Has anyone written to their MP?

[OK2023]

I have an email to my new MP sitting in my drafts, which I don’t think I will ever send.

Has anyone had a positive response from writing to their MP?

I don’t feel very hopeful that it will make a difference and I’m not sure that I want to get emotionally invested in a long debate about it either.

Does it really help?

Well I obviously don’t know what all MPs do. I worked for one, a long time ago. But I doubt it’s changed that much.

By all means write an email, and follow up if you don’t get a reply. But sending the same email every week to anyone is a fast track to being blocked.

The other thing I remember is those formulaic cut-and-paste messages campaign groups draft for you to copy and send to your MP. Those either got ignored or got a similar templated response.

Thanks everyone

I wonder if anyone would be able to help me out with fact checking this letter?

Im quoting things I have read here but lost track of all the links and stats, and I’m afraid I don’t have much time spare for this sort of thing.

If anyone would be so kind………

—

I write to you anonymously, such is the culture of fear and toxic misogyny surrounding this issue.

I am a lifelong Liberal Democrat voter, and have helped to leaflet for your campaign. However I cannot continue to support the Liberal Democrats without first understanding your own personal stance on the gender debate, in particular how it relates to women, healthcare, and children.

As a Democrat and a Liberal I am certain that you will agree with the principle of person freedoms as long as it doesn’t infringe upon the liberties of others or contravene our laws. The current stance that the supporters of the transgender supportive movement are demanding infringes upon the rights of women, and contravenes our laws on safeguarding for women and for children.

A main concern is the referral of such charities WPATH and Mermaids the your list of links of the Liberal Democrat’s LGBT website.

Are you aware that both of these charities are under investigation? The Mermaids charity had a trustee who has published work in support of paedophilic relationships in 2011. The CEO subsequently retired after this scandal and set up the private company Gender GP, who have since been fined for prescribing puberty blockers and chest binders to children without any prior knowledge of caregivers, after only three hours of contact.

As the recent independent Cass review has published, puberty blockers are no longer recommended as they have untold damaging effects including infertility and bone loss, and have been prescribed with very weak evidence of any positive effects.

Situations such as this present an enormous safeguarding issue as I am sure you will agree. However the recommendations and educational resources from these companies can be found with NHS guidelines and schools across the country.

Will you ensure that discredited charities such as this will no longer be allowed to influence our NHS and school curriculum with information that is unregulated, with no healthcare professionals involved, and is against what an independent medical review has recommended?

yes it helps.

Every letter they have is real evidence, every letter not sent is a guess? just send it you have nothign to lose and it's just an email

I write to you anonymously

You won't get a reply unless you include your name and address so that they can check that you're a constituent. It doesn't matter what you write anonymously because they won't even read it.

I expect @Greenbike can confirm this.

And yeah don't write anonymously - they are your MP they HAVE to listen to you even if they don't have to do anything.

They won't tell your neighbours.

I email my MP/MSPs all the time. Even the ones I know won't agree with me (Green:SNP).

I like to think it's chipping away at their certainty and at a minimum they can't say they have no knowledge of the issues or that none of their constituents have raised it with them.

I should have said I don't send exactly the same email (I add additional questions/statements)
but that paragraph is the one I use in every email as I don't want to get into conversations about identity. My question is about my keeping men out of women's spaces.

I've congratulated my local MP on his win.

I've asked him to pass on my commendation to the PM for his common sense answer regarding puberty blockers (a suggestion on here).

This morning I've ask what this new Labour Government plan to do to protect the hard won rights, privacy and dignity of women.

I know whoever is reading the email is most likely just scanning it so I stick to the point.

There's a chance nobody sees it or reads it but if we all took that attitude then we loose our collective voice.

I think some MPs live in a little woke bubble and assume their views are those of the majority. Getting many emails voicing alternative views is inportant IMO.

Yes, I did, contacted him pre election to ask for his take on single sex spaces. He was very positive, said he supported Rosie but also asked for more information about how important single sex spaces were for women. So I sent him links to

a)Lord Robert Winston explaining how sex can not be changed, to underline that as soon as a male bodied person enters a woman’s single space space it ceases to be a single sex space no matter what the reasons the male bodied person is there. I felt this was important information - and ammunition!

b) a copy of Sex Matters because it is easy to read, very clear and I know he is busy .

He said Thankyou but no further communication. He is a good MP, it is a constituency with a lot of Muslim women so I hope he is an ally.

Yes definitely do write. Too many MPs are saying this never comes up as an issue that constituents care about. Don’t let your MP be one of those. I think it’s the very least all of us can do really and it sounds like you’ve already written the email you just need to press send!

Why don’t you book a surgery appointment? There should be a booking link on the MP’s website. A 15 minute face to face conversation is likely to be more impactful than emails. Phrase your request in a neutral way: “I would like to discuss my concerns about your party’s stance on women’s safety” or something like that.

Yup, I’m sure anonymous emails go straight to the bin in just about every MP’s office. Give your name and address so they know you’re a constituent.

I wrote to mine ahead of the election and wouldn't have voted for him if he couldn't give me the assurances I was looking for.

I thanked him for something that he did in the local community (unrelated to women's rights) and asked him (a) for his definition of the word 'woman' and (b) what he would do to support single-sex spaces (or would he oppose them).

I was happy with the response I got back and voted for him. He very narrowly won his seat.

Good letter, OP! A couple of things:

WPATH is not a charity, and as far as I'm aware is not under investigation. You may, however, wish to refer to their most recent guidelines, SoC 8, that support 'eunuch' gender identity and link to the Eunuch Archive.

'The current stance that the supporters of the transgender supportive movement are demanding infringes upon the rights of women, and contravenes our laws on safeguarding for women and for children. ' - which specific laws do you mean, here?

What was the Lib Dem case please? There are so many I've lost track.

I've met with my Labour MP at the HoC and gone through my concerns. She agreed with all of them, she's one of us

The website www.writetothem.com is a useful tool which I've used often, to address specific issues (review of SPS policy, GRA bill, buffer zones etc). You can't write anonymously as you have to write to the elected representatives who serve your constituency and you need to provide your address.

I've had some absolutely abysmal replies from the Scottish Greens but useful replies from other representatives including a (surprisingly) good reply from a MSP whose views I disagree with but actively followed up on questions I asked about the Scottish Prison Service's policy on males in the female prison estate.

I emailed my then Tory MP urging her to support Truss's Bill. The bill went nowhere but I did get a letter back that was very supportive of the GC position re. schools, hospitals, etc.

I wrote to the Labour candidate before the election asking if she supported biological women and vulnerable children, I got no reply and she didn't get my vote.

Anyway, the Tory incumbent and the Labour wannabe both lost. I've now got a Lib-Dem MP, which is pretty much what I expected. I will write to him but, I think, there's a court case against his party. I'm waiting for the results of that, I think it'll be a good thing to use to frame the letter.

I think your message reads so well OP - very balanced and knowledgeable.

Natalie Bird, I assume.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5119404-natalie-bird-vs-lib-dems-case-in-court-august-2024

Yes…they are there to help constituents - it is exactly their job. Send it.

Yes, I had a most considered response from Helen Hayes, Labour MP for west Dulwich and West Norwood last year.

Yes, the party conceded, with a very mealy mouthed apology, there's costs or compensation for her to be decided later this week. But there's also the coincidentally named Amelia Sparrow who's still got a Crowdfunder going.

I wrote to my MP and got back a load of copied and pasted word salad nonsense about trans rights. I haven't decided whether or not to reply, but it couldn't be more obvious that I would be wasting my time.