huge inconvenience and hassle to my work and home routines.

From a wider point of view, in this current climate of fear of terrorist attacks, I cannot believe that non-qualified members of the public are allowed to purchase and use unlimited amounts of explosive weapons. While it may be fun for their small party in their backyard, this is at the expense of many many more people and animals in the surrounding area who do not have the luxury of being able to anticipate a loud bang and for a moment have to stop to consider if this is some kind of terrorist attack, gunshot or other catastrophe. Imagine how traumatic this must be for military veterans and other sufferers of PTSD and anxiety.

You only have to look at the Streetlife community website to see the vast numbers of people complaining about too many fireworks – and often it is simply people who are completely fed up of the disruption and just want to get some sleep before they get up to work in the morning.

Previously you have said that you believe that it is difficult to place further restrictions on the use of fireworks, as we are under-policed as it is. I understand this argument, as it is already difficult to get the police out for worse crimes, but I would really like you to consider what other options there may be in order to deal with this ever-escalating national nuisance. I look forward to hearing from you with regard to this.

Yours sincerely,

<Your Name>