Fighting the uk gagging law

[charitynjw]

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/page...l-write-to-mps

FIGHTING THE UK GAGGING LAW

Tomorrow, MPs will vote on new government plans to gag charities and campaigners from working during elections. If the plans go through, from next May 38 Degrees and a whole host of other organisations will be banned from holding politicians and political parties to account like we do now. On the big issues, from the NHS to the environment, we'd all be gagged.

The government's trying to rush this legislation through. MPs will debate it for the first time tomorrow - but the legislation has had almost no consideration, and the outcry is growing. Here's our chance to make sure that MPs have their constituents views ringing in their ears when they walk into Parliament tomorrow. Can you take 2 minutes now to email your MP and ask them to stand up either throw these plans out or demand more scrutiny before they go further?

To start writing your message enter your postcode then click "Get Started" SEE LINK
UK government data provided by GovEval.

[des8]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

Hi
Have already emailed my MP.
He was holding a "public" meeting today about this matter, which I was going to attend. It was held in local CAB offices, which are so small only three people could actually go!!!!!!!!!!

[charitynjw]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law



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?

[labman]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

Already emailed mine, and a few others I'm in touch with! Just tweeted it as well!

If you don't know who your MP is, look HERE.

[enquirer]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

They may actually have a point - many 'charities' are now actually political pressure groups (usually extreme in nature), and interfere with elections.

[labman]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

They may actually have a point - many 'charities' are now actually political pressure groups (usually extreme in nature), and interfere with elections.

I'd say some are, many are not. Just my opinion.

It would actually be surprising if people who are passionate enough to set up, or become heavily involved in a charity didn't have strong views (possibly extreme in some cases) about their area.

I have a charity dealing with consumer issues and I'd say I have far stronger views on consumer rights than the average person in the street. However, hopefully I'm 'grounded' enough for the views not to be extremist. :beagle:

[bluebottle]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

A lot of MPs are not at all happy with the way the ConDem government have tried to rush this Bill through Parliament. It is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt by Cameron & Co to stifle debate and dissent and a sop to vested interests. Cameron's so-called Big Society will be Silent Society. Hate to say this, but we're living in an elected dictatorship. This Bill is one of the steps towards a police state.

[enquirer]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

I'd say some are, many are not. Just my opinion.

Agreed, it varies.

It would actually be surprising if people who are passionate enough to set up, or become heavily involved in a charity didn't have strong views (possibly extreme in some cases) about their area.

Agreed, it's understandable.

The trouble is, that when they take to the road during an election, that skews the electoral process (they are either campaigning for, or more usually against, a particular candidate, without participating in the election themselves).

[labman]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

Very true - I won't argue against that except to say they are arguing against the views of the candidate, not the person.

It is a shame when strongly held views, such as, for example, mine on the handling of consumer debt, become the raison d'etre for that person and makes them so narrow minded they are unable to see the bigger picture.

[charitynjw]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/pages/ga...o_give_your_mp

GAGGING LAW: DOCUMENTS TO GIVE YOUR MP

Below are links to PDF files that you can print out and hand to your MP:
Andrew Lansley MP, Leader of the House of Commons, created a briefing for MPs on the gagging law. He calls his briefing a 'Mythbuster'. We asked Ros Baston, a political and election solicitor, to comment. You can download and print her document here:

The Electoral Commission is an independent body which reports directly to Parliament, responsible for supervising and implementing the new regulatory framework for the electoral system.

The Electoral Commission has said it has "significant concerns" about the bill and that it "may be unenforceable". Click on the image below to download a PDF of their briefing to MPs.

Bates Wells Braithwaite is a London commercial law firm and the UK's leading charity solicitors, providing a full legal service underpinned by a commitment to the public interest.
Their briefing warns new spending limits and restrictions for non-party campaigners pose a serious threat to charity campaigning and could be in breach of Article 10 of the Human Rights Act. Click on the image to download their briefing.


The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the largest umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England.
They have produced a briefing for the bill, which says "Organisations' ability to react to important public policy developments…will be severely undermined". You can download a PDF of the briefing below:

The NCVO have also published a legal opinion on the bill from Helen Mountfield QC - Matrix Chambers
it concludes by saying "In my view, therefore, there is a serious case for saying that the proposals in Part II of the Bill as it presently stands violate the right to freedom of political expression". You can download the document by clicking on the image below:

[charitynjw]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

UPDATE

Copied/pasted from email


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 atemailtheteam@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...mythbuster.pdf
[3] Daily Mirror: Lobby bill: Doctors face being gagged from concerns about NHS privatisation:http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...M9XMo.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/2013/0...try-says-oxfam
Christian Aid: Christian Aid remains deeply concerned at Lobbying Bill: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/press...ying-bill.aspx
Countryside Alliance: The Alliance’s concerns over the Lobbying Bill: http://www.countryside-alliance.org/...-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...ems-not-solved

[charitynjw]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

Dear charitynjw,

The government is still trying to smuggle through plans to silence criticism. [1] It’s clamping down on the free speech of ordinary people, like you, me, and millions of others. Reducing our ability to work together to protect our NHS, stop big business dodging tax, tackle climate change and stand up for the issues we believe in.

