38 Degrees Petition to Get Banks to Pass On To Their Savers The Rise in Interest Rates

‘Dear David,

Banks don’t have to rip us off to make a profit. But that’s exactly what they’re doing: Bank of England interest rates are rising but most banks aren’t upping the savings rates for their loyal customers, meaning their profits increase while people across the UK don’t get the benefits of higher interest rates. [1]

It sounds like a complex issue, but it boils down to this: hundreds of thousands of us could be losing out on around £300 a year. [2] That’s why MPs are demanding answers from high street banks and over 60,000 people have signed our petition telling banks to stop taking advantage of loyal customers. [3]

The pressure is building, but we need your help to keep up the momentum. Because if we’re going to get banks to take this seriously, we need to show them that we – their customers – won’t stand for being ripped off. We’re ready to kick up a fuss in public – until they do the right thing.

David, will you take 30 seconds to add your name to the petition?

ADD YOUR NAME

I’M NOT SIGNING BECAUSE

Thanks for being involved,

Grace, Megan, Flo and the 38 Degrees office team

NOTES:
[1] Daily Express, Banks accused of ‘ripping off’ loyal savers for not passing on interest rate hikes 
[2] See note 1.
[3]Financial Times, MPs extend campaign over low savings rates 
38 Degrees, Banks: Stop taking advantage of loyal customers 

In case you missed it, here’s the earlier email;

________________________________

Dear David,

In the midst of the cost of living crisis, Britain’s biggest banks are taking advantage of us, their loyal customers. How? Well banks are making a profit out of rising interest rates – but they aren’t passing it on customers with existing savings accounts. So while we’re all struggling to make ends meet, banks are just getting richer. [1]

But here’s the thing – this issue is in the news right now, and banks have been put under the spotlight. MPs recently grilled them in Westminster, and now the FCA – the body who regulates banks – have said they’ll consider intervening if the issue continues. So banks will be feeling the heat – but we need to ramp up the pressure.

How? Well right now the voice of the public – their customers – is missing. A huge petition, signed by tens of thousands of us, could be the first step in sending a strong message to banks that we will not stand for this unfair practice. Together, we can turn up the heat and make sure banks pass on their profits.

So, David, will you add your name to the petition and demand higher interest rates for your savings account? It only takes 30 seconds to sign.

SIGN THE PETITION

Right now, the country is struggling as the cost of living continues to soar. [3] Bank’s customers are the ones keeping them afloat. They’ve raised our mortgage rates, but they aren’t rewarding loyal customers by sharing the profits on savings. In fact banks are only offering new customers better deals to incentivise them to switch providers. While existing customers are left with the same low interest rates they’ve had before. [4]

It might feel hard to imagine that we can get the UK’s biggest banks to take action but we’ve done it before. Last March, over 80,000 of us came together and pushed HSBC to cut ties with Russia. [5] Later that month they increased sanctions and scrutiny of Russian clients worldwide. [6] Together we can take action again, and shame banks into prioritising their customers over their own profits.

Please add your name to the petition and demand better interest rates for ALL customers. It only takes 30 seconds to sign. It will only take 30 seconds to sign.

SIGN THE PETITION

Thanks for being involved,

Amoke, Megan, Robin & the 38 Degrees team

NOTES:
[1] The Guardian: Regulator warns UK banks over miserly savings rates for loyal customers
[2] UK Parliament: FCA responds to Treasury Committee on high street bank savings rates
[3] CNBC: UK inflation is just not going down as cost of living crisis offers ‘no respite’
[4] See note [1]
[5] City AM: Exclusive: HSBC customers threaten to switch banks unless it cuts Russian oil ties
[6] Reuters: Exclusive: HSBC steps up scrutiny of Russian clients worldwide as sanctions ratchet up‘

38 Degrees Petition Against Government Strengthening Voter ID Laws

I got this petition yesterday, and have very definitely signed it.

‘David, it’s just been revealed that the Government has slipped out plans to introduce TOUGHER Voter ID rules around elections, requiring certain ID to vote by post and by proxy. [1] Only last month voter ID blocked THOUSANDS of us from voting in local elections. [2] And now they want to go further, just in time for a General Election.

