Steve,

If you were a bird watcher and the lesser spotted sparkly flit was in danger of disappearing from your back garden due to the likely imposition of a lawn seed tax you probably wouldn't hesitate to contact your MP. So why not? Go for it.

The fact of the matter is that whether your MP is directly connected or not, James Plaskitt is the only mechanism you have outside of corporate bodies like the RYA of making your feelings known. Other interest groups seem very good at this; on boating we tend, individually, to be fairly apathetic as a breed (outside of these forums at least).

Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh but in approaching two decades of working on boating publications have always noticed a 'can't you do something?' stance. Okay, so mags should campaign on important issues - absolutely. But perhaps the time has come for individuals to exert some pressure too.

While you are at it, if you feel so inclined, why not let us know what happened on here? Other users might report back on their MPs too -- could be quite interesting!

Edited by kimhollamby on 10/03/2004 09:15 (server time).