The ‘gagging law’ is being rushed through parliament right now. [2] It limits how much groups like 38 Degrees, Oxfam or Friends of the Earth can spend in the year before an election -- on anything that could influence the result -- even unintentionally! [3] For example if we're criticising the government's plans for our NHS, then that could affect how people vote.

There are more details further down this email, but right now there’s not much time. In less than 2 weeks the law has its final vote in the Commons before heading on to the Lords. [4] We're focusing in on key MPs with bold adverts, leaflets and big public meetings in their constituencies. Can you chip in £1 or more to make this happen?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/stop-gagging-law-donate

We can do it -- already the pressure from 38 Degrees members and other organisations has helped push coalition MPs to vote against parts of the bill. Our best chance now is to focus hard on MPs most likely to rebel. MPs care about winning votes at the next election - if we show them this is a big issue for constituents, we can persuade them to vote against.

Here’s the plan:

We’ll target key constituencies, where MPs are likely to be worried about their votes at the next election, with ...

• People-powered adverts, leaflets and publicity stalls in each target constituency, to show the MP that this is a big local issue.
• Huge public meetings with each MP and hundreds of the constituents, soon after the vote, where they’ll be asked to explain how they voted.

Imagine the look on MPs' faces when they realise that everyone in their constituency is hearing how they might vote against free speech. Imagine how they’ll feel, knowing they have to stand up in public and justify their choice to hundreds of their voters.

But we can only make it as big and loud as it needs to be with the people-powered money to make it happen. Will you chip in £1 or more to fund this urgent campaign in target constituencies?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/stop-gagging-law-donate

This gagging law threatens the whole of civil society - Oxfam, Greenpeace, the Royal British Legion, HOPEnotHate and Christian Aid are just some of the other organisations speaking out against it. [5]

The bill has many good intentions - shedding light on lobbying of government by big business and vested interests would be something hard to argue against. But this bill is far more than that. It contains the dangerous law which would massively limit ordinary people’s ability to work together to change things they care about.

Could you chip in to fund local action targeting critical MPs?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/stop-gagging-law-donate

In the last few years, ordinary people have been working together in new ways to hold the government to account. We’ve built huge petitions, sent thousands of emails to MPs, fundraised for massive adverts all over the country and much much more. Victories like saving our forests, stopping the snoopers charter and saving Lewisham Hospital show what people-power can achieve.

Some in government want to put a stop to this - after all it’s a lot harder to get away with bad decisions when the public is watching and can call them out. In short, they’re trying to gag ordinary people with tiny spending limits.

With enough pressure focused on these target MPs, along with the work of all 38 Degrees members and the other organisations fighting it, we can stop this gagging law being rushed through. All in all, MPs will be left in no doubt that voting the wrong way will not be popular with their constituents. It’s pretty exciting and there’s not much time left - so are you in?

Please chip in whatever you can afford here:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/stop-gagging-law-donate


Thanks for being involved,

James, Maddy, Becky and the 38 Degrees team


PS: Here's what some of the adverts could look like in Lib Dem constituencies. If you'd like to see it go up in key constituencies across the country, chip in here.



NOTES
[1] Mirror: Lobbying Bill: Tories perform embarrassing retreat but Labour says amendments don't go far enoughhttp://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...g-bill-2307854
[2] In case you’ve missed the emails so far, it’s part of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill. (Catchy hey?) Here's a link to it http://www.publications.parliament.u...108/140108.pdf
[3] 38 Degrees Blog: Video explaining the gagging law http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2013/09...e-gagging-law/
[4] Parliament website: The Bill's page http://services.parliament.uk/bills/...istration.html
[5] Civil Society Commission Supporters list: http://civilsocietycommission.info/supporters/

