The “Murdoch Inquiry Now” petition is growing fast – already nearly 30,000 of us have signed. And we’ve just seen the strongest sign yet that we’re having an impact.

38 Degrees members paid for these adverts for our succesful campaign against BBC cuts. What eye-catching ad ideas do you have for our campaign against the BSkyB takeover?

A few weeks ago, Rupert Murdoch was going full steam ahead with his plan to take 100% control of BSkyB. He’d gone public with the plans and he had the backing of BSkyB top brass. But it’s just emerged that he’s delayed making the next step.

For the deal to go ahead he needs to submit his plans to the European Commission. Last week there were rumours that Murdoch hadn’t done this. We’ve just had that confirmed – Murdoch’s delayed submitting his takeover plans to Brussels.

There’s been no public explanation. Only Murdoch himself and a few senior executives at News Corp will know exactly what’s going on. But it seems likely that our pressure has had an effect – Rupert Murdoch has decided to bide his time and hope we’ll go away.

He may be taking his time, but Murdoch still wants to extend his control of the UK media and people power is still our best bet for stopping him. We need to seize the opportunity of extra time to get more people involved and hatch even better plans. That way when Murdoch does make his next move, we’ll be ready to move even faster than him.

Now we’ve got more time to deliver the campaign, we’ve got more time to come up with creative ways of getting Vince Cable’s attention. We can work together to come up with the most powerful message possible. Have you got an idea for a powerful advert? A draft design? Another way of getting the campaign message across? Please share your ideas for powerful adverts, and other creative tactics by uploading them as comments to this blog post.

Yesterday, we heard that the policeman caught on film attacking Ian Tomlinson last year won’t face criminal charges.

Paul King, Ian Tomlinson’s stepson, read out a statement yesterday, with Ian’s family around him. King said, ‘he has just admitted on TV that a copper assaulted our dad. But he hasn’t done anything. He’s the man in charge….why hasn’t he charged him?”

We don’t want to let Ian Tomlinson’s death fade into history. Click here add your name, photo or video to our urgent message:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/ian-tomlinson

Ian Tomlinson died just after being attacked by a policeman. He was just walking home from work. At first, the police said they had nothing to do with his death. They claimed protestors had got in the way of giving him medical help. The Guardian then published a video telling a different story. It clearly showed a policeman attacking Ian with a baton.

38 Degrees has been in touch with the Tomlinson family’s solicitors today before launching this petition: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/ian-tomlinson/ We’ll keep on talking to them about how else we can help in the next few days. But right now, let’s send a powerful message – Justice has not been done.

On Friday, Jeremy Hunt announced that he plans to cut the BBC’s licence fee. This new attack comes just a few days we won the campaign we fought together to save 6Music.

The new Culture Minister is keen to make a start on weakning the BBC, however. This weekend, he said he was thinking about plans to cut the license fee. The new government are dipping their toes in the water, to see what sort of reaction they get. They’re under pressure to start weakening the BBC from all sides: media billionaires like Rupert Murdoch can’t wait to see the end of proper public broadcasting in the UK.

Today, there’s been a massive, people-powered response to the Culture Minister’s comments. Thousands of us have already written to our MPs, asking them to contact Jeremy Hunt and stop him going ahead with the plans – click  here to join in. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow #proudoftheBBC trending right now.

With 6 Music, we’ve proved once that when we work together we can defend the BBC from its enemies. Now we need to come together again to make sure this new threat to the BBC doesn’t go ahead.

Rupert Murdoch’s plans to take control of BSkyB and buy out the remaining 61% would be a bad move for the British media. It would give the Murdoch empire had an even greater stranglehold on the UK press and could lead to greater levels of rightwing bias, like Fox News in the USA.

It was with a huge sigh of relief that his first bid was rejected by the board of BSkyB, but it won’t be long before he makes a second offer.

But together, we can help stop Murdoch’s plans from going ahead. Sign the petition to Business Secretary Vince Cable, telling him to make sure the deal is properly investigated before it goes ahead: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/murdoch/

The BBC Trust just announced “initial conclusions” on cuts to BBC services including 6 Music and Asian Network.

The effect of our campaign is obvious. The Trust rejects the plan to close 6 Music, saying “the case has not been made”. It says it will only go ahead with closing Asian Network if it sees plans for “meeting the needs of the station’s audience in different ways”.  [1]

Together we shifted this debate. Back in February, the Murdoch media and their political allies were in all out attack mode. The BBC was under pressure from all angles to cut more, deeper, sooner. We shifted this debate with people power: 44,000 of us signed the 38 Degrees petition to the BBC Trust.