Conservative MP Jacob Rees Mogg recently admitted – on TV – that the Conservatives introduced Voter ID to try to sway the elections. [3]

It’s a stitch up but it’s not a done deal.

Today, together, we can show that we, the British public, have noticed this power grab – and we won’t accept it. We can create a huge people powered backlash with one simple message: DITCH VOTER ID BEFORE THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION.

David, it’s going to take a huge outcry to stop them in their tracks, so will you add your name to the petition right now? The moment 100,000 of us add our names, we will take it to Downing Street with a camera crew so they can’t help but notice us.

ADD MY NAME NOW!

I’M NOT SIGNING BECAUSE…

Thanks for your support,

Amoke, Megan, Ellie, Flo and the 38 Degrees team

NOTES:
[1] UK Parliament: Elections Act: Postal and proxy voting safeguards
[2] 38 Degrees: Locked out: The aftermath of voter ID rule changes at the local elections
BBC: First snapshot of Voter ID impact on election in East of England
[3] Sky News: Jacob Rees-Mogg suggests requiring photo ID to vote was attempt to ‘gerrymander’ which ‘came back to bite’ Tories
The Mirror: Voter ID will ‘undoubtedly reduce turnout’ at local elections, senior Tory MP warns‘

Call From the Megaphone for People to Protest Anti-Strike Legislation Going through Parliament Tomorrow

I got this from Megaphone, the internet publicity section of the TUC on Thursday. As you can see, they’re asking for people in London to join the protest tomorrow against the anti-strike bill, and those outside to write to their MPs asking them to vote against it. I realise that this is very last minute, but I’m putting it up here nonetheless.

David,

The attack on our right to strike has reached a critical point. On Monday, May 22nd, the Strikes Bill returns to the House of Commons where MPs will cast their vote. 

MPs have a clear choice: will they support the rights of working people to go on strike for fair pay? Or will they attack our fundamental rights and sack key workers if they take strike action?

Wherever you are in the country, you have a part to play: 

I live near to London

On Monday, May 22nd, the TUC have called an emergency protest outside Parliament. Can you join and make your voice heard?

At the protest, we will hear from key workers and union leaders on what we must do next. We will not give in until these laws are defeated.

I live outside of London

In the lead up to the vote, we need to put pressure on MPs from all sides of the country! Can you take two minutes to write to your MP and ask them to show up and vote the bill down on Monday?

I will write to my MP

The Tories have supported the bill at every stage, and proved they will stop at nothing to hurt working people. They have seen the impact our strikes have had, and know the public are on the side of striking workers. Their last resort is an outrageous attack on our right to strike.

If the Tories are going to attack our right to strike, we need to make them pay a political price for it. And we need to make sure that opposition parties are committed to repealing this terrible law if they are elected.

Whether in person or online, do what you can to call on MPs to reject the Strikes Bill.

The Tories have supported the bill at every stage, and proved they will stop at nothing to hurt working people. They have seen the impact our strikes have had, and know the public are on the side of striking workers. Their last resort is an outrageous attack on our right to strike.

If the Tories are going to attack our right to strike, we need to make them pay a political price for it. And we need to make sure that opposition parties are committed to repealing this terrible law if they are elected.

Whether in person or online, do what you can to call on MPs to reject the Strikes Bill.

In unity, 

Anthony and Lois,  

Megaphone UK ‘

Avaaz on Protests and Events against Climate Change in London Tomorrow and through the Weekend

Dear friends in the UK,

This weekend, London will see what might be the biggest climate mobilisation in British history!

Avaaz is supporting an amazing coalition, including Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth as well as hundreds of community groups and tens of thousands of people, to come together over four days to pressure politicians to take urgent action to tackle the escalating climate crisis.

Avaazers will be there, and there’s exciting things to get involved with all weekend.

• On Friday 21st, starting at 1030AM, there will be an opening ceremony outside Parliament and “People’s Pickets” at government departments across Westminster. 
• On Saturday 22nd, starting at 10AM, there will be a massive rally outside Parliament with art, music, talks from experts and activities for kids, culminating in a family-friendly march for biodiversity and nature.
• On Sunday 23rd, starting at 10AM outside Parliament, there will be faith-based events, as well as actions alongside the London Marathon to raise awareness of the climate crisis.
• On Monday 24th, as politicians return to Westminster, there will be events all day, culminating in a mass picket outside Parliament from 4-6PM.

The full details of the programme can be found here. Hope you can make it this weekend to make your voice heard!

In hope and determination,

Luis, Bert, Aloys and the entire Avaaz team

PS: The aim of this action is not to create public disruption, but to create a massive show of public demand for urgent action on the climate crisis. Organisers are working closely with the police, who have affirmed our right to protest peacefully.  ‘

A Labour Commentator Likes My Idea of a Worker’s Parliamentary Chamber

If there were more people like this, I think Starmer would be worried. A little while ago the Labour party invited their members to send in their suggestions for the policies the party should put forward. I responded with a raft of Old Labour, Corbynite policies – nationalisation of the utilities, renationalisation of the NHS, reformed and strengthened welfare state, strong trade unions and so on. All the good stuff that would have Blair, Mandelson and the rest of their evil clique, not to mention Murdoch, screaming in rage and horror. But I also mentioned that I thought the country needed a special parliamentary chamber, elected by working people for working people, to counteract all the millionaires in parliament. I got an email from the Labour party this morning telling me that somebody had left a comment on it and providing a link to it. This was from a Labour member, ‘Paul’, who liked the idea. He wrote

‘I love the idea of a workers’ chamber.

I’m fed up of being trodden on by former Eton pupils.

As well as no more wars, we should rejoin the EU. Be part of the world again, not just an isolated, xenophobic country run by corrupt racist millionaires.’

Absolutely. I’m glad someone liked my idea. If only there were a few more!

GB News In Trouble for Conspiracy Rant by Neil Oliver

Novara Media posted a video tonight about GB News’ continuing problems. The channel has managed to annoy some of its audience for the departure of far-right host Mark Steyn. Steyn had been off-air for a little while due suffering two heart attacks. He has refused to come back because of the new contract the station sent him. This included the statement that if he returned, they’d have to keep a defibrillator on hand. This, however, is not a problem, as apparently the station is able to provide one. The problem is that they’ve been trying to shut him up about the subject of the evil Covid vaccine after Naomi Wolf, a noted Covid sceptic, turned up on the programme and made a few choice comments. But this isn’t all. Neil Oliver, one of the archaeologists from Coast, has managed to get them embroiled in a row about anti-Semitism.

Oliver gave a full, bug-eyed conspiracist rant on his programme, entitled ‘Silent Wars’, about how we were having our national sovereignty slowly taken away from us by THEM, who are intent on creating the One World State. Matthew Sweet, a campaigner against anti-Semitism, sent a tweet stating that this was a reference to a document, Secret Weapons for Silent Wars. This piece of literature is very much of the same type as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and similarly popular on the paranoid right-wing fringe. Complaints have been made to Ofcom, and Oliver’s rant was condemned by the all-party parliamentary group against anti-Semitism.

GB News is in trouble, but probably not to the extent that it’ll be taken off the air. However, their presenter Dalia Gebrial stated that the broadcaster wanted to be a British version of Fox News, but forgot that Fox is allowed to get away with its nonsense because America doesn’t have a broadcasting regulatory authority like Ofcom. She also made the point that the broadcaster was created by a couple of very rich men, and so it naturally shows their own irrational concerns and dangerous prejudices.

But, Novara concluded, just in case GB News is taken off the air, we can still look to Talk TV, owned by Murdoch, for quality right-wing journalism. For example, there’s Piers Morgan interviewing the older woman who allegedly took Prince Harry’s virginity. Actually, that at least may have some facts behind it, as opposed to anything Julia Hartley-Brewer has ever said about Brexit or people on benefits.

I have to say, I’d never heard of Secret Weapons for Silent Wars before, so that’s another conspiracist screed spreading hate. As for Oliver, it was evident that he was very right-wing – he gave a talk to the New Culture Forum, for example – but now he’s crossed into conspiracy theorist nuttiness. It’ll be interesting to see what happens about this. It’s just a pity that Talk TV isn’t having similar problems.

