They're still writing to me and this time I agree with every word written.
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2015 15:10:10 +0000
To: johntimbrell@xxxxxxxxxx
From: no-reply@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: We Must All Act, Now!
We Must All Act, Now!
Display problems? View this newsletter in your
browser.
We Must All Act, Now!So he’s gone and done it. Once again, Britain
is staring down the barrel of another illegal war. David Cameron has organised
a House of Commons vote on the bombing of Syria for Wednesday and at
this point, it’s a done deal.It’s a done deal because Cameron made it quite
clear that unless he had a clear
majority, he would not bring a vote to the Commons for fear of “giving ISIL a
propaganda coup”.Or is it?That’s up to us
- you and me.Many people say, writing to my MP is pointless. There is no point
voting. There is no democracy, just
vested interest and the monied elite.But this is too easy. If we, as
individuals, take this attitude, we are cowards.The
truth is that for a while at least, we still live in a nation based on the
principle of consent, and through our silence, we give it. Every day.The
event which seems to have given Cameron the confidence to go ahead with the
vote is the choice of Jeremy Corbyn to permit a free vote on the issue.
Cameron knows that many within the Parliamentary Labour Party disagree with
Corbyn’s stance on war in general, and Syria in particular. Some
seem to be so cynical that they are willing to vote for bombing another
sovereign nation state just to get the chance to damage Corbyn’s
leadership.Those within the Labour Party who expressed their pleasure that
Corbyn had come to this decision did so
using very troubling language. “This allows us to vote with our conscience on
the matter” is the rhetoric threaded through every
mainstream media article on the subject.Yet we do not elect MPs to vote as they
would like, and in any case how many MP’s
have a conscience, in fact? I can’t think of any.We elect MPs to represent us
in Parliament.
If they are not doing that, they are not doing their jobs. And if we do not
tell them what our conscience says, we are not doing ours.We
have no right, as individuals, to complain about the state of the nation,
corruption or the common purpose, if we are not willing to make sure that we
do everything in our power to make sure those we elect do their jobs.(Don’t
tell me, by the way, that you
didn’t elect them because you didn’t vote. You elected them exactly because you
didn’t vote, and you elected them because you
didn’t stand yourself and give people any alternative but to vote for them.)The
hashtag is #doyourjob. The other
hashtag is #HeWhoIsSilent, because “he who is silent is taken to agree”.Are we
going to be silent today, of
all days? Or are we, as individuals, going to take the few minutes to write to
our MP and demand from them that they do their job.I
will not be silent today. I am writing to Oliver Colvile today to tell him to
stop worrying hedgehogs."You will, Mr Colvile, vote against
bombing Syria because I, your constituent, wish you to vote that way. This has
nothing to do with your personal conscience or the party whip - you
represent my conscience and that of every other individual in your
constituency."And if any MP says that they voted one way or the
other because they were representing the views of their constituents, they
better be able to back that up.It is no longer acceptable for us as
individuals to sit by and do nothing while MPs run roughshod over our will. The
Syria vote is a done deal because of our inaction.So act!qui tacet consentire
videtur
© 2015 UK Column all rights reserved. If you would like to use any of our
material, please contact
us.
Unsubscribe - Edit your subscription
This email has been sent from a virus-free computer protected
by Avast. www.avast.com
