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Dear Henry,

The whole country is mobilising. From HOPE not hate to The Royal British Legion, from the Countryside Alliance to Friends of the Earth, campaigners and charities are coming out in force against the government’s new gagging law. [1]

This Tuesday, MPs have their first chance to debate the plans in Parliament. [2] You’re one of the 48,000 and counting 38 Degrees members who’ve emailed their MPs already. After hearing the huge outcry this weekend, MPs will ask difficult questions and make life tricky for the government on Tuesday. But we haven’t turned the tide yet. So let’s turn up the heat.

Would you be willing to set up a meeting with your MP, Tim Farron, for this Friday 6th September? All you have to do is say that you’re up for it, and the office team will give you a call back to help arrange everything.

Click here to say you can arrange to meet Tim Farron this Friday:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/meet-your-mp

Organising a meeting sounds like a lot to ask - but the potential impact is huge. If MPs go into the next round of debate having just heard face-to-face from dozens of their voters, they’ll be much more inclined to take a closer look at the gagging law.

Why Friday the 6th?

Most MPs will be back in their constituencies this Friday, holding surgeries and speaking to the people they represent. Plus, this Friday is perfectly between Tuesday’s vote and the next round of debate on the law, which is coming up fast between the 9th and 11th of September.

MPs like Tim Farron need to go into that round of discussion knowing that this outcry isn’t just from the London offices of big name charities and campaigning organisations. Face-to-face meetings is how we’ll prove to him that his own constituents are worried too.

What’s the plan?

Hopefully, all 650 MPs will get a visit. They won’t just be hearing from 38 Degrees members, either - lots of other organisations and local campaigners will likely be joining in too.

What would organising a meeting involve?

All you’ll need to do now is say you’re up for it by clicking this link:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/meet-your-mp

Over the next couple of days, a member of the office team will give you a call to talk you through setting up the meeting. Once you’ve got a time and a place, you’ll have to take five minutes to log the event details on our website and that’s it, you’re done.

You won’t be meeting Tim Farron on your own. Once you’ve told us where you’re meeting him, the office team will send out invitations to everyone in Westmorland and Lonsdale and lots of other members will turn up too. You’ll also receive lots of information about the impact of the law, along with suggestions of what to say to Tim Farron and legal briefings that you can give to him.

Are you in? Can you take a key role in setting up a local event so that on Friday, our movement is out in force across the country making our concerns heard loud and clear?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/meet-your-mp


Thanks for being involved,

Susannah, Robin, Fiona and the 38 Degrees team


NOTES
[1] National Council for Voluntary Organisations joint letter to Chloe Smith: http://blogs.ncvo.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Chloe-Smith-non-party-campaigning-final.pdf
HOPE not hate briefing: http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/gagging-hope-not-hate/
Friends of the Earth briefing: https://s3.amazonaws.com/38degrees.3cdn.net/1ff9a45bb6c30ad582_54m6b95vh.pdf
[2] Parliamentary website: Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill 2013-2014: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/transparencyoflobbyingnonpartycampaigningandtradeunionadministration.html

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Tomorrow, MPs debate the government’s new gagging law for the first time. [1] The law’s being rushed through - so we need to move fast today to get MPs to take ordinary people’s voices into account.

MPs need to hear directly from their constituents today. Please can you call your MP, Tim Farron, now to make sure he goes into tomorrow’s vote fully aware that the eyes of his constituents are on him?

Our best chance of defeating this law is if MPs realise what it would mean if it passes, and that the people they represent are up in arms about it.

Calling Tim Farron today could make a huge difference. If his phone is ringing off the hook, it would show him how worried his constituents are.

All you have to do is:

- Call the Parliament switchboard on 020 7219 3000.
- Ask to speak to Tim Farron’s office.
- When you’re put through, explain that you’re a constituent and that you want to talk about the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill (it’s part 2, the ‘Non-Party Campaigning’ bit, that would gag charities, local groups and campaigners).

Here are some tips for what to say:

- Don’t worry if Tim Farron isn’t available to speak - he'll hear about it if his staff spend all day answering calls about the gagging law.

- Say that you’re worried about the new restrictions on non-party campaigners.

