A letter to my MP(s)

Dear Nick Palmer,

As another year passes and we begin to look forward to a fresh one I thought it would be a good time to write to you and tell you how I see the world and how I, as a young student, would like to see it changed. The following is not a comprehensive list of all of the problems that we face and neither is it offering any fully researched solutions but I believe that it is my right and indeed my duty to tell my democratically elected representative how I feel about politics, about Britain and about the world in which we live.
Let us start with politics. Britain is a democracy and a relatively successful one at that. We live in a country where every man and woman over 18 who is a resident can vote and this is a blessing. We also live in a country where a 16 year old can join the armed forces, get married, have sex and pay tax but they cannot vote. I believe that it is time that we trust younger people to vote. After all surely we all believe there should be ‘no taxation without representation’. Should anyone have to give money to a government who they had no say in electing. I do not think so. Young people, even at university, feel totally and utterly detached from the political process and I believe that along with educating people in their political rights we should allow them to access the process they learn about from an earlier age. The low turnout in elections (see graph below) in Britain is shameful and a good way to address this problem would be to get people more involved from an early age. Furthermore I believe that the age limit to be an elected representative should also be lowered.
Voter Turnout in British General Elections
http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/turnout.htm
Voter turnout in 2007 Scottish Parliament elections

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/education/resources/learningResources/election.htm
A way of further increasing voter turnout would be to implement a system of proportional representation across all elections in the United Kingdom. People do not feel represented, especially- as is my experience- in the student community. Proportional representation has its downsides (extremist parties) but as believers in democracy must we not agree that it is better to have intelligent debate about different ideas rather than push minority views out altogether? Personally I believe that a hole has been left in the British political spectrum by Labours shift to the right and I also believe that proportional representation may give those voters who feel only apathy a chance to be represented.
Devolution was a very positive move by our government and it is time that they follow up on their promises to make important constitutional change. I do not believe in monarchy and I shall leave this rather uncomfortable issue aside (lest we realise that we do not in fact live in a constitutional democracy). More urgent is the failed reform of the House of Lords. I support the full removal of hereditary peers and the abolition of peerages altogether to allow for a democratically elected second chamber (as all other developed democracies have as far as I know). Having an elected second chamber would strengthen and enliven the voting process and, importantly, give people a chance to show disapproval of a current government more regularly. I believe it is a shame on our nation that there seems to be a lack of trust by those in power to allow all of our representatives to be accountable to the people. Britain as part of the ‘war on terror’ has been quick to criticise other countries lack of democracy but we are stained by an archaic second chamber that simply does not represent the demographics of the country. It has been 96 years since the Parliament Act (1911) committed our government to elect "a Second Chamber constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis" and I believe that 2011 is the year that we must set for an elected Lords to take control, 100 years after the Parliament Act. ‘[The] House of Commons and the Government have now firmly committed themselves to an 80% to 100% elected second chamber. The Commons voted for this in March.’ 63% of the public support reform while just 26% disapprove- the time has come for our government to follow up on their promises and make the change.

A pressing issue on the domestic front is the curtailment of civil liberties by our government since they were elected in 1997. In ten years over 3000 new criminal offences have been created . The creation of laws is not in itself a bad thing, it is what a government is for but when laws begin to infringe on our basic civil liberties I believe we must stand up and take action. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (sections 132-7) bans unplanned protest on Parliament Square and contradicts article 12 of the Human Rights Act. Gordon Brown has commissioned a report, which I have read, and he must now act on this and get this terrible piece of legislation changed.
The introduction of ID cards will not help this country protect its citizens and I oppose the introduction completely. In all, the Identity Cards Act 2006 provides for 49 items of data pertaining only to you to be stored on the register, and all of this will have to be handed over when you go for your compulsory ID session. According to the BBC ‘Identity cards could cost £18bn over 10 years, triple the government's estimate.’ It is unacceptable for our government to spend billions of pounds on Identity Cards when we still have people waiting hours at casualty, teachers being underpaid and one in ten British children are living in severe poverty. Identity cards would not have stopped the bombings in London, they didn’t stop the Madrid bombings, they are an infringement of our basic right to privacy and they are a waste of desperately needed taxpayers money.
Terrorism is certainly a threat to be taken seriously but the extension of detention of suspects is disproportionate and a serious threat to our right to being ‘innocent unless proven guilty’. An extension beyond 28 days is unnecessary and worrying. Let us not forget that these are people like you or me who are locked up without charge because there is not enough evidence to convict them, this is simply wrong. Not only is this law ‘wrong’ but it is dreadfully misjudged as well. If we want to let the terrorists think they are winning we are playing into their hands, if we want to set an example to them we are failing, if we want to be forced into the removal of liberty for all because we are scared then we should extend the limit- if not I urge you to vote against it.

