My MP responds to the Digital Economy Bill

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I recently wrote to my MP, Thomas McAvoy, regarding my concerns about the Digital Economy Bill, asking him to sign Tom Watson’s early day motion.

I wasn’t expecting a response, but I got a letter this morning – and only a couple of days after emailing him. Kudos.

Here’s his response:

“Thank you for your recent email.

Please be advised that as a member of the Government I am unable to sign Early Day Motions.

The concerns that you raise in relation to the Digital Economy Bill are ones that should be considered as the Bill comes through Parliament. Indeed, it is most likely that the clauses in the Bill that you refer to will be subject to much debate and may even come to a vote. This would give Ministers the opportunity to listen to any concerns and take on board any criticisms that are made of the Bill. This is normal procedure for the progress of a Bill through Parliament.

I believe that this Bill will be subject to the usual checks and scrutiny that any Bill undergoes as it passes. I will be paying attention to the Bill as it progresses and I hope that you will continue to show an interest in its progress too.”

I should point out that he’s the Deputy Chief Whip.

So not much to go on there, but if I were to guess, it looks to me like he doesn’t expect the bill to go through in its current form.

Thanks to Sam Stokes for letting us re-use the text he sent to his MP. If you want to do the same, I would recommend the excellent write to them.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 4:14 pm and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

 

One Response to “My MP responds to the Digital Economy Bill”

  1. Sam StokesNo Gravatar Says:

    (I’m a bit late, but better that than never, etc…)
    Thanks for posting his response. Not much to go on as you say, but I wouldn’t have expected the Deputy Chief Whip to go “oh yes, I see what you mean, the Government is wrong after all”!

    My MP also wrote back, and I’ve blogged my response to her response: http://blog.samstokes.co.uk/post/263522599/why-the-digital-economy-bill-is-flawed

    Glyn Wintle pointed me at the Open Rights Group’s page about writing to MPs, which looks like a collection of useful tips: http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Letter_writing

    BTW, your footer seems to be broken – it says “This site is using OpenAvatar based on” and then just breaks off.