Today I emailed the following to my MP, David Chaytor. David was the subject of an expenses scandal last year, and in February 2010 he was convicted under the Theft Act for false accounting. He has been suspended from the Labour party and will not stand in the next General Election, to be held in the UK on 6th May.
Unsurprisingly, David was not one of the 236 MPs who bothered to vote for or against the 2010 Digital Economy Bill which is causing a storm on twitter for (amongst other things) the powers it will grant ISPs to disconnect users suspected of copyright infringement without a fair trial, and the legal requirement for ISPs to block access to websites “which the court is satisfied has been, is being or is likely to be used for or in connection with an activity that infringes copyright”. The wording of this is especially dangerous, as technically it includes search engines like Google, which you can easily use to find mp3s.
I had previously emailed David twice in March concerning the bill, and aside from requesting my details to confirm that I was indeed a constituent, he did not respond, did not vote, and did not even attend the second reading. Here is my third and potentially final email.
FAO David.
I appreciate that since the expenses scandal and your subsequent suspension you’ve been forced into a more submissive role, but transparency is the trial of your occupation. If you will put yourself in the public eye, then you must accept that you will occasionally be subject to scrutiny, ridicule or humiliation.
The real challenge is to roll with those punches without losing your footing, respect or dignity, and without letting it compromise your duties as an MP. You must ensure that you continue to respect the position that you have been elected into by your trusting constituents, and continue to represent them to the best of your abilities.
Whether or not you care about the issues concerned is irrelevant. Whether or not you are able to stand for the coming election is irrelevant. You still have an obligation to research the issues involved and make an informed stand on behalf of the general public. You had the opportunity to win a little bit of respect back by making an argument against the badly-written Digital Economy Bill, and you just ducked.
Please don’t let a scandal be your final contribution to the country. Don’t curl up in a corner. You are in a privileged position now- you’re a man with the public’s interest and nothing to lose. Please stay sharp and do something good to be remembered by.
But I suspect that I’m wasting my time with words.
Instead of just voting against your party, I intend to actively campaign against Labour for the coming election. I am a professional graphic designer by occupation, and I’m sure that an opposing party candidate in the Bury North area will appreciate my support.
Actions speak a little louder.
Kind Regards.
Sex! Hugs! Blogs! Open Letter to David Chaytor – http://www.liamjames.com/2010/04/08/open...
via Twitoaster
Mr Chaytor’s Response:
I'd also like to point out for the record that this was the third email I sent him, and the first two were actually about the DEBill.He actually replied to the above email, and I've pasted it in the entirety as a reply to the OP.