[charitynjw]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

Urgent – your MP will vote on the gagging law tomorrow. Please could you take 2 mins now to send them an email? https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-inadequate-changes The more messages MPs get today, the more likely they are to turn up and vote the right way tomorrow. So please contact yours now. It will only take 2 minutes to find your MP, personalise the suggested email and hit ‘send’. Thank you! Here’s the email from last Friday with more detail: - - - - - - - Dear xxxxxxxx, The government’s plan to silence criticism is whizzing through parliament. [1] Alongside other organisations - from Oxfam to the Countryside Alliance - 38 Degrees members have been turning up the pressure on MPs. [2] And it’s working. Today, the government tried to grab back the initiative. They’ve published changes to the plans which they say would address the main concerns. [3] But they’re trying to dupe us - and dupe MPs. Their suggested changes are cosmetic, not substantial.The thrust of the ‘gagging law’ will remain exactly as is. And it's not just our opinion - charities aren’t supporting the government’s changes either. [4] If MPs are fooled into accepting these changes as a real fix, the law will still severely limit how ordinary people work together to protect our NHS, crack down on tax dodgers or tackle climate change. We don’t have much time to push back on the government’s spin. MPs vote on the gagging law again on Wednesday. [5] We need to act fast. Ros Baston, an ex-Electoral Commission lawyer and independent expert, has written a legal briefing laying out exactly why the changes aren’t good enough. [6] If we get the briefing into every MP’s inbox today, along with individual emails saying why the gagging law needs to be stopped, we can disprove the government’s false reassurances before they get a foothold. Can you write an email to your MP now and ask them to read the legal advice urgently? Click here to write your email via the 38 Degrees website in 2 minutes: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-inadequate-changes The two key organisations representing charities, non-profits and voluntary organisations, NCVO and ACEVO, have also rejected today’s announcement. NCVO say that the changes “do not go far enough”, and “leave a great deal of uncertainty and ambiguity”. ACEVO has said that they “don’t prevent the Bill curbing freedom of speech around elections”. [7] At every previous vote, MPs were told to keep supporting the gagging law. They were assured that the government would make changes to address the groundswell of concern. At the last vote, the minister responsible, Andrew Lansley, said he’d listened to the outcry, and that he would fix the worst bits. [8] Now his changes have been published - and they don’t fix it. Time is short - the vote is next week - and the issue is complex. There’s every danger that MPs will fall for the government’s line again. Lansley is hoping that MPs will trust him, and take the changes at face value. That’s why it’s so important that we prove how inadequate they are before next week’s vote. Ros Baston’s legal advice explains in no uncertain terms how Lansley’s changes fail to deal with the widespread concerns. If MPs read it, there’s a strong chance it’ll convince them that these changes aren’t good enough, and that the gagging law still needs to be fixed. And if enough MPs are convinced, they might throw the gagging law out altogether. Or at the very least, the plans will be so contentious and toxic that when they get to the House of Lords, they’ll face substantial changes. Can you help make sure your MP reads the briefing now? Send your email here: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-inadequate-changes Thanks for being involved, Susannah, James, Blanche and the 38 Degrees team PS Any chance you're in London next Tuesday 8th October? At midday on Tuesday, hundreds of people are coming together in Parliament Square in London to celebrate all that is great about democracy. This is our chance to show all MPs just how passionate ordinary people are about their right to speak out on important issues. If you're on Facebook and you'd like to come, please click here: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/rally-for-freedom-of-speech If you're not on Facebook and you'd like to come, fill in this quick form to let us know: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/rally-for-freedom-of-speech-rsvp No worries if you can't make it - on the day, check out #gagginglaw on Twitter, or the 38 Degrees website, to see what's going on. NOTES [1] Parliament website: Bill progress: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/...istration.html [2] 38 Degrees blog: Gagging law: Come to a public meeting near you: http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2013/10...ting-near-you/ [3] Government’s amendments to the Bill: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagg...ent-amendments [4] ACEVO and NCVO joint press release, 3rd October 2013: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagg...evo-ncvo-press [5] see notes [1] [6] Baston Legal: Initial legal opinion on the effect of proposed government amendments to Part 2 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill:https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-legal-advice-report-stage [7] see notes [4] [8] BBC News: Government to amend lobbying regulation plans: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24289573

[Amethyst]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

Anyone fancy pointing out (in PIL) which bits are being complained about? I'm reading the legal opinion http://dnwssx4l7gl7s.cloudfront.net/...pinion%202.pdf at the mo but a shortcut would be nice xx

1.
Will the government’s amendments to clause 26 mean that issues -

based campaigning will be
excluded from
regulation under the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000
(PPERA)
?
2.
Do the government’s proposed amendments to Schedule 3
make any significant changes to the
categories
of activities to be covered by the regulation
?





http://www.publications.parliament.u...40108_en_1.htm is the bill

1. Part 2
   Non-party campaigning etc
   1. Controlled expenditure
      1. 26. Meaning of “controlled expenditure”
      2. 27. Changes to existing limits
      3. 28. Constituency limits
      4. 29. Targeted expenditure limits
      5. 30. Extension of power to vary specified sums
      
      
   2. Information and reports
      1. 31. Notification requirements for recognised third parties
      2. 32. Reporting of donations to recognised third parties
      3. 33. Statements of accounts by recognised third parties
      
      
   3. Miscellaneous
      1. 34. Third party expenditure in respect of candidates
      2. 35. Functions of Electoral Commission with respect to compliance
      
      
   
   

[charitynjw]

Re: Fighting the uk gagging law

Hi Ame,

It would appear that hidden in this Bill is a section which would severely curtail the ability for charities, concerned lobbyists groups & the like to voice their opinions, while leaving the existing 'Big Business' lobbying powers intact, if not enhanced.
Due to public outcry from interested parties, & public awareness, 'they' have tinkered around a little with the proposed Bill, but the tinkering is just cosmetic; the main substance of the change is still there.