Bluemerle

Remember the Abolition of Parliament Bill? The one back in
the spring, which could have been used to end democracy as
we know it?

It is still at large, and making its way through Parliament.
Thanks to you, it is much less dangerous than it was. But it
is still quite dangerous.

Yesterday the House of Lords voted to make the Bill safer.
And lost. By just 13 votes. At first we growled and shouted
in frustration! But then we realised that there's another
chance. There'll be a final vote this Thursday.

And you can help.

We'd like you to write to a Member of the House of Lords.
Here's how to do it. It'll only take you a moment, and
this time we know it really can make a difference.

1. Go to http://www.writetothem.com/lords

2. Click "Random Lord" near the bottom of the page.

3. If you get a Labour peer, then click the back button
and press "Random Lord" again. No point writing to
Government peers on this one. Labour, Liberal Democrat,
Crossbench, Bishops etc. are all fine.

4. Write a letter making the following points in your own
words:

* The Third Reading (that's the last one in the House of
Lords) of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill is this
coming Thursday, 2nd November.

* Explain to the Lord how important Parliament
is to hold the Government's power in balance, and how you
would not like to see this Bill passed in a form which would
weaken Parliament.

* In the first clause of the Bill, there is a section which
says that the purpose of the Bill is to "reduce burdens".
Unfortunately, all it says that the *Minister* must consider
whether the change in law he wants to make reduces burdens.
This is better than the original Bill at the start of the
year, but it is still not good enough.

* Say that you would like the phrase "he considers" to be
removed from the Bill, so that any law changed under it must
be considered burden reducing by any reasonable person.
Rather than by a possibly unreasonable Minister.

(you can skip the last two points if it seems too
complicated to explain; the next one is the key one)

* Ask the Lord to attend Parliament on Thursday, and vote
for any opposition amendments which remove the phrase "he
considers", or otherwise make the Bill safer.

* Ask your Lord to vote *against* passing the Third Reading
of the Bill if the phrase "he considers" is not removed.

* And thank them!

5. Send the letter. You're done.

More detailed background information about what is going on:
http://bill111.wordpress.com/2006/10...-stage-debate/
Here is the part of the Bill with the "he considers" section in it:
http://www.publications.parliament.u...1-7.html#jNC19

There were just 13 votes in it yesterday. We really can win
this one. Thanks to your help!

Please write to your Lord now.

Francis Irving
Campaigns Director
Save Parliament

http://www.saveparliament.org.uk