- You could explain why campaigning shouldn’t just be left to politicians and that it's important that independent groups are allowed to play a full role in the political process.

- If you’re a supporter of other groups which would be affected by this law, mention them. Any group that speaks up on issues of the day - from the RSPB or Oxfam to The Royal British Legion or the Countryside Alliance - will be affected. So could local organisations in your area.

- If you've been part of big campaigns in the past which wouldn't have been able to happen if this law had been in force at the time, mention them. Anything from Drop the Debt to the Military Covenant campaign could have been hit.

- Remember that this law isn’t all bad: 38 Degrees members have spent years asking for the lobbying register contained in part 1. But that doesn’t make part 2 any better.

That’s it! Once you’ve made your call, can you tell the office team how it went? It’ll only take two minutes to let us know what Tim Farron or his staff said. The information could be really useful for knowing which MPs are on board, and for constituents going in to meet them. Click here to feed back:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-mp-call-feedback


Thanks for everything you do,

Susannah, David, Robin and the 38 Degrees team


NOTES
[1] It’s official name is ‘The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill 2013-2014’. You can see the Parliamentary timetable for the Bill here: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/transparencyoflobbyingnonpartycampaigningandtradeunionadministration.html

MORE INFORMATION:

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has made a briefing on the bill:
http://blogs.ncvo.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/our-briefing-on-the-Transparency-of-lobbying-bill.pdf

Baites Wells and Braithwaites, a leading law firm specialising in charities, has produced the following briefing:
http://www.bwbllp.com/file/non-party-campaigning-pdf

The Independent View: Concerns about lobbying bill are not alarmist:
http://www.libdemvoice.org/the-independent-view-its-not-alarmist-to-raise-concerns-about-government-plans-for-nonparty-campaigning-35927.html

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Dear Henry,

On Tuesday the gagging law had its first debate in parliament. [1] The brilliant work of hundreds of thousands of 38 Degrees members - along with over 100 charities, community groups and campaigns - stopped it slipping through quietly. Dozens of MPs highlighted how many of us had contacted them and raised serious concerns about the plan.

The government managed to win a vote for the law to pass to the next stage. But, as The Daily Telegraph put it, they were "given a rough ride" with "grisly scenes in the Commons". [2] Eleven coalition MPs went as far as to rebel. [3] Others said they only backed the government now because they expect changes to be made further down the line. [4]

For an early debate like Tuesday's, this was a good result. It showed that our campaigning is starting to change MPs' minds. But it also showed that we need to do more if we're going to see off this threat to democracy.

Your MP, Tim Farron, has his next chance to vote on Tuesday. Please can you email him before then, with a link to an updated briefing about the problems with the gagging law?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-myths-and-facts

Before Tuesday's votes, the government sent MPs a "myth buster" document, to persuade them to toe the line. A copy was leaked to 38 Degrees. Sadly, the myth buster contained rather a lot of myths of its own! If we can counter the government's misleading spin, we've got every chance of getting more MPs on board.

A legal expert has written a response the government's myths. It sets out line by line why the gagging law would hit charities, community groups and campaigners. Please can you email Tim Farron a copy? It would only take a minute or so and could make a big difference.
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-myths-and-facts

MPs get another chance to vote next Tuesday. That debate will focus on possible changes which could be made. So by next week we need to have proved to more MPs that the threats posed by the gagging law are real. That means highlighting the problems in the draft law carefully, line by line.

All kinds of groups with all kinds of views are joining together to try to stop this law. We don't all agree about absolutely everything. But we can all agree about this: in a democracy, all kinds of people and groups should be able to express their opinions. Most of us don't want to join a political party. If independent groups get gagged, millions of us will be shut out of the political process.

Please contact Tim Farron and make sure he's seen the facts about this threat to democracy:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-myths-and-facts


Thanks for being involved,

David


PS: If you want to find out more information about the bill before you contact Tim Farron there are lots of links here:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagginglaw


NOTES
[1] Parliament.org: Transcript of second reading debate on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill, Hansard:http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130903/debtext/130903-0001.htm#13090336000002
[2] The Telegraph: Evening Briefing: Barnacles back on the boat: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/matthewholehouse/100234125/evening-briefing-barnacles-back-on-the-boat/
[3] There were two key votes. On the vote on whether or not to give the bill a second reading, there were 5 Conservative rebels: Douglas Carswell, Philip Davies, David Davis, Zac Goldsmith and David Nuttall. There was 1 Lib dem rebel: David Ward.
On the vote on whether or not it should be rushed through (the "Programme Motion") there were 7 Conservative rebels: Andrew Bridgen, Douglas Carswell, Philip Davies, David Davis, Zac Goldsmith, David Nuttall, Chris White. There were 3 Lib dem rebels: Andrew George, Mike Hancock & Stephen Williams
Source: the Labour whips twitter page: https://twitter.com/labourwhips
[4] Parliament.org: Transcript of second reading debate on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill, Hansard: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130903/debtext/130903-0001.htm#13090336000002

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Dear Henry,

Tomorrow, MPs vote on the gagging law for a second time. They’ll walk into the vote knowing that they’re under pressure. Together, 38 Degrees members have done a magnificent job of making the issue huge.

We’ve sent over 46,000 personal, original emails to Chloe Smith, the minister responsible for the gagging law, and nearly 150,000 emails to our own MPs before and after the first vote. Nearly 2,000 of us called our MPs last Monday, and 77 MPs have been visited by 38 Degrees members in person. Thank you for everything you’ve done so far - but there's still lots more to do.

On Friday, it seemed that the government had given ground. And there were media reports saying that “ministers have been forced into a U-turn”. [1] That’s not true. There’s a really long way to go before we’re safe to claim victory. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations said that parts of the gagging law are still “neither clear nor workable”, and that “... civil society may still be subject to ambiguous and damaging legislation”. [2]

If we’re going to defeat the gagging law, we need to get the word out further. If everyone who’s ever joined a local campaign group or taken action with their favourite charity knew that they could be stopped from doing that again, the public outcry would explode.

The good news is that there’s something we can do about this. Together, we number over 1.8 million people. That’s five times more than the circulation of the Guardian, the same as the circulation of the Daily Mail - and four times the population of Liverpool. [3]

Simply put, we have quite a reach. So let’s use it. Can you help to get the word out by sharing this five minute video explaining the gagging law in simple terms? The more people who know what’s going on and what’s at risk, the more chance we have of making the outcry too big for the government to ignore.

Here’s the link to the video. If everyone who gets this email sends it to just one person who hasn’t heard of the gagging law, we could make sure that millions of people across the UK know what the government’s planning. Could you share it with your friends and family now?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-video

Here’s a paragraph which you can include with the video, or you could just press forward on this email:

You might have heard about the “gagging law” currently being voted on by MPs. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s really bad news. If it goes through, it will have a chilling effect on British democracy and on our right to speak up on the issues that matter to us.

Basically, the law slashes the spending limits on campaigning for the year before any election. Campaigns that have impact don’t cost the earth, but they aren’t free.

Community groups, charities and campaigning organisations would all be hit. Election time is when ordinary people have the most influence on our politicians. On the big issues of the day – whether or not to go to war, the future of our NHS, the environment, welfare, immigration, etc. – we'd all be gagged.

The problem is that this law has come out of nowhere and not many people have heard what’s going on. If we’re going to defeat it, we need to get the word out further. If every single person who’s ever joined a local campaign group or taken action with their favourite charity knew that they could be stopped from doing that again, the outcry could explode.

Here’s a simple five minute video you can watch for more information. Can you take a look, and then help get the word out by passing it on to your friends and family?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-video


Thanks for everything you do,

Susannah, Becky, Blanche and the 38 Degrees team


PS: The sooner we see the back of this damaging law, the sooner we can return to campaigning on the issues that matter to all of us. We’re committed to working together on the NHS, on MP pay, on fracking - and this week, there were developments in our legal aid and zero hours campaigns. There’s hundreds of other issues that we’ll act on together too. But first, we need to defeat the gagging law.

