British Democracy Forum - View Single Post - Purple Postcard Campaign Revived By Crec !

Tony Bennett · 01-03-2008, 05:44 PM

Derek Norman (Chairman), James Carver (no, not that one) and Helene Davies from our Committee met with a Palace official at 2.30pm.

They handed in:

1) Cards Nos. 1 to 6 signed by the Committee at the start of the campaign

2) Several hundred cards signed that day by those queueing outside Parliament, numbered between 150,001 and 151,000 and

3) A letter addressed to The Queen updating her on the campaign and emphasising how critical it was that she use her influence in a situation where the Britsih constitution was about to be critically and permanently undermined, with the consent of Parliament, but the clear opposition of the people.

I think it is bad form to publish correspondence to the Queen but we kept the letter very courteous and thanked her for allowing us to hand in the cards and our letter.

And that was it.

We handed out many more cards in the late afternoon and those that were signed were sent to Christopher Geidt, the Queen's Private Secretary, yesterday.

Several people in the queue pointed out that they knew nothing about this campaign and challenged us to promote it more vigorously. We are responding as best as we are able, given limited resources. We have a standard letter for publication going out to provincial newspapers (see below), plus we have sent out targeted letters to WIs, local British Legions, sympathetic TUs e.g. the RMT and FSB regional offices.

With George Mudge of UKIP Devon deciding to send out 8,000 cards with his spring catalogues, we are now over 150,000 in terms of cards distributed and have had a flurry of minor orders following the lobby.

================================================== ======

CREC's letter to provincial editors:

CREC Campaign to Reject the European Constitution
66 Chippingfield, HARLOW, Essex, CM17 0DJ
Tel: 01279 635789
Website: Campaign for a Referendum on the European Constitution
e-mail: ajsbennett@btintertnet.com
Patron: The Duke of Rutland
Chairman: Derek Norman
Secretary: Tony Bennett
Press Officer: Bryan Smalley
Webmaster: Peter Rogers
Development Officer: Graham Wood

March 2008

Dear Editor,

I write to draw the attention of your readers to an increasingly popular campaign to try to win a referendum on the E.U. Reform Treaty, which nearly all European leaders recognise and admit is the European Constitution in disguise.

Our campaign consists of a simple pre-printed and numbered petition card, pre-addressed to Her Majesty the Queen, a copy of which I am pleased to enclose for your attention.

It is in effect virtually the same card that we used on a previous occasion, back in 2003, when nearly 180,000 people ordered our cards and sent them off to Her Majesty. During that campaign we were greatly encouraged when we received a letter from Her Majesty’s Chief Correspondence Secretary, Deborah Bean, informing us that the Queen had instructed her staff to brief her regularly on the number of postcards being received. At the height of our campaign, Buckingham Palace was receiving several hundred cards a day. We terminated that campaign on the day in May 2004 when Tony Blair faithfully promised us a referendum on the terms of the E.U. Constitution.

We revived our campaign at the beginning of the year. Last Wednesday (27 February) we attended the Mass Lobby of Parliament, where 3,000 or so queued to see their MPs demanding a referendum. The majority of those present had not heard of our campaign. Once they understood what it was about, they eagerly took our petition cards, signed them, and posted them to Buckingham Palace. I should add that our campaign is strictly non-party-political.

Many asked us what we were doing to inform the nation about our campaign. This letter to the editors of provincial newspapers is the result.

In our previous campaign, we distributed 180,000 cards in a year. It is a measure of the intense frustration and anger felt by many at our politicians breaking their promise to allow a referendum on the terms of this Treaty that although our campaign has been running just two months, already over 150,000 cards have been requested and requests are coming in at over 2,000 a day. The campaign until now has spread almost entirely by word of mouth, though we do have a website. We make a small charge for the petition cards to cover the cost of printing them, plus postage, but will always send them out free to individuals and those who can’t afford to pay for them.

We believe our previous postcard campaign may have broken two records:

(1) the highest number of a single postcard ever printed and

(2) the largest number of people to petition the reigning monarch on any issue. If we ‘top’ 180,000 this time round, we shall break our own previous records.

We would therefore be most grateful if you would kindly agree to print the following ‘Letter to the Editor’:

==========

Letter to the Editor

Dear Sir

Many of your readers may be frustrated that despite each political party promising us a national referendum on whether or not Britain should adopt the European Constitution, we are not being allowed a vote on the E.U. Reform Treaty (the ‘Lisbon Treaty’), currently going through Parliament. Nearly all E.U. leaders admit that this treaty is the E.U. Constitution under another name.

In a situation where our very Constitution is at risk, and our MPs will not allow a vote, there is provision for the people to appeal directly to the Queen.

We have devised a simple petition card, addressed to Her Majesty, which calls on her to refuse Royal Assent to any Bill to implement the Lisbon Treaty, until such time as we, the people, have had a referendum on its terms. The Irish people are being allowed a referendum. So should we.

To those who say the Queen is above politics and is bound to follow government advice, we say two things. First, the Queen is not bound to follow advice that is clearly unconstitutional. Second, if you visit the website of the U.K Parliament, it quite clearly states there: “The Monarch has the right to refuse Royal Assent”.

In just two months since our campaign began, over 150,000 cards have been requested. We need many more to sign this petition. To obtain a supply of petition cards, please write to us, e-mail us or ’phone us.

Yours sincerely

Graham Wood
Development Officer
Campaign for a Referendum on the European Constitution
32 Station Road
Poppleton
YORK
YO26 6PY
Tel: 01904 795204
e-mail: grahamwood32@yahoo.co.uk
website: Campaign for a Referendum on the European Constitution

==========

We would be most grateful. Please contact me if you need any further information about us or about our campaign.

