How you can help win our country back
1)
Sign up for mass lobby of Parliament
The
EU Constitution will come before Parliament
early in the New Year. While the timings are not yet fixed,
the major
debate is expected to take place in either late January or early
February.
In
order to demonstrate to MPs the level of
support that there is for a referendum we want to encourage as many
people as
possible to come to Westminster at a crucial point in the debate to
meet their
MP in person and explain to them why it is so essential that we have a
referendum.
Past
experience has shown that a mass lobby is
one of the most effective ways of getting a message across to MPs.
How
you can help
If
you are able to come down to Westminster on a
week day, in either January or February 2008, to tell your MP in person
why
they should vote for a referendum, please email
lobby@iwantareferendum.com to
register for the event. The precise date will be announced
nearer the
time.
2)
Momentum building in parish referendum
movement
Parishes
may hold consultative votes on any
issue, including that of the revised EU Constitution. They
are an
excellent way of spreading awareness, and demonstrating to the
Government the
level of popular concern over its refusal to hold a national referendum.
So
far, around 18 parishes have organised votes
on the issue of a referendum on the revised EU Constitution, including
Britain's largest village, Brougton Astley in Leicestershire. In all
cases,
electors voted by a landslide for a national vote on the treaty. Parish
referendums are due to be held shortly in Crigglestone (Yorkshire),
Northallerton (Yorkshire) and Cranbrook (Kent).
How
you can help
If
you have organised a parish referendum or are
considering doing so, please get in touch with I Want a Referendum on
020 7197
2333. We can provide free pamphlets for distribution in order to build
local
awareness, with a view to boosting voter turnout. We can also
provide
advice and information on organising parish referendums.
For
more information, click on the link below:
www.iwantareferendum.com
The
Crigglestone referendum will take place on
20 December, 4-9 pm. If you live in the area, and are available to help
-
through helping to distribute leaflets, or knocking on doors - please
get in
touch with Alex Story, the referendum organiser, on alexstory@hotmail.com,
or by phoning 07712
885 902. Post referendum refreshments will be provided!
3)
Help build up support for the campaign
Over
30,000 people have now signed up to support
our fast growing campaign for a referendum and we have received
significant
media coverage. While this has been a fantastic response so
far, we
urgently need to build up our list of supporters if we are going to
generate
enough momentum to persuade the Government to change its mind and give
us a
referendum. The Constitution is due to go
before
Parliament early next year and the Government aims to ratify
it by May; we
do not have much time.
How
you can help
If
you haven't already done so, please encourage
your friends, family and colleagues to support our important campaign.
Our quick and easy to use send to a friend page allows you to
email up to
10 friends to tell them about our website and is a great way of
increasing
awareness about the campaign.
http://sendtofriend.iwantarefer
4)
Write to your MP
The
more pressure that anti-referendum MPs can
be put under in the run-up to the parliamentary debate, the more likely
it is
that they will listen to the majority of their constituents who want to
have a
say on the revived EU Constitution.
Over
the coming months we will be working
closely with the Democracy Movement to put pressure on MPs in marginal
constituencies who want to go back on their promise to vote for a
referendum on
the EU Constitution. While still in its early stages, this
process has
been helped hugely by the hundreds of you who have already sent in
responses
from your MPs.
How
you can help
Many
thanks to all of you who have already
written to your MPs, and for passing on their replies to us. For those
who
haven't yet done so, please do write to your MP asking them whether or
not they
are in favour of a referendum, explaining why you think they should be.
The
more people who write, the more MPs will feel inclined to pressure the
Government into holding a referendum.
To
make your life easier we've come up with some
suggestions for your letter and how you can quickly send an email to
your MP:
Read
more about sending a letter to your MP:
http://www.iwantareferendum
Please
email any responses you receive to
susannah@iwantareferendum.com or post them to I Want a Referendum, 7
Tufton
Street, London, SW1P 3QN.
Thanks
again for your support. We cannot win
without it.