Share the video with your friends and family now:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-video


NOTES
[1] The Guardian: Ministers make U-turn over ‘gagging’ anti-lobbying laws after public outcry: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/06/ministers-retreat-anti-lobbying-laws-charities

[2] Here’s the full statement from National Council for Voluntary Organisations (http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/):
‘The government’s commitment to abandon the change to the test of what constitutes non-party campaigning is a significant step in the right direction. When the new wording is published we will take legal advice and also urgently seek the view of the Electoral Commission, to ensure the revised test meets the spirit and the letter of policy intent set out by government.

The revised test should ensure that for charities operating within charity law, their activities should not be subject to registration with the Electoral Commission and therefore the regulation outlined in part two of the Bill.

We remain concerned that other voluntary organisations in civil society may still be subject to ambiguous and damaging legislation. NCVO believes in a society where freedom of speech, the freedom to associate and the right to free and fair elections are all similarly inviolable.

The proposed definition of controlled expenditure remains neither clear nor workable for non-charitable voluntary organisations. We remain similarly concerned that the expenditure thresholds proposed in the new bill will be damaging, particularly for small community groups that are not charities. These must be restored at current levels. The question of how to sensibly regulate groups working in coalition remains to be addressed.

If a revised test of what constitutes non-party campaigning by charities, together with a clear definition of controlled expenditure and unchanged expenditure thresholds, cannot be achieved, we will continue to argue for the withdrawal of part two of the Bill.

We will continue to work with the broad range of organisations expressing concerns, as well as with government and with the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee, to ensure we get legislation that recognises and does not undermine the valuable role undertaken by charities' and community groups.’

[3] The Guardian: ABCs: National daily newspaper circulation March 2013: http://www.theguardian.com/media/table/2013/apr/12/abcs-national-newspapers
Liverpool Council website: Population: http://liverpool.gov.uk/council/key-statistics-and-data/data/population/

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Dear Henry,

In three weeks, MPs have their final vote on the gagging law - a law that would mean ordinary people, campaigning groups and charities would be severely restricted in how they can campaign in the year leading up to an election.

The most recent debate was last Tuesday, and we lost a key vote by only a whisker - if just 16 more government MPs had switched sides, a key part of the gagging law would have been defeated. [1]

The growing MP rebellion was in part thanks to you - tens of thousands of 38 Degrees members flooded MPs with emails, phone calls and tweets. 80 local groups of 38 Degrees members went to see their MP face-to-face. Together, we proved that ordinary people are prepared to fight for their right to campaign on important issues.

Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs are clearly feeling the heat: a growing number of them have started trying to fob us off. They’ve started making all sorts of claims about what the law will and won’t do. They say we have nothing to worry about.

Ros Baston, an independent political law and election solicitor, has taken a look at some of the most common lines MPs have been using when responding to 38 Degrees members and written a detailed document. [2] Here's 38 Degrees take on that document and why we still think we have something to worry about.

Myth 1: The new law will stop "big money" buying / influencing elections.
The government claims that this law is needed to stop US-style "super-PACs", run by millionaires, flooding the airwaves with negative political advertising. But they can't point to any examples of millionaire-backed "super-PACS" in the UK actually existing. Perhaps that's because we already have laws banning big money radio and TV advertising.

The way "big money" actually influences elections in the UK is through massive donations to political parties. That's a huge problem, with wealthy donors basically buying influence and peerages. The gagging law does nothing to stop this - millionaire party donors like Lord Ashcroft or Lord Sainsbury can continue to funnel as much cash into their chosen party as they like.

If the government really wanted to stop "big money" influencing politics, they could introduce a maximum donation limit for both political parties and independent groups. That would tackle the current problem and prevent any future rise in "super-PACs", and it's a measure 38 Degrees members would certainly support. Why are they instead targeting charites, community groups and campaigners?

Myth 2. Civil society will still be allowed to talk about issues - as long as they don’t get involved in party politics.
Important issues which ordinary people care about, like trying to protect the NHS, will be a key election issue for most of the political parties.The gagging law would apply to campaigning on most issues that are being contested by different political parties - i.e. any big issue of the day! For example, if one political party made privatising NHS services a key part of its manifesto, then a 38 Degrees campaign against privatising the NHS would be considered ‘for election purposes’ and be subject to the gagging law. [3]

Myth 3. £390,000 is a lot of money. Why should organisations be allowed to spend more?
In a free society, charities, local groups and ordinary people should be able to come together and campaign effectively. £390,000 is only 2% of what political parties are allowed to spend. Also, the new law says that charities and campaign groups will have to include core staff costs in this limit - something political parties aren’t expected to do.

