Getting your voice heard in the UK, part 3: staying informed
In our first post of this series, we looked at the best way to contact your MP, and in our second one, we examined some of the things you can do if you find that your initial message hasn’t had any effect.
Writing to your MP is all very well, but it helps if you know what you are talking about — in fact, it wastes everyone’s time if you don’t!
Our website TheyWorkForYou offers a quite few ways to keep up with what’s going on in Parliament.
You can, for example, sign up to receive an email every time your own MP (or any other) speaks.
If there’s a topic you are particularly interested in, you can also receive emails every time your chosen keyword is mentioned.
To really supercharge the effect of alerts, though, you can be extra clever and subscribe to future business. This way, you’ll get an alert before a topic is debated, giving you time to research and then contact your MP to tell them your opinions and how you would like them to vote, if relevant.
Not everything your MP does is in Parliament, though. So set up a Google alert for your MP’s name. You’ll receive a daily email any time they’re mentioned in the local or national press.
That means, if they’re making a speech somewhere other than the House of Commons, you’ll know what they’re saying; if they’re holding a public meeting, you’ll be able to turn up and ask questions; and if they’re explaining where they stand on a certain issue, you’ll be able to write to them and let them know your feelings on that stance.
Whether you love or hate your MP’s values, subscribe to their newsletter, and you’ll have another layer of useful information about their activity. After all, if you don’t know what they’re doing, it’s no good complaining about them!
How to check how your MP voted
Before you contact your MP, you may wish to check how sympathetic they are likely to be to your message.
Our website TheyWorkForYou.com lays out votes in key topic areas, so you can see quickly and easily how your MP voted — a good gauge of where they sit on the political spectrum.
Just input your postcode on the homepage and you’ll be taken to your MP’s page. Click on ‘voting record’ to see the full list.
Check facts
There’s no point in wasting energy complaining to your MP if you’re actually misunderstanding the facts. Don’t believe every news story from every source! Instead, check on websites like FullFact.org or Snopes.com to get the full picture — and then use your knowledge to correct others if you see them spreading misinformation.
Ready?
So now you’re all set to take on your new role as a politically engaged person who can get your voice heard and make change in society!
But if this all seems like child’s play to you, you might want to check out tomorrow’s post — the final one in this series — about how to go that little bit further.
