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Making life better for people by inspiring solutions to environmental problems

Writing to your MP

Writing to your MP is the easy way to get an issue that is important to you, noticed! Although you cannot vote yet, you are still a constituent - and that means that part of your MP's job, is to represent YOU and your views in Parliament. In order to represent your views, your MP needs to know what they are!

So what do you think? What is important to you?

If you are interested in helping to make your area GM Free, or to make sure big business care as much for people and the environment as they do about making a profit, then we need your help - please contact us if you'd like to be involved! This issue is an excellent topic to write to your MP about but remember: you can write to your MP about any environmental issue that is important to you.

Does writing to your MP really make a difference?

Absolutely! If your MP receives one letter demanding doorstep recycling to every home, she might think 'hmmmm that's a nice idea, but I don't think we have the money for such a scheme at the moment'. However, if she received 500 or 1000 letters, her response would be very different - more along the lines of 'goodness gracious, I better lobby for doorstep recycling for my constituents, otherwise they might vote me out in the next election!' That's exactly how Friends of the Earth are looking at achieving a law for doorstep recycling through Parliament this year - we got thousands of people just like you, to write a letter to their MP.

Another great way to get your MP's attention is to try to involve all your friends and classmates. If you and your class think that your local area should be GM Free, then get everyone to write a letter to your MP in relation to this and send them off together. This is sure to brighten your MP's day - and of course help persuade them to adopt your position!

Top Three Tips

1. Always close your letter with the line 'I look forward to your reply' or your MP may not reply
2. You have a right to know what your MP thinks about any issue. When you write to an MP to tell them about an issue that's important to you, make sure you ask them to tell you what they think.
3. Politicians are very clever at saying a lot, but not actually agreeing to anything. Often their reply will say things like 'Many people have supported this very important issue' - this means absolutely nothing, because they haven't told you what they actually think! If you receive a response such as this, you should just see it as encouragement to write back to them and ask them for their specific view point.

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