Support Rachel Maskell

[PhilippaGeorgiou]

Never started a thread before, so this is a first for me, but reading the news today I felt moved to do something!

I know there are others involved, but this woman (whether you agree with her or not) was brave enough to stand up to her own party because she firmly believed that to do otherwise was inhumane and ethically wrong. These are the sorts of values that are supposed to be British values. She didn't do it to achieve anything for herself or to attain high office - quite the reverse, she stood up for her constituents and for vulnerable people everywhere.

Nor did she do it because she was against any reforms of welfare - she has repeatedly made that clear. She did it because there had been no consultation / discussion with people with disabilities and their organisations, or with the majority of MP of her own governing party. We do not live in a dictatorship, and not even the party system has the right to force people elected by, and accountable to, their constituents to take actions which they find morally reprehensible.

There are a small group of people who are responsible for the fiasco that is called the government, and their defeat - Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and their fellow ministers. If you expect to attack the most vulnerable in society without consequences then it should not only be expected that people will rebel against that, but that the actual scandal is that every decent person in the House won't.

To be clear - nobody is saying that reform isn't needed. But not based on knee-jerk mathematics that bear no resemblance to rational and nuanced policy.

So it might not be much, but since Rachel isn't my MP I am writing to her and copying in Keir Starmer to say exactly that, and that she has my support. After nearly 50 years as a Labour voter, the only possible (but very unlikely) reason to vote Labour again the the future would be because of people like Rachel Maskell, and not in spite of her.

Anyone else? Or any other ideas to show our support?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdx57w45wyno

Rachel's contact details

Good Idea OP. I'm minded to do the same. The welfare bill is horrific and she's right to stand against it. As she says, this is not the type of legislation that we vote Labour in for. The whole point of the PLP is that it is the legislative arm of the broader left wing movement. Its purpose is to introduce policies in line with socialist and egalitarian principles. If it isn't doing that, it isn't functioning properly.

As a side note, I think she's conducting herself rather well and it is always good to see an older woman finding her power. I hope her constituents back her but even if they don't, she's got four years to keep on pressing at the government and on present showing she'll make a decent fist of it.

If you have a Labour MP a good course of action would be to write to them, set out your concerns about the suspension and ask the MP to write to the PM on your behalf (that bit is important) raising those concerns.

You will then hopefully get a letter back signed by the PM. It will be a standard reply, but at least he will see your letter. PM's office might try to bat it to a DWP minister, but if you make the suspension the main meat of your letter, it will make it hard for PM's office to do this.

If you write to the PM direct, you will get a letter back written by and signed by an official. PM will never see it.

If the PM is your MP, then obviously Bob's your uncle and you can write directly to him!

Finally, I would actually write to your MP rather than email.

Disclaimer: I haven't worked in Whitehall for a few years now, so the correspondence system might have changed. But it didn't in the 20 years I was there and the Civil Service is notoriously reluctant to change processes...