Building peace. Piece by Peace

Lobbying your MP.

MPs are valuable in terms of potential influence, both in Parliament but also in the press at local and national level. But remember, they will be inundated with letters on a range of issues from constituency matters to international campaigns so it’s important to be concise and clear about what you’re asking from them.

Keep your correspondence short and to the point and ideally use a tone that requires a reply – that way you’ll start to engage in a dialogue. Make it clear what you are asking for from your MP – his/her opinion on a key issue, to sign an Early Day Motion (EDM) to write to the Prime Minister, the International Development Secretary , Defence or Foreign Secretary on your behalf or raise an issue in Parliament.

You can also find out what they’re doing by going to their own websites and looking in the local papers. This makes it easier to start a letter along the lines of …. “ while I welcome your contribution to stopping the building of a motorway flyover opposite 36 Acacia Avenue/ campaign to keep local hospital/ police station/ open , I write to ask you to sign the EDM condemning the current crackdown on NGO’s in Sri Lanka…

Find out more about who your MP is and what s/he has said on certain issues relating to peace building, conflict prevention and reconciliation by searching the They Work For You website. www.theyworkforyou.com This also includes MEP’s ,MSP’s and AM’s.

You can also look at the UK Parliament website www.parliament.uk for information about Parliamentary debates, written questions, Early Day Motions, press articles and other statements. They also include the latest Government statements, Select Committee Reports and information on relevant All Party Parliamentary groups. www.direct.gov.uk also has information about government departments and each of the political parties has their own website.

Use our website to find useful information from our peace builders, and please keep us up to date with any responses you get from your MP, the media or about any local campaigning on issues that you are involved with that would be relevant to Peace Direct’s work..