We’ve already achieved a massive amount. But this is no time to stop working together. We’ve shifted the BBC’s plans, but big threats remain.  We’ll need to keep speaking up for listeners, viewers and licence fee payers. We’ll need to be ready to fight back against enemies of public service broadcasting in the UK.

Please help make sure that 38 Degrees can keep standing up for the BBC. Click here to donate:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/bbc-announcement

6 Music may be saved for now but it’s soon likely to face yet another review soon.  We’ve made sure Asian Network can’t be scrapped without a plan for replacing it, but it remains to be seen if those plans are any good at all. And there are still plans for deep cuts in other areas.

The BBC’s enemies may have been a bit quieter recently, but they haven’t gone away. Rupert Murdoch’s media empire hates the BBC. Many in the new government owe Murdoch a favour or two after he backed them in the election. In the coming months he’ll look to cash in those favours by extending his empire, weakening the rules against political bias, and pushing for further cuts to the BBC.

38 Degrees doesn’t take money from big business, political parties or government. We rely on donations to keep standing up to Murdoch and protecting public service broadcasting.  Please click here to donate now:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/bbc-announcement

NOTES
[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/our_work/strategy_review/index.shtml

Ben Wallace MP in parliament: but where was he on the day of the crucial energy bill vote?

38 Degrees member Phil Milston has been in touch to let us know about the bizarre response he got from his MP’s office to one of the campaigns we ran back in February.

About 5,000 of us emailed our MPs to ask them to vote for our amendment to make sure the Energy Bill included an Emissions Performance Standard for new power stations. By setting limits on emissions we wanted to make sure the new generation of ‘cleaner’ coal-fired power stations lived up to their name. Phil was pleased to hear from his MP, Ben Wallace (Conservative), that “I fully agree with your assertion that it is important to include an EPS in the Energy Bill”.

So when our amendment was defeated by just eight votes, Phil was disappointed to find that Ben Wallace hadn’t bothered to show up and vote for it. Where was he? After receiving no response to his enquiries, Phil eventually received a reply from Ben Wallace’s PA last week to say:

“At the last election the boundaries of the Lancaster and Wyre constituency were redrawn and two new constituencies created. Mr Wallace was elected last month as the Member of Parliament for Wyre and Preston North and as such is no longer your MP. I would, therefore, suggest that you contact your new Member of Parliament.”

We’ve copied the full correspondence below.

If you’re one of Ben Wallace’s new constituents, why not ask him where he was? You can contact him at wallaceb@parliament.uk or call his PA on 0207 219 5804. And if you’ve had a similar experience with your own MP, please let us know!


—

Phil’s correspondence with Ben Wallace MP

Begin forwarded message:
From: phil milston
To: Ben WALLACE
Subject: Fwd: Reply from Ben Wallace MP

Hi Zoe,

As stated, my enquiry was specifically aimed at Mr Wallace and his support for, then absence from the vote.

He was our MP at the time and as such remains accountable for his actions regarding this issue.

All I’m looking for is an explanation of his actions. Why are Mr Wallace and yourself being evasive?

I look forward to your reply

Regards – Phil Milston

—–Original Message—–
From: ASHWORTH, Zoe
To: ‘phil milston’
Sent: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:25
Subject: Carbon emissions

Dear Mr Milston,

Thank you for your email in support of an Emissions Performance Standard.

You may be aware that at the last election the boundaries of the Lancaster and Wyre constituency were redrawn and two new constituencies created (Lancaster & Fleetwood and Wyre & Preston North). Mr Wallace was elected last month as the Member of Parliament for Wyre and Preston North and as such is no longer your MP.

I would, therefore, suggest that you contact your new Member of Parliament, Eric Ollerenshaw, if you would like to raise your concerns about carbon emissions.

Kind regards,

Zoe Ashworth
PA to Ben Wallace MP
Member of Parliament for Wyre and Preston North

Dear Mr Wallace,

Are you ever going to reply on this issue or will it become an embarrassment that will resurface to haunt you?

Begin forwarded message:
From: phil milston
Date: 29 March 2010 18:51:53 BST
To: Ben WALLACE
Subject: Fwd: Reply from Ben Wallace MP

Dear Mr Wallace,

I still await your response to the request for information below…..

