Use email and fax and plain old post. You might even try to use two or three of these methods at the same time. E.g. send a fax of the letter you are sending by post.

Airmail from Australia costs $1.65. A one page fax from a private fax machine costs about 50c to UK. An email costs hardly anything. You have to weigh up whether the communication is getting through or being ignored. Some letters are intercepted by "minders", particularly those sent to current ministers. But that does not matter, so long as the minder replies.

Actually it does not matter if nobody replies, so long as they receive the mail. So don't be discouraged if your efforts do not seem to be rewarded with a reply. It is more important that they see your mail than that you see their reply."

The constituency office is probably more vulnerable than the office at the House, so consider whether to send your mail there instead of the House. Be aware that if you send a letter to the constituency office of a Minister, it is likely to be forwarded to his "minder" for attention, particularly if it is on a matter within his own portfolio.

Our prime targets at this time are the Tory front bench, particularly those ghosting Treasury and Pensions. For some ideas on what to say, see specimen letters and change them to suit your style and the target audience. Alternatively you can find useful material in Frozen Pension Myths. Just use one or more of the "myths" and express it in your own words.

If you are not sure which myth to use

Pick an MP whose constituency is nearest to your old one, or whose name is closest to your own, or one whose name has featured in recent news items. Or you can throw a dice. 1 indicates pick MP number 1 from the list below. If the number you throw is greater than 4, throw again.

Letters to Ministers will be handled by minders, but that gives us the chance to deal with the current crop of "myths", as we like to call the government excuses.

Please will you send a copy of all replies to me

I prefer to get your material by email, but you can't do that with incoming letters unless you have a scanner. But fax it or post it, and I will scan it if need be. Many newsagents have a public fax facility.

The fax is unattended, so no voice will reply. If the line is engaged, it is because I am on the Internet.

There is an answering service on the voice line.

Here are some details to be going on with:

Work & Pensions - Tories
Shadow Secretary of State  David Willetts MP
Shadow Minister for Work & Pensions  Oliver Heald MP
Shadow Ministers   Julian Brazier MP
  Mrs Angela Watkinson MP
  Rt Hon Lord Higgins
   Baroness Noakes
   Lord Rotherwick
 

To send email, just click on the email address. This will call your email program and set up a blank form ready for you to compose your message.

(1) David Willetts

http://www.davidwilletts.org.uk/

House of Commons Fax number: 020 7219 2567
Email: Wllettsd@parliament.uk

Havant Address
19 South Street
Havant
Hampshire PO9 1BU

Havant Telephone: 023 9249 9746
Havant Fax: 023 9249 8753

Email: Willetts_David@hotmail.com

London Address
House Of Commons London SW1A 0AA

(2) Oliver Heald

House of Commons: healdo@parliament.uk

Telephone numbers:
House of Commons Phone number: 020 7219 4505
House of Commons Fax number: 020 7219 4478

Addresses:

Constituency
75 Station Rd
Letchworth
Herts SG6 3BJ
Constituency Phone number: 01462 684348
Constituency Fax number: 01462 480036

(3) Julian Brazier

House of Commons: no e-mail

Telephone numbers:

House of Commons Phone number: 020 7219 5178
House of Commons Fax number: 0207 219 0643


Constituency
c/o 9 Hawks Lane
Canterbury
Kent CT1 2NU
Constituency Phone number: 01227 765 332
Constituency Fax number: 01227 785 117

(4) Angela Watkinson
Email address:
House of Commons: watkinsona@parliament.uk

Telephone numbers:
House of Commons Phone number: 0207 219 8267

Constituency
23 Butts Green Road
Hornchurch
Essex
RM11 2JS

Constituency Phone number: 01708 475 252
Constituency Fax number: 01708 470 495

The current Shadow Cabinet was appointed in mid-2002, and although there have been a few minor resignations, is broadly the same now - see -

http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/opp.htm

But you should not limit your lobbying to the Tories - discontented Labour backbenchers and LibDems could I am sure be brought into the fold.

This link will give you the names of Labour members

http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/hmg.cfm

You can find MPs addresses by looking at:

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/aristotle/

or else

http://www.epolitix.com/

and follow the "Webminster" link.

If you are faxing, omit the first 0 in the fax number, and instead use the international access number:

0011 44

So 0123 4567 89

would become 0011 44 123 4567 89

 

Other Suggestions on what you can do

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