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Post by kris on Jul 26, 2017 11:03:28 GMT
Below is a rough draft of a letter I intend to send to every mp and member of parliament. Whilst I am under no misapprehension as to its effectiveness, I would suggest anybody who is concerned does something similar. Oh ps where do I find the mp's mailing list? Dear sirs,Madame I find my self writing to you out of concern for the future of the inland waterways. I have to admit to having a vested interest in the waterways as I live on and am in the process of restoring an old ex-working barge. But I feel that I talk to you as a tax payer and voting member of the public. I find it incredible that in everything but name the waterways ( a public asset.)Have been privatised. In that they are in the sole control of a public ltd company, albeit with some charitable aims so registered with the charity's commission. i also wonder if you are aware of the surprising lack of political oversight to the actions of the canal and river trust. Which is what worries me most about the future survival of an already 250year old public asset. The assets of the nation are being sold off at an alarming rate, to satisfy some short term aim. I would sincerely ask that you pay some attention to what is a worrying situation. Regards Kris well ive found the site listing mp's emails, but it's going to be a long job. Is there no way to automate this? Well I need to target whom to communicate with anybody know of interesting mp's or members of the lords with an interest vested or otherwise in the waterways? www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/
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Post by lollygagger on Jul 26, 2017 11:49:16 GMT
I think you're mistaken about lack of political oversight. I think it's all going exactly as intended. Sell everything that can be sold, let it degenerate and then abandon it to volunteers. Politically tricky for a government dept to preside over, better at arms length. I believe CRT are under no illusions, they know they are a temporary empire so no point wasting money on anything but tarting up odd bits for PR.
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Post by kris on Jul 26, 2017 12:05:10 GMT
I think you're mistaken about lack of political oversight. I think it's all going exactly as intended. Sell everything that can be sold, let it degenerate and then abandon it to volunteers. Politically tricky for a government dept to preside over, better at arms length. I believe CRT are under no illusions, they know they are a temporary empire so no point wasting money on anything but tarting up odd bits for PR. Whilst I agree totally with what you say and suppect it is something close to the reality of the situation. I can't help thinking that it's been gone about in an underhand way and there might be a politician or alord who might take umbridge by how there power has been usurped. It's just finding the right ones to talk to. I'm looking through the parliment site looking through waterways related paperwork to see if any names come to light. But I'm open to suggestions from anybody who they could sugest to contact. I can't overstate how effective bombarding the relevant people with emails can be when faced by situations like this.
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Post by naughtyfox on Jul 26, 2017 13:06:30 GMT
The newspapers could be a better bet, but then it's all flash-in-the-pan and short-attention-span. The coal miners had a go and Thatcher crushed them. Maggie's mates who aided and abetted in this are still alive and laughing at how they showed the working classes. Where's that Liverpool woman MP who claimed she was concerned over the losing of lightship Planet? Scuttled back to her bowls club?
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Post by kris on Jul 26, 2017 13:19:47 GMT
The newspapers could be a better bet, but then it's all flash-in-the-pan and short-attention-span. The coal miners had a go and Thatcher crushed them. Maggie's mates who aided and abetted in this are still alive and laughing at how they showed the working classes. Where's that Liverpool woman MP who claimed she was concerned over the losing of lightship Planet? Scuttled back to her bowls club? Are there any national journalists who have shown an interest in carts escapades. Names and emails would be appreciated.
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Post by lollygagger on Jul 26, 2017 13:39:10 GMT
Your average tax payer won't have any interest while under the cosh of cuts, cuts, cuts and terrorism. HS2 waste doesn't even interest most other than grumbling and protest is illegal without permission! Look at the way millions protested against the forthcoming Iraq invasion, they were simply ignored. If it was caravan and motorhome use under threat maybe a ground swell of disgruntled users would rise up, but they'd still be slapped down or ignored or given a temporary concession.
Canal and river boat owners are a tiny minority and their general election votes spread so wide they don't make any difference. Any MP supporting would probably loose votes as a consequence due to being side tracked from local issues to support a rich man's play thing.
So, you need a Tory MP in a safe constituency with a narrowboat who isn't a member of the IWA and likes attacking the judiciary. Is there such a beast?