Regards,

Phil Milston

Begin forwarded message:

Dear Mr Wallace,

I was most encouraged to recieve your reply quoted below. It was with great disappointment that I then found out that you did not bother to vote on this issue.

I would be most grateful if you would explain your actions.

Regards,

Phil Milston

On 23 Feb 2010, at 10:17, WALLACE, Ben wrote:

Dear Mr Milston,

Thank you for your letter about the Energy Bill and the inclusion of an Emissions Performance Standard (EPS).

I very much share your view that climate change is one of the greatest threats we face and reducing UK carbon emissions is an important contribution to reducing the global risk of climate change. I fully agree with your assertion that it is important to include an EPS in the Energy Bill. We have advocated introducing an EPS for a long time and, despite efforts to get it included in both the previous Energy Act 2008 and the Climate Change Act 2008, failed due to a lack of Government support.

You may be aware that we have already tabled a Conservative amendment in the form of New Clause 2 to include an EPS in the Bill. Furthermore, we would – if in Government – adhere to our commitment to introduce an EPS.

Whilst the Government has dithered over its approach to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), this Party has long supported your view that any new coal fired power stations must be fitted with CCS technology from day one and we will also restrict the emissions produced from power stations using an Emissions Performance Standard.

We envisage taking the most highly polluting, high carbon producing fuel of all and transforming it into a low carbon fuel of the future. Britain is blessed with large coal reserves, so there could be big benefits for our economy in cleaning up coal power. An incoming Conservative Government would contribute towards the creation of a national CCS infrastructure, allowing energy companies to plug in new CCS power stations making the UK a world leader in this technology.

Clean coal represents an element of our approach which rests on diversified energy supply made up of a wide variety of low-carbon technologies including large scale renewables and domestic micro-generation. This way we aim to re-build the British economy on the back of new, high-tech green industries, intelligent energy generation and transport, and energy efficiency in our homes, schools and businesses

Once again, thank you for taking the time to write to me.

Kind regards,

BEN WALLACE

We’ve teamed up with ‘Still Human Still Here’ – a coalition of over 40 organisations – to demand that asylum seekers be allowed to work in the UK. Click here to be part of the action: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/permission-to-work

We want to urge the government to grant asylum seekers permission to work if their claims take longer than six months to process.

Current government policy just doesn’t work. The support that is provided equals out to less than £5 a day for most people. If we get the rules changed, taxpayers won’t be paying to support asylum seekers who are able to work but aren’t allowed to. They won’t have to rely on charities just to get by. And those who eventually do get asylum status will find it much easier to become part of British society as a result.

Last year Nick Clegg lambasted the asylum system as one of the most “inefficient and cruel” in Europe. More MPs supporting new rules means there’s a better chance that they’ll be made into law. Please tell your MP to sign the declaration pledging action on this issue: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/permission-to-work

Over the last few days, thousands of us have signed the petition asking George Osborne to stand firm on his commitment to raise Capital Gains Tax. At the same time, a huge number of us also emailed him asking directly for him to stick to his promises.

With just hours to go before the emergency budget, we’ve made sure that Osbourne knows how many people want him to stick to his promises. 38 Degrees volunteers went to the Treasury yesterday to drop off the petition, so that George Osborne knows just how many of us want Capital Gains Tax brought into line with income tax.

We’ll be keeping a watch to see what happens when the budget is annouced. In the meantime, click here to donate to our campaign against unfair spending cuts the government is planning: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/fight-unfair-cuts/

Kiana Firouz has been granted aslyum! The 27-year old actress and lesbian activist was facing deportation back to Iran, where she would have been at risk of torture and death due to her sexuality. 1,942 of us wrote to Theresa May telling her that this must be stopped.

We have shown that we can make change happen when we work together. Here is a message from Kiana thanking everyone who helped make sure she could stay in safety in the UK:

Dear All,

I would like to thank you for all of your support, comments and messages. Your support and your kind letters create enormous hope and courage for all of those who are discriminated for their beliefs and sexual orientation in Iran and all over the world.

I am just an example of an Iranian lesbian who has suffered from injustice and discrimination in a religious country. There are thousands of Iranian LGBT who are suffering and getting tortured by their families and the society for their sexual orientation inside Iran. I also believe that those who are outside of Iran are facing so many difficulties as well.

I hope this opens further opportunity and movement towards an open society in Iran for everyone, regardless of their sexual preferences. I also hope to see a day that the injustices, torture and death penalties that homosexuals face in Iran are stopped.

Kind regards,
Kiana Firouz