Yours sincerely

Graham Wood
Development Officer
CREC

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01-03-2008, 05:44 PM	#54 (permalink)
Tony Bennett Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,031	Purple Postcard Campaign Update Derek Norman (Chairman), James Carver (no, not that one) and Helene Davies from our Committee met with a Palace official at 2.30pm. They handed in: 1) Cards Nos. 1 to 6 signed by the Committee at the start of the campaign 2) Several hundred cards signed that day by those queueing outside Parliament, numbered between 150,001 and 151,000 and 3) A letter addressed to The Queen updating her on the campaign and emphasising how critical it was that she use her influence in a situation where the Britsih constitution was about to be critically and permanently undermined, with the consent of Parliament, but the clear opposition of the people. I think it is bad form to publish correspondence to the Queen but we kept the letter very courteous and thanked her for allowing us to hand in the cards and our letter. And that was it. We handed out many more cards in the late afternoon and those that were signed were sent to Christopher Geidt, the Queen's Private Secretary, yesterday. Several people in the queue pointed out that they knew nothing about this campaign and challenged us to promote it more vigorously. We are responding as best as we are able, given limited resources. We have a standard letter for publication going out to provincial newspapers (see below), plus we have sent out targeted letters to WIs, local British Legions, sympathetic TUs e.g. the RMT and FSB regional offices. With George Mudge of UKIP Devon deciding to send out 8,000 cards with his spring catalogues, we are now over 150,000 in terms of cards distributed and have had a flurry of minor orders following the lobby. ================================================== ====== CREC's letter to provincial editors: CREC Campaign to Reject the European Constitution 66 Chippingfield, HARLOW, Essex, CM17 0DJ Tel: 01279 635789 Website: Campaign for a Referendum on the European Constitution e-mail: ajsbennett@btintertnet.com Patron: The Duke of Rutland Chairman: Derek Norman Secretary: Tony Bennett Press Officer: Bryan Smalley Webmaster: Peter Rogers Development Officer: Graham Wood March 2008 Dear Editor, I write to draw the attention of your readers to an increasingly popular campaign to try to win a referendum on the E.U. Reform Treaty, which nearly all European leaders recognise and admit is the European Constitution in disguise. Our campaign consists of a simple pre-printed and numbered petition card, pre-addressed to Her Majesty the Queen, a copy of which I am pleased to enclose for your attention. It is in effect virtually the same card that we used on a previous occasion, back in 2003, when nearly 180,000 people ordered our cards and sent them off to Her Majesty. During that campaign we were greatly encouraged when we received a letter from Her Majesty’s Chief Correspondence Secretary, Deborah Bean, informing us that the Queen had instructed her staff to brief her regularly on the number of postcards being received. At the height of our campaign, Buckingham Palace was receiving several hundred cards a day. We terminated that campaign on the day in May 2004 when Tony Blair faithfully promised us a referendum on the terms of the E.U. Constitution. We revived our campaign at the beginning of the year. Last Wednesday (27 February) we attended the Mass Lobby of Parliament, where 3,000 or so queued to see their MPs demanding a referendum. The majority of those present had not heard of our campaign. Once they understood what it was about, they eagerly took our petition cards, signed them, and posted them to Buckingham Palace. I should add that our campaign is strictly non-party-political. Many asked us what we were doing to inform the nation about our campaign. This letter to the editors of provincial newspapers is the result. In our previous campaign, we distributed 180,000 cards in a year. It is a measure of the intense frustration and anger felt by many at our politicians breaking their promise to allow a referendum on the terms of this Treaty that although our campaign has been running just two months, already over 150,000 cards have been requested and requests are coming in at over 2,000 a day. The campaign until now has spread almost entirely by word of mouth, though we do have a website. We make a small charge for the petition cards to cover the cost of printing them, plus postage, but will always send them out free to individuals and those who can’t afford to pay for them. We believe our previous postcard campaign may have broken two records: (1) the highest number of a single postcard ever printed and (2) the largest number of people to petition the reigning monarch on any issue. If we ‘top’ 180,000 this time round, we shall break our own previous records. We would therefore be most grateful if you would kindly agree to print the following ‘Letter to the Editor’: ========== Letter to the Editor Dear Sir Many of your readers may be frustrated that despite each political party promising us a national referendum on whether or not Britain should adopt the European Constitution, we are not being allowed a vote on the E.U. Reform Treaty (the ‘Lisbon Treaty’), currently going through Parliament. Nearly all E.U. leaders admit that this treaty is the E.U. Constitution under another name. In a situation where our very Constitution is at risk, and our MPs will not allow a vote, there is provision for the people to appeal directly to the Queen. We have devised a simple petition card, addressed to Her Majesty, which calls on her to refuse Royal Assent to any Bill to implement the Lisbon Treaty, until such time as we, the people, have had a referendum on its terms. The Irish people are being allowed a referendum. So should we. To those who say the Queen is above politics and is bound to follow government advice, we say two things. First, the Queen is not bound to follow advice that is clearly unconstitutional. Second, if you visit the website of the U.K Parliament, it quite clearly states there: “The Monarch has the right to refuse Royal Assent”. In just two months since our campaign began, over 150,000 cards have been requested. We need many more to sign this petition. To obtain a supply of petition cards, please write to us, e-mail us or ’phone us. Yours sincerely Graham Wood Development Officer Campaign for a Referendum on the European Constitution 32 Station Road Poppleton YORK YO26 6PY Tel: 01904 795204 e-mail: grahamwood32@yahoo.co.uk website: Campaign for a Referendum on the European Constitution ========== We would be most grateful. Please contact me if you need any further information about us or about our campaign. Yours sincerely Graham Wood Development Officer CREC xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx