Guidance in writing a letter to your local MP
The most effective letters are personal ones and even better
where you may have an existing relationship with your local MP. That’s the
reason why our Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) came up with the ‘Meet your MP’
initiative. http://www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/issues/politics-and-elections/meetyourmp/
If you have an existing contact with
your MP, you may want to reference that.
It is very easy for the recipient to spot where a letter has
simply been cut and pasted as part of a chain and so they will be less likely
to spend time engaging with the contents. However, it can also be a challenge
to pen something from scratch, so the example letter below is intended to help
you. The format is written as though it was from a local church, but you may
wish to write as an individual and the more you can personalise the content,
the more likely it is for the letter to be afforded greater attention.
So far, 76 MP’s have signed the Early Day Motion, which the
resolution from the URC Mission Committee strongly endorses. You can find if
your own MP is a signatory by clicking on this link: https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/56954/proposed-israeli-annexation-of-part-of-the-west-bank
Example letter to local MP
Dear
In these difficult times of Coronavirus, we bring you
greetings and prayers. These are challenging times for those of you in
political leadership and our thoughts are with you.
One of the problems of the COVID-19 pandemic is that other
important issues can slip from the headlines. The purpose of this letter is to
address one such serious concern. Currently, The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu is negotiating alliances, preparing and gathering momentum towards
implementing a plan to annex large parts of the West Bank. Capitalising on
support from President Trump, Mr Netanyahu wants to implement this action,
possibly as early as July.
At the end of last year, a group of 22 people representing
the 1,500 churches of the United Reformed Church in England, Scotland and Wales
undertook an educational visit to Israel and Palestine. During the visit,
members of the URC party were able to speak with many indigenous Christians,
tour Christian Aid and Commitment for Life partnership projects and witness at
first hand the everyday lived experiences of people in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories. The narrative was one of inadequate water supply, intermittent
provision of electricity, economic deprivation, unequal access to health care
and severe restrictions on freedom of movement. These observations are not to depict
a conflict between faiths, but to highlight an outcry against the
disproportionate actions of the Israeli Government.
The proposed annexation will only serve to increase the
suffering of the Palestinian people. In the words of Archbishop Suheil Dawani (who
met with the URC party last year at St George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem) and his
fellow church leaders, ‘it would bring about the loss of any remaining hope for
the success of the peace process’. It is for this reason that the United
Reformed Church strongly endorse the Early Day Motion (#464) tabled on 11 May
2020, which is supported by MP’s of all political parties. Indeed, it was sponsored
by the former Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Crispin Blunt and
his colleague Andrew Selous (Conservative); Andy Slaughter (Labour); Layla
Moran (Liberal Democrat); Dr Philippa Whitford and Tommy Sheppard (SNP).
As our local MP, we would therefore encourage you to sign
this Early Day Motion. Your support will help to counter a deep injustice.
Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.
Yours sincerely…
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