from the Stand mailing list

The FaxYourMP folk say that they relayed 1789 faxes from last monday, and estimate that around 1600 of those were related to the s22 RIP Order. That means that, on average, every MP received at least two messages expressing concern over the measure.

GOVERNMENT NO LONGER QUITE SO KEEN ON RIP STANDING ORDER

As most of you will already have heard, the government has backed down from the RIP s22 Order that would have given access to traffic data to dozens of government departments. We thought you’d like to know that this U-turn was largely down to you.

The FaxYourMP folk say that they relayed 1789 faxes from last monday, and estimate that around 1600 of those were related to the s22 RIP Order. That means that, on average, every MP received at least two messages expressing concern over the measure.

We’ve received mail from constituents saying that their Member of Parliament called them directly to discuss the issue. We’ve had MPs mail us with advice. We’ve had TV companies and newspapers contact us after they’d been hassled by their readers and viewers. We’ve even had MPs writing letters to constituents explaining, mournfully, that there was nothing they could do – and then had their own voters explain to them how to attend Standing Committee debates, and who to get in contact with others to help fight this order. Ah, those apathetic votees.

Also, we had Hugh.

One of the stories we’ve repeatedly heard is that the Home Secretary’s change of heart came from a briefing by his 21-year old son, Hugh Blunkett.

Hugh, like the rest of us, uses the Internet. He knows enough to see how dangerous this proposition was. At some point – whether it was a forwarded messaage, or an announcement posted on http://slashdot.org, or a link on your Website – Hugh found out about this order. He read the comments, and the objections posted by thousands of people online, and did something about it.

Now, of course, it does help if your dad is the Home Secretary. But if there’s one thing we’ve learnt from STAND, it’s that people have greater access to the levers of government than they think. From you to the Home Secretary is a very short chain, and for practical purposes, we don’t care whether it was via Hugh or David’s old classmate at Huddersfield College. Someone explained to him how the rest of us feel.

Making contact is important. The volunteers at STAND and FaxYourMP are almost pathologically cynical, but we’re regularly taken aback by how positively MPs, editors, civil servants and peers of the realm respond to a personal contact by intelligent and reasonable citizens. It’s almost as if they’re flattered by the attention. It’s almost as if they’re touched anyone even cares about what they do.

At the beginning of this campaign – oh, almost a week ago now – many people (from professional lobbyists to anonymous Web forum posters) told us that it was futile to encourage others to make a fuss. It was too late; that delegated legislation would be railroaded through; that no-one cared about
privacy issues; that U-turns never happen.

Well, perhaps we shouldn’t get too cocky. Even this proposal has only been “postponed indefinitely”, possibly only until the next Parliament after the Summer break. And there are dozens of other bits of legislation hanging about with vast technological idiocies contained within – the RIP Act draft Code of Practices; the EU’s Copyright Directive and Data Retention orders; laws against reverse-engineering; software patents and who knows what else.

But we thought it was worth saying that you won. And the next time you’re talking to someone about these issues, and someone says “what’s the point?” – well, you now may now point at yourself, and mention how you got the government to blink.

Cheers,

The STAND team.

PS The News At Ten people broadcast a segment about STAND member’s effect on on Tuesday night. If it’s before 1330pm on Wednesday when you read this (and you have Real player), you can watch it here

Many of the wine bottles behind James are now empty.