Template letter and how to send it

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  _{Please use the content of these letters as a suggested guide but personalise them to the recipient and according to your organisation as much as possible.}
  

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  _{Please contact all of the people below. we need them to all turn out and vote!}
  

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  _{It is important to send a paper copy to peers if you can as well as emails because about a third of them don't use email and many do not check their email frequently.}
  

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  _{Email addresses for all MPs and peers are available at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuogIfAZQjbtdHZKel9TV29wVlkxV0tzVTNRbjFsZ1E&usp=sharing}
  
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  _{If you have time please exclude Ministers responsible for the Bill (Lansley, Brake, Lords Wallace of Tankerness, and Gardiner; and the PM and Deputy PM) and send them separate tailored letters based on the template below.}
  

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  _{It is best practice to address MPs: Dear Firstname Secondname. This is a gender neutral form of address (ie rather than Mr, Mrs, Ms). There is no need for 'MP' in the salutation.}
  
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  _{For peers please use ‘Dear Lady / Lord XXX’. A full list of these ‘personal titles’ is available under column G of the Lords tab of the following spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuogIfAZQjbtdHZKel9TV29wVlkxV0tzVTNRbjFsZ1E&usp=sharing}
  

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  Chris Chope
  
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  David Davis
  
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  Philip Davies
  
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  Zac Goldsmith
  
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  Charlotte Leslie
  
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  Anne Main
  
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  David Nutall
  
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  Chris White
  

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  David Davis
  
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  Philip Davies
  
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  Zac Goldsmith
  
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  Charlotte Leslie
  
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  Anne Main
  
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  David Nutall
  
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  Chris White
  

Dear [firstname secondname],

[Insert name and position of NGO rep]

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  Mike Crockart
  
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  Andrew George
  
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  Stephen Gilbert
  
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  Martin Horwood
  
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  Julian Huppert
  
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  Greg Mulholland
  
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  Alan Reid
  
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  Adrian Sanders
  
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  Mark Williams
  
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  Roger Williams
  
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  Andrew George
  

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  Adrian Sanders
  
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  Greg Mulholland
  

Dear [firstname secondname],

[Insert name and position of NGO rep]

I am writing to thank you for voting for important amendments to the Lobbying Bill on Tuesday 21 January on constituency regulation. Your commitment to listening to the evidence and the arguments and voting to defend freedom of speech and association is very much appreciated by [INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO].

I am writing to ask you to make sure you are in the House to vote for further improvements to the Bill on Tuesday 28 January.

[INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO] is working with the Commission on Civil Society and Democratic Engagement, along with over 130 other NGOs, to identify and support the most appropriate amendments to improve the Bill

Your sincerely,

I am writing to thank you for voting for important amendments to the Lobbying Bill on Tuesday 21 January on constituency regulation. Your commitment to listening to the evidence and the arguments and voting to defend freedom of speech and association is very much appreciated by [INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO].

I am writing to ask you to make sure you are in the House to vote for further improvements to the Bill on Tuesday 28 January.

[INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO] is working with the Commission on Civil Society and Democratic Engagement, along with over 130 other NGOs, to identify and support the most appropriate amendments to improve the Bill

Your sincerely,

Dear [firstname secondname],

Dear [Lady/Lord…],

I am writing to thank you for voting for important amendments to the Lobbying Bill on Tuesday 21 January on constituency regulation. Your commitment to listening to the evidence and the arguments and voting to defend freedom of speech and association is very much appreciated by [INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO].
Labour peers and MPs have been right to oppose Part 2 from the start and to raise objections consistently as the Bill has been rushed through Parliament. This opposition has been noted and much appreciated by a huge diversity of campaigning organisations.
The unusual parliamentary procedure for this Bill, in which there was no pre-legislative scrutiny, and Lord Committee stage was used by Ministers as a ‘listening exercise’ means that it is necessary to use Ping Pong to push for further improvements to the Bill.

