Template emails to Peers by party
The report stage is Wednesday 15 January. Please email Peers now.
Wording
Please use the content of these emails as a suggested guide but feel free to
personalise them to the recipient and according to your organisation as much as
possible.
How to email (it’s too late to post letters)
Please contact as many Peers as you can. This could either be a personalised letter
to a Peer who is a supporter or your organisation or by using sending a version of
the template email to as many Peers as you feel you can. Email addresses for Peers
are here (google spreadsheet).
There is more info about the bill here. You can also add the link to our website to
your email if you would like to.
Salutation
For peers please use ‘Dear Lady / Lord XXX’. A full list of these ‘personal titles’ is
available under column G of the Lords tab of the following spreadsheet:
Thanks very much.
Conservative Peers
Dear [name of peer],
Lobbying bill: our concerns for report stage Weds 15 January
We are concerned that Part 2 of the Lobbying Bill will threaten freedom of speech
and association and would limit the ability of charities, voluntary organisations and
faith groups to campaign on some of the most important issues facing the country
and planet.
Last week the Government tabled amendments that address some of the problems
with the Bill. While these are welcome they do not fix what we believe will be
unworkable legislation and ignore substantial concerns about coalition working,
staffing costs and constituency limits.
[insert name] is writing to ask that you support amendments tabled by Lord Harries,
Chair of the Commission on Civil Society and Democratic Engagement, with Lord
Tyler, Lord Cormack and Baroness Malallieu. They include:
Amendment 34: excluding campaigning on Bills before Parliament
Amendment 40: definition of ‘supporter’
Amendment 45: the scope of staff costs
Amendment 52: the scope of constituency regulation
We also ask that you support the Government’s amendments including: increasing
the registration threshold to £20,000; a small concession that could help some small
organisations join coalitions; reducing (for the 2015 general election only) the
regulated period from 12 to 7.5 months and committing to a review the Act after the
2015 general election.
We believe Lord Harries’ amendments, together with the Government’s
amendments, would help mitigate some of the most damaging elements of the Bill,
while remaining concerned that as it is the Bill will damage future coalition
campaigning.
If you would like more information please contact [insert].
Yours sincerely,
[Name, Position, Organisation]
Liberal Democrat Peers
Dear [name of peer],
Lobbying bill: our concerns for report stage Weds 15 January
We are concerned that Part 2 of the Lobbying Bill will threaten freedom of speech
and association and would limit the ability of charities, voluntary organisations and
faith groups to campaign on some of the most important issues facing the country
and planet.
We appreciate the support that many Liberal Democrat Peers have given to
charities, voluntary organisations and faith groups by highlighting problems with the
Bill, such as Baroness Williams of Crosby at committee stage:
"This is a Bill which has overwhelmingly caused such concern, worry and anxiety
that it cannot stand as it is without huge amendment, or possibly a complete
rewriting of Part 2. I favour the second."
Last week the Government tabled amendments that address some of the problems
with the Bill. While these are welcome they do not fix what we believe will be
unworkable legislation and ignore substantial concerns about coalition working,
staffing costs and constituency limits.
[insert name] is writing to ask you to support amendments tabled by Lord Harries,
Chair of the Commission on Civil Society and Democratic Engagement, with Lord
Tyler, Lord Cormack and Baroness Malallieu. They include:
Amendment 34: excluding campaigning on Bills before Parliament
Amendment 40: definition of ‘supporter’
Amendment 45: the scope of staff costs
Amendment 52: the scope of constituency regulation
We also ask that you support the Government’s amendments that include:
increasing the registration threshold to £20,000; a small concession that could help
some small organisations join coalitions; reducing (for the 2015 general election
only) the regulated period to 7.5 months and committing to a review of the Act after
the 2015 general election.
We believe Lord Harries’ amendments, together with the Government’s
amendments, would help mitigate some of the most damaging elements of the Bill.
However we remain very concerned that no resolution has been found over coalition
campaigning. As the bill stands we believe it will reduce our ability to campaign in
coalitions such as [insert coalition].
If you would like more information please contact [insert].
Yours sincerely,
[Name, Position, Organisation]Cross-bench Peers
Dear [name of peer],
Lobbying bill: our concerns for report stage Weds 15 January
We are concerned that Part 2 of the Lobbying Bill will threaten freedom of speech
and association and would limit the ability of charities, voluntary organisations and
faith groups to campaign on some of the most important issues facing the country
and planet.
We really appreciate the wide range of experience and skills that Cross-bencher
Peers have used to scrutinise the Bill.
Last week the Government tabled amendments that address some of the problems
with the Bill. While these are welcome, they do not fix what we believe will be
unworkable legislation and ignore substantial concerns about coalition working,
staffing costs and constituency limits.
[insert name] is writing to ask that you support amendments tabled by Lord Harries,
Chair of the Commission on Civil Society and Democratic Engagement, with Lord
Tyler, Lord Cormack and Baroness Malallieu. They include:
Amendment 34: excluding campaigning on Bills before Parliament
Amendment 40: definition of ‘supporter’
Amendment 45: the scope of staff costs
Amendment 52: the scope of constituency regulation
We also ask that you support the Government’s amendments that include:
increasing the registration threshold to £20,000; a small concession that will help
some small coalition partners; reducing (for the 2015 general election only) the
regulated period to 7.5 months and committing to a review of the Act after the 2015
general election.
We believe Lord Harries’ amendments, together with the Government’s
amendments, would help mitigate some of the most damaging elements of the Bill.
However we remain very concerned that no resolution has been found over coalition
campaigning. As the Bill stands we believe it will reduce our ability to campaign in
coalitions such as [insert coalition].
Thank you for your time and support. If you would like more information please
contact [insert].
Yours sincerely,
[Name, Position, Organisation]
Labour peers
Dear [name of peer],
Lobbying bill: our concerns for report stage Weds 15 January
We are concerned that Part 2 of the Lobbying Bill will threaten freedom of speech
and association and would limit the ability of charities, voluntary organisations and
faith groups to campaign on some of the most important issues facing the country
and planet.
We really appreciate that Labour Peers and MPs have supported charities, voluntary
organisations and faith groups by consistently raising objections to the Bill as it’s
been rushed through Parliament.
Last week the Government tabled amendments that address some of the problems
with the Bill. While these are welcome, they do not fix what we believe will be
unworkable legislation and ignore substantial concerns about coalition working,
staffing costs and constituency limits.
[insert name] is writing to ask that you support amendments tabled by Lord Harries,
Chair of the Commission on Civil Society and Democratic Engagement, with Lord
Tyler, Lord Cormack and Baroness Malallieu. They include:
Amendment 34: excluding campaigning on Bills before Parliament
Amendment 40: definition of ‘supporter’
Amendment 45: the scope of staff costs
Amendment 52: the scope of constituency regulation
We also ask that you support the Government’s amendments that include:
increasing the registration threshold to £20,000; a small concession that will help
some small coalition partners; reducing (for the 2015 general election only) the
regulated period to 7.5 months and committing to a review of the Act after the 2015
general election.
We believe Lord Harries’ amendments, together with the Government’s
amendments, would help mitigate some of the most damaging elements of the Bill.
However we remain very concerned that the Bill will limit our ability to campaign in
coalitions such as [insert coalition] and we hope that Labour will commit to reforming
this Bill.
Thank you for your time and support. If you would like more information please
contact [insert].
Yours sincerely,
[Name, Position, Organisation]