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Post by peterboat on Jul 26, 2017 13:52:19 GMT
Only 30k of us or so and in effect billions spent on us might have to be careful about rocking the boat the savings from filling in the canals and selling the land for building "affordable housing" is huge and would go down well with the majority of the population! This is me playing the devils advocate but it came to me after our chat the other week
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Post by kris on Jul 26, 2017 14:13:39 GMT
Canal and river boat owners are a tiny minority and their general election votes spread so wide they don't make any difference. Any MP supporting would probably loose votes as a consequence due to being side tracked from local issues to support a rich man's play thing. So, you need a Tory MP in a safe constituency with a narrowboat who isn't a member of the IWA and likes attacking the judiciary. Is there such a beast? I understand your general pessimism as regards the general public. But you have to remember I was employed by crt to stand on the towpaths and talk to people, so I am aware of how much interest there is in the waterways. There has been a drastic increase in usage by groups other than boaters and some of them have a genuine interest in the survival of the waterways. Okay it's always going to be a relatively small percentage of the overall population. But never the less if cyclists and runners and other "friends" start to question crt on their activities then the elected representatives might take notice. For all the good it will do I'm starting with list of people on the committee for transfer of functions.
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Post by kris on Jul 26, 2017 14:17:06 GMT
Only 30k of us or so and in effect billions spent on us might have to be careful about rocking the boat the savings from filling in the canals and selling the land for building "affordable housing" is huge and would go down well with the majority of the population! This is me playing the devils advocate but it came to me after our chat the other week I understand the sentiment Peter, but look at the alternative. Stand around and do nothing while the waterways are sold out from underus. crt have already made it very clear about the direction they want the waterways to go. I for one don't agree with it.
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Post by kris on Jul 26, 2017 14:19:41 GMT
Anyway I'm going to see about this lot for a start. consisted of the following Members:
Chair: Nadine Dorries
† Adams, Nigel (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)
† Bell, Sir Stuart (Middlesbrough) (Lab)
† Benyon, Richard (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
† Donohoe, Mr Brian H. (Central Ayrshire) (Lab)
† Evans, Jonathan (Cardiff North) (Con)
† Farron, Tim (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
† Field, Mark (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)
† Hames, Duncan (Chippenham) (LD)
† Harris, Mr Tom (Glasgow South) (Lab)
† Jones, Mr Marcus (Nuneaton) (Con)
† Jones, Susan Elan (Clwyd South) (Lab)
† Kawczynski, Daniel (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)
† McPartland, Stephen (Stevenage) (Con)
Mactaggart, Fiona (Slough) (Lab)
Mitchell, Austin (Great Grimsby) (Lab)
† Murphy, Paul (Torfaen) (Lab)
Paisley, Ian (North Antrim) (DUP)
† Watkinson, Angela (Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury)
Lloyd Owen, Committee Clerk
† attended the Committee
The following also attended, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(2):
Baldry, Sir Tony (Banbury) (Con)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2017 14:25:54 GMT
Jane and I became Friends of C&RT, when I cancelled my subscriptions to IWA and NABO.
I was assured all Friends donations went exclusively to maintenance costs.
The canal system is my home, and I wanted to make an additional contribution to it's maintenance. As weak as this idea is, it seemed to me to be a positive step.
Collectively the Friends of C&RT donations, could amount to a sizeable sum, and at that time the collective Friends, would be in a position to perhaps apply meaningful pressure.
I believe that C&RT would be more likely to listen to a large body of sponsers, in the same way the RSPB and National Trust have significantly altered their policies following protest from their members.
If all those who can afford a small monthly donation did so, it may prove more meaningful than protest letters which will be dealt with by office staff of MPs.
Just saying.
Rog
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2017 14:40:52 GMT
I recently sent an email to Chris Grayling MP to protest at the absurdity of HS2 and received the following automated reply.... Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP
Member of Parliament for Epsom and Ewell
Secretary of State for Transport
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
0207 219 8194 Thank you very much for your recent email. Please excuse this automatic response, but I wanted to let you know that it has been received and will be acted upon as appropriate. Please note that there is a strict Parliamentary convention that MPs can only deal with matters raised by their own constituents or businesses in the constituency. If you are an Epsom and Ewell Constituent, including Epsom, Ewell, Stoneleigh, Worcester Park, Ashtead, Nork and Tattenhams, please ensure that you have provided the following information: · full name · postal address · if you need me to follow up a constituency case, it's also useful to have a contact telephone number. But not otherwise. I am unable to deal with your case without this information. If you have been in contact with me previously and I already have your details on file, though, we will not need this information again. I receive a large number of emails, letters and phone calls each day, and I or someone from my office will try to reply as soon as possible. Because of the large volumes of messages I receive and because I try to read all of them personally, it often takes a few days before you can expect a response. If you would like to book a place at one of my regular surgeries, please telephone 01372 271036 I send regular local updates and other information by email to all of my constituency email contacts. If you would prefer NOT to receive these messages then please reply by email to let me know, and I will ensure that your name is not put on my list. Please note that this email address is only used for my constituents and for constituency matters. If you are contacting me concerning my role as Secretary of State for Transport, please resend your email to my office in the DfT, at pocorrespondence@dft.gsi.gov.uk. If it relates to a particular personal issue, I would advise you to bring it to the attention of your local MP. If it is to make a policy or other suggestion, your message will be read carefully by Ministers or officials as appropriate. Thank you for taking the time to contact me. Chris Grayling MP UK Parliament Disclaimer: This e-mail is confidential to the intended recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and should not be used for sensitive data. As I don't live in his constituency this seems deeply unsatisfactory if not undemocratic!