I am writing to ask you to make sure you are in the House to vote for further improvements to the Bill on Tuesday 28 January.

[INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO] is working with the Commission on Civil Society and Democratic Engagement, along with over 130 other NGOs, to identify and support the most appropriate amendments to improve the Bill. Please vote for amendments being proposed by the Commission.

Even the amended Bill will be a big attack on democracy - it has simply not been possible to overturn all of the dangerous elements in the legislation. It is important that the Labour Party commits to repeal the Act, not to just support a review of the Act after the 2015 General Election. NGOs will be looking for Labour to make this commitment at the end of the Bill process, I hope you will support that call within your party.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert name and position of NGO rep]

Dear Andrew Lansley, Tom Brake

I am writing to express how disappointed [INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO] is that you Government did not accept important changes to Part 2 of the Lobbying Bill on Wednesday 22 January on staff costs and constituency regulation.
We are concerned that you did not seem to understand the impact that the Bill would have on charities and campaigning groups, or many important elements of how we operate. Many of the arguments and examples made at the dispatch box were repeated from much earlier in the Bill process. It is disappointing that you have not refined these after all of the evidence gathered and presented to you by the Commission on Civil Society and Democratic Engagement. Your position also remains out of step with the Electoral Commission on many aspects of the regulation but you have not given evidence-based arguments for ignoring their advice.
[INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO] shares the concern of the Political and Constitutional Select Committee about the deeply inadequate process for this Bill. It is extraordinary, after all the criticism of earlier stages, to give MPs nearly no time at all to consider the Bill after Lords Third Reading. Please reply to explain the reason for this and how you think it could possibly provide the conditions for serious consideration of the Bill by MPs.
Notwithstanding the changes to the Bill agreed by Government, [INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO] is are still very concerned about the impact that the Bill will have on our legitimate campaigning activity ahead of elections.
[INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO] will be working with the Commission on Civil Society and Democratic Engagement, along with over 130 other NGOs, to identify and support the most appropriate amendments to improve the Bill in Ping Pong.
We want you to appreciate the level of concern that o[INSERT NAME OF YOUR NGO] feels for our own work and for that of other charities and campaigning organisations - we collectively have a vital role in democracy, not just political parties and candidates. We will remain active on this issue until we feel the appropriate changes have been made to non-party campaigning regulation.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert name and position of NGO rep]
Email/ letter to Ministers Lord Wallace of Tankerness/ Lord Gardiner

Dear Lord Wallace and Lord Gardiner,

As the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill reaches Lords Third Reading it remains deeply unsatisfactory draft legislation.

Important changes have been to the Bill in the House of Lords which charities and campaigning organisations welcome. But they do not go far enough because the Bill would still impose disproportionate restrictions on freedom of speech and association on non-party campaigning.

The unusual parliamentary procedure for this Bill, in which there was no pre-legislative scrutiny, and Lord Committee stage was used by Ministers as a ‘listening exercise’ means that it is necessary to use Third Reading to make further changes.

I am writing to ask you to accept an amendment that will be tabled on Monday 20 January by Lord Harries on the issue of the scope of constituency regulation at Third Reading. Lord Harries will write to you with the amendment number.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert name and position of NGO rep]

Dear David Cameron and Nick Clegg,

I am writing to seek your assurance that Government will not seek to overturn changes to Part 2 of the Lobbying Bill made in the House of Lords.

Ministers in the House of Lords listened to some of the concerns of the huge number and range of charities and campaigning organisations that have opposed Part 2 of the Bill and have made some welcome changes.

However you may be aware that over 130 NGOs and 160,000 people thought the changes did not go far enough and peers voted in very large numbers to support a further change to the Bill on staff costs. We hope that peers will vote again at Third Reading and make further changes to the Bill.

Given the scale of the votes in the House of Lords and the scale of support for the changes amongst charities and campaigning organisations, attempting to reverse the changes would be a deeply unpopular move.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert name and position of NGO rep]