Open Britain on the Tory Attack on Democracy

I got this email from the pro-democracy organisation, Open Britain, on the Tories’ continued campaign against democracy in our fair country. It runs

Dear David,

Over the last four years, we have witnessed a rapid reduction in the fairness and inclusivity of UK politics. Rishi Sunak seems determined to continue Boris Johnson’s all-out assault on the rights, institutions, and norms designed to hold the government to account. Academics have a term for this process: “democratic backsliding”.

It’s worth reflecting on recent years through the lens of backsliding to understand where Johnson, Truss, and Sunak are taking us – and how low we’ve already sunk. Researchers at University College London have identified the following critical elements of backsliding:

1. Breakdown in the norms and standards of political behaviour
   
2. Disempowerment of the legislature, the courts, and independent regulators
   
3. The reduction of civil liberties and press freedoms; and/or
   
4. Harm to the integrity of the electoral system 

On the first element, it’d be nearly impossible to deny that norms and standards in UK politics have become warped beyond recognition, largely thanks to Boris Johnson.

The sheer quantity of Johnson’s absurd lies to the public. The blatant PPE contract corruption. The unlawful attempt to prorogue Parliament. The repeated partying throughout the pandemic. Truss’ appointment of Mark Fullbrook as chief of staff. Rishi Sunak’s refusal to sack Suella Braverman amid egregious security violations. Take your pick.

But norms have also been eroded at a deeper level. The government now appears comfortable with breaking international law whenever it suits their needs.

The Internal Markets Bill (2020), the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill (2022), the planned Bill of Rights Bill, and the plans to offshore asylum seekers to Rwanda all undermine the UK’s long-held reputation for upholding international agreements on human rights and trade agreements (many of which UK ministers and officials helped to draft). Our government is clearly quite comfortable ignoring its citizens and the international community. It’s safe to say that the first box on that list is checked.

On the second element, backsliding may not be as apparent, but close inspection reveals some seriously concerning changes here too.

The government has attracted robust criticism from the Hansard Society for rushing bills through Parliament and abusing the ‘statutory instruments’ mechanism to limit Parliament’s ability to scrutinise bills properly.

They have also drawn widespread criticism for taking steps that inevitably undermined the powers and independence of the Electoral Commission. Boris Johnson removed the Commission’s powers to prosecute and attempted to give a (then) Tory-dominated committee control over its operations, and a number of Conservative MPs even called for its abolition.

It’s not just the Electoral Commission either. Former Commissioner for Public Appointments Peter Riddell also accused the government of “packing” appointment panels to blatantly place political allies in the House of Lords.

On the third element, we’ve also seen that this government is willing to toss aside fundamental rights and freedoms when they become politically inconvenient. The Policing Act (2022) was a significant affront to our right to protest, including giving police the right to shut down “noisy” protests.

That is now followed by the Public Order Bill (2023), currently in the Lords, which seeks to expand these measures further, giving police the right to pre-emptively crackdown on protests before they happen and keep registers of known activists based on facial recognition data. If that’s not an infringement of civil liberties, then nothing is.

And let’s not forget Dominic Raab’s grubby plans to overturn the Human Rights Act. 

We’ve also recently seen the press and the labour movement under fire from the government. Several journalists were arrested while covering climate protests last November, despite showing valid press IDs. And the government’s plans to privatise Channel 4 last year – finally abandoned under public pressure this January – and their continued hostility towards the BBC betray an instinct for threatening vital public news services when they are perceived to be getting in the way.

The Sunak government’s latest priority is to crack down on the right to strike by introducing government-set minimum service standards, once again choosing authoritarian mandates over dialogue or compromise. It’s hard to deny backsliding is also occurring in this area.

On the final element, it has been clear for some time that the integrity of the voting system used for general elections is in jeopardy. The Elections Act (2022) now requires voters to show ID at polling stations, something that creates a barrier to legitimate electors being able to exercise their democratic right to vote. Worse, the government’s choice of valid ID seems to disadvantage people from demographics less likely to vote Conservative. That bill also mandated the use of FPTP for Mayoral and Police Commissioner elections, entrenching a broken system that does not accurately reflect the true will of the electorate. 

