Dear All,
Today’s the day. In just a few hours, MPs have their first chance to vote for or against the government’s plans to privatise our public forests.
That this vote is even happening is thanks to all we’ve done together. Our petition – referred to by name in the motion in Parliament – is over 400,000 people strong and rising. Local Save Our Forests groups are springing up all over the country. Nearly 70,000 of us have emailed our MPs.
Thousands of us have chipped in to get people-powered ads in today’s national newspapers. When MPs check the papers this morning, they will see our campaign, and the number of signatures on our petition, splashed across the Independent, Times, Daily Mail, and the Daily Mirror [1].
But we’re not done yet. Let’s make sure that as MPs go to vote, our voices are ringing in their ears.
MPs will be able to check how many of us have signed the petition during the debate on their phones! So let’s make sure the numbers on the petition continue to climb as the vote gets underway.
Click here to add your name: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/save-our-forests
Today’s vote isn’t the end of the campaign – whatever the outcome. But it will be the end of the beginning. Next time MPs vote on this issue, it could be a make-or-break vote to pave the way for privatisation. The more MPs we convince this time round, the more chance we have of stopping those votes ever happening and stopping the sell-off.
David Cameron, Nick Clegg and government officials will be using all the arm-twisting tricks they know to get MPs into line. They want to avoid the embarrassment of losing a vote, even when they are already losing the argument. But together we can make sure MPs are feeling the pressure from us. Let’s make sure MPs realise, if they support selling off our forests, they will have to answer to their local voters.
Please take a moment to sign the petition now: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/save-our-forests
Thanks for getting involved,
David, Hannah, Johnny and the 38 Degrees team
PS Word of mouth works! Share the campaign on Facebook, Twitter and email at this exciting time.
NOTES
[1] You can see the ad on the blog or on page 18 of The Independent, page 24 of The Daily Mail, page 18 of The Mirror or Page 28 of The Times