Groups like 38 Degrees don't need as much money as political parties - we rely on people power rather than expensive advertising agencies. But organising people power does cost some money. 38 Degrees currently costs around £1.1 million per year to run - money spent on maintaining a powerful and secure web site, a small office, a staff team of 15, printing leaflets and posters, hiring church halls for member meetings, and so on. That's all funded by small donations (average donation £10.78) and reported in full in the annual audited accounts. [4]

Banning 38 Degrees from spending more than £390,000 would mean big people powered campaigns like Save our NHS or Save our Forests would be impossible to run.

Myth 4. Charities are happy now that some concessions have been promised
This isn’t true. A wide range of organisations including NCVO, Oxfam, Christian Aid, Countryside Alliance and Friends of the Earth are still warning that the gagging law will have a huge impact on what they can campaign on. [5]

MPs have been claiming that NCVO are now happy with the amendments the government has committed to drafting. In fact the NCVO wrote a piece in The Guardian last week highlighting the problems they still think need solving [6]:

“NCVO and the wider voluntary sector have made it clear that the legislation remains ambiguous and potentially damaging in a number of places. In particular:  

• The proposed list of activities that could count towards controlled expenditure remains neither clear nor workable
• The expenditure thresholds proposed in the new bill, both for registration with the Electoral Commission and as a maximum cap allowed, will be damaging
• The question of how to sensibly regulate groups working in coalition remains to be addressed.”

The government is rushing the gagging law through parliament, but we now have just over two weeks to try to convince MPs to vote the right way. The office team are working hard to pull together some ideas of ways to beat this law and you’ll get an email about this soon. But if you want to get back in touch with your MP and ask him or her about some of these myths, please click the link below.
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-email-mp

If your MP has replied to your email about the gagging law and sent through a different claim you'd like help answering, or if you have some ideas on what we should do next in the campaign, then please get in touch at emailtheteam@38degrees.org.uk.


Thanks for being involved,

Belinda, Susannah, Maddy and the 38 Degrees team

P.S. Earlier this year thousands of 38 Degrees members joined forces with the Children’s Society to call for more children to be given school meals. Yesterday, Nick Clegg announced that children aged 4 - 7 years would get free school meals. That is 1.4 million more school children getting a hot, healthy lunch. Another brilliant victory 38 Degrees members were involved with, proving just how important campaigning is.


Notes:
[1] The Public Whip: Clause 27 - changes to existing limits: vote breakdown: http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2013-09-10&number=82
Twitter: Labour Whips twitter posts, 10 Sept: https://twitter.com/labourwhips
[2] Mythbuster document written by Ros Baston, independent political law and election solicitor, and was formerly Lead Adviser on Party and Election Finance at the Electoral Commission: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/page/-/Ros%20Baston%20MP%20replies%20mythbuster.pdf
[3] Daily Mirror: Lobby bill: Doctors face being gagged from concerns about NHS privatisation:http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lobby-bill-doctors-face-being-2263099#.UjiWppM9XMo.facebook
[4] Read our donations policy and see our accounts here: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/pages/donations-to-38-degrees
[5] Oxfam: Lobbying Bill represents a real threat to quality of debate in this country: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/blogs/2013/09/lobbying-bill-represents-a-real-threat-to-quality-of-debate-in-this-country-says-oxfam
Christian Aid: Christian Aid remains deeply concerned at Lobbying Bill: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/september-2013/christian-aid-remains-deeply-concerned-at-lobbying-bill.aspx
Countryside Alliance: The Alliance’s concerns over the Lobbying Bill: http://www.countryside-alliance.org/ca/communities/the-alliances-concerns-over-the-lobbying-bill
Friends of the Earth: U-turn? Nope, the Gagging Bill still gags us: http://www.foe.co.uk/news/gagging_bill_41124.html
[6] The Guardian: The problems posed by the lobbying bill are not completely solved: http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2013/sep/13/charities-lobbying-bill-problems-not-solved
 

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