It’s clear that the UK is indeed in a phase of democratic backsliding. But that doesn’t mean we have to continue on this path. 

As we move forward in 2023, OB will continue to work, alone and with partners who share our ambitions and values, to ensure UK democracy is striding forwards, not sliding backwards.

The Open Britain team

P.S. We and a number of partners in the democracy sector are working to put pressure on Labour to commit to making the changes we need to renew our political system. You can help right now by signing our joint petition here to get Keir Starmer to support proportional representation.‘

Add to this the secret courts that Dodgy Dave Cameron pushed through, in which you can be tried in secret, without you or your defence knowing the identity of your accusers and evidence withheld from you if the authorities deem it necessary for reasons of national security, and we really are heading towards what some commenters call ‘a democratic deficit’.

I didn’t realise this, but the tribune was the Roman magistrate charged with defending the rights of the plebs and the army. Hence the phrase, ‘a tribune of the people’. The late 18th century French revolutionary communist, Gracchus Babeuf, also recommended a panel of officials charged with making sure local politicos performed their duties. If they didn’t, their constituents had the right of recall and out they would go. I like this idea, and the fact that the Romans knew that you needed officials to protect democratic rights and freedoms shows, in my opinion, just how wise they were. Not wise enough not to be ruled by a bunch of raving psychopaths, but you can’t expect too much from past ages.

Boris claims to be a great admirer of ancient Rome. It’s a pity the tribunes aren’t one of them. Instead from the Tories we get a lot of bluster about democracy and free speech right when they trying to undermine all of it.

Questions for the Mosleyites of Correct, Not Political

They’ve done it again. The man behind the extreme right-wing vlog and group, Correct, Not Political, held another livestream this week. And once again they gave an indication of their true political colours by prefacing it with black and white newsreel footage of Mosley marching with his BUF storm troopers, all to weeping string music, of course. The group go around staging counter-protests against Drag Queen Story Hour, gay pride, environmentalists, pro-immigrant groups, and people they class as ‘socialists and commies’. They were out today at the ‘Solidarity with Postal Workers’ demonstrations, which they declared to be ‘commies’. Now to be fair to them, they aren’t violent and just try to catch their victims out with awkward questions. They are less fascist in that way than antifa and the militant trans rights protesters, who do threaten violence, scream abuse and hurl smoke bombs around as well as making death threats. But I wonder how well they understand or agree with Mosley’s ideology. For example, at one point their main man said he was a ‘free speech absolutist’. In that case, why support a monster like Mosley? He didn’t, and he tells you over and again he didn’t. It’s in his autobiography, My Life, where at one point he says that free speech is worthless if you’re starving on a park bench. If, God help us! – Mosley had actually got into power and become dictator, the only free speech he would have permitted is the freedom to agree wholeheartedly with whatever nonsense he was spouting that day. If you watch the Channel 4 series about him, there’s one scene at a political meeting where Mosley is expounding his fascist views. And the other politicians condemn it as an attack on traditional British liberties. He denies this, and says it is just marshalling all the forces of the state. But his opponents knew far better.

I also have doubts about their education and intellect. In one of their videos, they urge people to boycott Selfridges, Bella Freud and other stores, whose goods are well out of the price range of ordinary people. Their reason for doing so is because they’re selling branded goods supporting Allen Ginsburg. Ginsburg was a beat poet, and a friend of William S. Burroughs of Naked Lunch infamy and Jack Kerouac, the author of On The Road, a classic of mid-20th century American literature. Except their guy couldn’t pronounce ‘Kerouac’. He got as far as ‘Ker-, Kerw-‘, before giving up. In fact their attack on Ginsburg is actually quite reasonable. They didn’t like him anyway, ’cause he was a Commie, who kept getting thrown out of Communist countries for supporting gay rights. But he was also a paedophile, and the play a recording of him talking about his attitude to people enquiring about NAMBLA, the main American paedophile organisation. Ginsburg didn’t want members to reply, in case it was an attempt to entrap them. If that’s true, then Ginsburg isn’t someone to be celebrated. But I also wondered if lurking behind this boycott there wasn’t a bit of anti-Semitism as well. I don’t know, perhaps there isn’t, but it’s too much like the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses.