The link between a ‘terrorist threat’ to the United Kingdom and our foreign policy is too often ignored by those in power and it is time for politicians, especially those who supported the war on Iraq to realise that the reason we are all now at risk is partly because of the actions of our government in international affairs and defence. It is clear and has been widely reported that our actions in the Middle East, and especially in Iraq have boosted terrorist support worldwide and indeed in our own country. At least 80 000 innocent civilians have died in Iraq and according to some sources this number can be multiplied by 6 times. Is it any wonder that there is an element of resentment against us when we have killed thousands in a foreign country that we waged an illegal war upon? We must never allow ourselves to go to war without good reason and UN backing again because the results would absolutely disastrous. For this reason I support a diplomatic and peaceful end to the Iran nuclear crisis and hope that all politicians urge our own and the American government to refrain from taking military action in the area ever again.
Our position on the Iran situation is hypocritical beyond belief. We are asking a government to refrain from developing nuclear power and nuclear weapons, both of which we continue to have in our own country. I do not believe that we have the right or the need to possess nuclear weapons and I believe that our possession of them is illegal under the non-proliferation treaty. We have no right to deny others nuclear weapons when we have them ourselves and it is no excuse to say we need them as a ‘deterrent’. Plenty of western nations do not have nuclear weapons and enjoy peace. Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Italy, Finland, New Zealand and more have no nukes and are certainly under no more threat than us, in fact, not surprisingly, they are under less of a threat. We must now take action on nuclear weapons and ensure every country in the world is nuclear free as soon as possible. Could we not spend some of the possible £100 billion on taking early action on climate change as suggested in the Stern Report or could we not build more hospitals, employ more teachers or possibly increase our aid spending to the long ago promised 0.7% to try and bring peace and prosperity to everyone in the world?
A major reason that people begin to feel disconnected with politics is the feeling that there is a greater power than them, which they cannot control. For the British public this ‘greater power’ is the USA. Although the list of times Britain has bowed to American pressure is long there is one particular issue that haunts me. Why do we continue to stay silent about Guantanamo Bay? It is illegal and immoral and must be shut down and yet where is the public criticism from our leaders that we would hear if people were being locked up in say Burma. There is none and it is time we tell America openly and publicly that Guantanamo Bay detention centre must be shut down. The British public would be proud of a government who stood up to America when they were doing something wrong and this is one issue that it is urgent that we act upon.

After reading the most recent IPCC report (which I will not quote but am sure you are aware of) I am convinced that the time has come for us to act swiftly on climate change. I applaud the action of the government in pledging an emissions cut but I cannot fail to see hypocrisy in their words. Our government seems committed to airport and road expansion and has failed to provide cheap and reliable public transport. Building a new runway at Heathrow is just one move that seems to fully contradict our government’s positive rhetoric on climate change. I believe that our government should take fast and decisive action on climate change that includes a massive taxation increase on domestic flights, a gradual and progressive increase in tax for international flights, a fully funded and subsidised public transport network from local buses to long distance coaches and internationally linked rail and coach services. I am sure you agree that action needs to be taken but all I ask is this: please make sure that our promises are kept and we take the positive action that is desperately needed.

The final and possibly most urgent issue that I would like to discuss is the vast inequality that we face in the world. Inequality exists at all levels, between the North and South of Britain, between developed nations and developing nations, between men and women and in almost all areas of society. Please can we not forget that a child still dies of poverty in Africa every 5 seconds, that women around the world still lack power and representation and that 1 in 3 has suffered sexual abuse of some kind, the gap between rich and poor in Britain is widening and that politicians have the power to change all this but never seem to do enough. The changes that are needed are too many to detail at this stage but may I make a few suggestions.
· Let’s meet our Aid target of 0.7% quickly.
· Let’s make trade truly fair and stop forcing developing nations to liberalise their markets
· Lets make drugs available to everyone, at an affordable price, not just the rich by internationalising drugs companies.
· Let’s meet our promise to provide access to AIDS treatment for all by 2010, we are way behind.
· Let’s make the IMF and World Bank and WTO representative of the world.
· Let’s support women’s rights all over the globe.
· Let’s get every child in education, no matter where they are born.
· Let’s redistribute money where it is needed, from the rich to the poor.
· Let’s imagine a world where the ‘accident of birth’ does not dictate the rest of your life.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, it is greatly appreciated. I have detailed my opinions and do not expect you to agree to all the solutions that I offer but I urge you to do what is right this year and make the world a fairer and better place for the many, not just the few. I want to live in a country where I can say I am proud of those who represent me because they try to do what is right, because they stand up for what they believe and most importantly because they listen to those who they represent.

Many Thanks

Matthew Butcher