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Post by lollygagger on Jul 26, 2017 14:48:56 GMT
Canal and river boat owners are a tiny minority and their general election votes spread so wide they don't make any difference. Any MP supporting would probably loose votes as a consequence due to being side tracked from local issues to support a rich man's play thing. So, you need a Tory MP in a safe constituency with a narrowboat who isn't a member of the IWA and likes attacking the judiciary. Is there such a beast? I understand your general pessimism as regards the general public. But you have to remember I was employed by crt to stand on the towpaths and talk to people, so I am aware of how much interest there is in the waterways. There has been a drastic increase in usage by groups other than boaters and some of them have a genuine interest in the survival of the waterways. Okay it's always going to be a relatively small percentage of the overall population. But never the less if cyclists and runners and other "friends" start to question crt on their activities then the elected representatives might take notice. For all the good it will do I'm starting with list of people on the committee for transfer of functions. The most depressing thing about my cynicism is that it's never as cynical as reality. In Leigh's case, do these runners and cyclists care what happens to some mouthy establishment fighter who'd clearly fight any establishment/authority just for the hell of it? Reading the judgement he clearly thinks if he avoids looking at paperwork it means it doesn't count. A lot of people would probably think he's a deluded nutter. Do they care if a bloke who doesn't pay his mooring fees gets his lightship nicked? I doubt it. Whether either was technically in the right while the shit was hitting the fan to the man in the street is irrelevant. There's a lot of public feeling against people wriggling out of stuff on technicalities and that in the round is how both cases would be seen. Sorry, I'm just trying to inject some realism. Personally I have sympathy with both but then I've got a boat, seen the video, read the court transcripts, read thousands of posts, have respect for authority fighters... Before I decided to buy a boat I had zero interest in canals. Now I happily though technically illegally live on one on a leisure mooring I'm obviously interested, but inclined to keep my head down. I'm baffled as to where and useful size of support will come from. Even if every boat headed down to clog London and make a show of protest they'd be seen by news item makers and viewers as enjoying a day out and having a little moan as an excuse for it. Other opinions on human nature are available but I've been here before with peace convoy, squatting, illegal raves... It's always ensured that the people making the headlines are difficult for the average law abiding man on the street to sympathise with. Leigh and the lightship owner have been picked on for that reason among others. The establishment knows it's a game and knows how to win, they hold all the aces.
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Post by kris on Jul 26, 2017 14:55:52 GMT
Jane and I became Friends of C&RT, when I cancelled my subscriptions to IWA and NABO. I was assured all Friends donations went exclusively to maintenance costs. The canal system is my home, and I wanted to make an additional contribution to it's maintenance. As weak as this idea is, it seemed to me to be a positive step. Collectively the Friends of C&RT donations, could amount to a sizeable sum, and at that time the collective Friends, would be in a position to perhaps apply meaningful pressure. I believe that C&RT would be more likely to listen to a large body of sponsers, in the same way the RSPB and National Trust have significantly altered their policies following protest from their members. If all those who can afford a small monthly donation did so, it may prove more meaningful than protest letters which will be dealt with by office staff of MPs. Just saying. Rog I worked for the friends scheme for quite a few years, as a good fund raiser I made crt money and people I signed up are still giving money. But the friends scheme overall hasn't made a "profit" because of managment costs. Some money from it has gone towards good schemes but "all" ? i started just after the trust was formed to give them a chance, I thought there where going to be some positive changes. You can imagine how upset I am to find out it's more of the same but full steam ahead as far a cart are concerned,in fact a lot of the red tape about selling assets is removed from them now they are not a government body. One of the reasons I could work for the " friends" scheme is because I thought the more people with a vested interest in the waterways the better. Which is something I still think is true.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2017 15:01:52 GMT
I know last year, I and many hundreds of other members, protested to the RSPB about an issue relating to them selling land which had been donated in a will.
The fear that they may unexpectedly lose a traunch of funds from disaffected members certainly galvanised them into action.
My hope (dream?) would be that one day Friends would wield similar clout.
Rog
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