But back to Mosley. Fascism is a weird mixture of the radical left and capitalist, pro-private enterprise right. Mussolini believed, if the opportunist believed anything, that Italy should be governed as a corporate state. Industry was to be organised into corporations, in this case the successors to the medieval guilds, in which trade unions, management and proprietors represented their industries in a ‘council of fasces and corporations’ which replaced parliament. Mosley initially believed the same, before he rejected it as ‘too bureaucratic’. Under him, the House of Lords would be abolished and replaced with a similar industrial chamber. It’s an interesting idea, but if it was like Mussolini’s Italy, it wouldn’t have done anything except cheered and clapped Mosley and automatically pass every piece of legislation he proposed. But it’s a good question to ask Correct, Not Political. Would they want to replace the House of Lords with a similar industrial chamber following the theories of the corporate state. My guess is that they’d be horrified by the idea, because trade unions = commies. When one of the rival fascist groups wanted to ally themselves with Mosley, he asked them what their views on the corporate state were. They immediately denounced it as Communism. At which Mosley left them. My guess is Correct, Not Political have the same views.

Ditto Mosley’s views on Europe. After the War he turned up, promoting ‘national syndicalism’, his term for his version of the corporate state and calling for the formation of a united Europe, again along fascist lines, against the Communist threat. I think he later claimed to be a pioneer of the idea of the EU, which I’ve no doubt would have horrified the real founders. So, are Correct, Not Political also for the idea of a united Europe against the threat of plutocratic capitalism and Communism? As I’m sure they’re all Brexiteers of the racist stripe, that’s probably another one which would cause them difficulties.

I may well be misjudging them. Perhaps they do have a strong grasp of Mosley’s ideas, and could provide well-informed answers to those awkward questions. But perhaps not.

38 Degrees Petition against MPs Attending Parliament While Being Investigated for Sexual Misconduct

I got this email from the internet petitioning organisation 38 Degrees yesterday, and I have absolutely no qualms against signing it whatsoever, because there have been scandals involving MPs sexually assaulting their staff that have caused real outrage already. And I’m really shocked by the claim that 50 MPs are being investigated for such crimes. If you feel the same way, please feel free to sign as well.

‘Dear David,

Did you know that right now MPs who are under investigation for sexual assault by the police cannot be banned from Parliament and can only be asked not to attend? [1] It’s shocking, but it could be about to change.

Because earlier this week, a group of influential MPs in Westminster met to discuss the possibility of MPs being banned from Parliament if they are accused of sexual misconduct. [2] Earlier this year it was revealed more than 50 MPs were being investigated for such behaviour, so this change can’t come soon enough. [3]

The panel is debating this right now, but they could get pushback from some of their fellow MPs, and that’s where we come in. Together we need to show that the public would be in favour of this move – and any other actions they can take to clean up Westminster’s toxic culture and make sure the Houses of Parliament is a safer place to work.

So David, will you sign the petition today which will show those in charge that the public would back a move to ban MPs under investigation for bad behaviour? It takes 30 seconds to sign:

SIGN THE PETITION

NO, I DISAGREE

Earlier this year, an MP who was arrested on suspicion of rape was simply asked to “please stay away”. [4] And MP Ahmed Khan said he’d steer clear of Parliament while under investigation, but kept coming in anyway until finally resigning after being found guilty of sexual assault. [5]

After the party gate scandal, the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson promised to change the culture within Downing Street but it’s clear that the Houses of Commons needs cleaning up too. [6] That’s why, over the summer, more than 78,000 38 Degrees supporters signed a petition and came together demanding change. [7]

One of our demands was to enforce a ban on MPs coming to Parliament when under investigation. It sounds like those in charge are considering this change – so now it’s time we pile the pressure on again.
Will you sign the petition to help them make the right decision?It takes 30 seconds to add your name:

SIGN THE PETITION

NO, I DISAGREE

Thanks for being involved,

David, Megan and the 38 Degrees team

NOTES:
[1] BBC News: Conservative MP arrested on suspicion of rape
[2] The Guardian: MPs facing sexual assault claims could be banned from parliament
[3] The Mirror: Three cabinet and two shadow ministers facing allegations of sexual misconduct
[5] See note 1.
[6] BBC News: Imran Ahmad Khan: Sex assault conviction MP resigns
[7] BBC News: Boris Johnson will address No 10 ‘party culture’, says Tory chief
[8] 38 Degrees: Clean up the toxic culture of harassment in Westminster‘

38 Degrees Petition against MPs Taking Second Jobs or Going on Holiday While Parliament is in Session

I also had an email about this petition from 38 Degrees come through on Friday. Launched by John Clutterbuck, a 38 Degrees member, it requires MPs to view their parliamentary role as a full-time job. This is another petition I’ve had absolutely no problem signing, because this is how it should be. In the 19th and early 20th centuries there was indeed a strong feeling against MPs having careers outside parliament because of the danger of commercial corruption. But after MPs started being sponsored by the unions as part of the Labour movement, the right argued that there should be no obstacles to figures from industry sitting in parliament. And so we have the wretched situation today where something like 77 per cent of the MPs during Cameron’s squalid tenure of No. 10 were millionaires and directors of companies. It was the same over the other side of the Pond, where a Republican businessman got so fed up with this that he launched a campaign for congressmen and women to wear patches indicating which companies had sponsored their campaigns to show who they were really representing.

Get business out of parliament, and clean politics in!

I’ve therefore signed the petition, and if you feel the same way, please do so as well.

‘Dear David,

How do you feel about MP’s taking on second jobs or going on their holiday when they should be working in the Houses of Parliament?

John, a 38 Degrees supporter, thinks that being an MP is a full time job and taking on other roles or going on holiday outside of parliamentary recess can’t be good for constituents. [1]

While some MPs work second jobs in the NHS, others choose to appear on TV shows, work advising private health companies, or take holidays while they should be in parliament. [2]

John believes these types of jobs should not be allowed. He also thinks that, as with teachers, if you choose to go into politics you should accept that means your holidays have to be taken at a certain time in the year. That’s why he’s started a petition calling for the role of an MP to be considered a full time job, with stricter rules around taking second jobs or going on holiday.

David, do you agree with John? If so, use the button below to sign his petition today calling on a ban on second jobs and holidays outside of recess. It takes 30 seconds to sign:

‘Campaign created by john clutterbuck

Sign the petition

To: The Commons Standards Committee

What: MPs should not be allowed to take holiday while Parliament is sitting or take second jobs while they are a Member of Parliament. Being an elected MP is – or should be – a full time job.

Why is this important: Being an MP is a full time job. It is not something that should be done with half measures.

Right now during a cost of living crisis and government unrest, it is of extreme importance that all MPs serve their constituencies the best they can. Taking on second jobs or going on holidays outside of parliamentary recess can simply not be better for the good of constituents and the UK as a whole.

When someone decides to become a teacher, they do so knowing it means they will be limited on when they can go on holiday. If you choose to run for Parliament it should be with the same understanding.

Read more…

Sign the petition

hanks for being involved,

David, Megan, Robin and the 38 Degrees team

PS: John Clutterbuck started their petition on the 38 Degrees website.

With 38 Degrees anyone can start their own campaign with the click of a button. But that’s just where your journey begins. Creating a petition, then sharing it with friends and colleagues, can soon give you a groundswell of support. Perhaps you’ll end up changing something really important.

Use this link to get your campaign started today, it takes just a couple of minutes and we’ll support you every step of the way: https://link.38degrees.org.uk/start-campaign

NOTES:
[1] 38 Degrees: Make being a Member of Parliament a full time job
[2] The Week: The MPs earning the most from second jobs
Sky News: Matt Hancock to enter I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! jungle following Olivia Attwood’s shock
departure
Guardian: Boris Johnson is back … from his three post-resignation holidays