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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!


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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

Back in July, the Wright Committee was set up to suggest reforms for the House of Commons. Now MPs are being given the chance to vote on these reforms.

At the moment, the government has too much control in Parliament and the MPs – the people who directly represent us – don’t have enough.  If the Committee’s reforms are adopted, this will change: MPs will get more power to set the agenda of the Commons, and to vote for chairs of select committees.

These sound like small changes, but it’s crucial that they happen. Many good ideas don’t come from in government: for example, the 10:10 climate promise was debated on one of the rare days when an opposition party gets to set the agenda and the protection for tenants from repossessions came in an individual MP’s bill, or Private Member’s Bill.

We’ve been working together to get the Wright Committee reforms adopted by Parliament. Lots of MPs have been supporting us along the way, and some of them have made a video for us, explaining why they think the reforms are important. You can watch it at the top of this post.

Get your MP to support the Wright Committee reforms, here: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/fix-Parliament

If your MP is not listed, that means they didn’t turn up to vote at all

With thanks for the data to Public Whip

Happy that your MP voted the right way? Or need to challenge them on why they didn’t? Click here to send them a quick message.

Of the 31 respondents, there are 14 from Labour, nine from the Lib Dems, but so far only five responses from the Conservatives. Among those standing up to be counted are notable names like former Minister Hazel Blears, Shadow Minister for Culture Ed Vaizey (who recommends a trip to watch Didcot Town FC) and Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, Jim Knight.

Only four of the MPs who’ve answered so far have second jobs and over half of them, 17 in total, plan to undertake some sort of voluntary work during the recess. This includes Lib Dem Paul Rowen, who’s off to help out at a Catholic mission in Uganda, as well as numerous others who sit as trustees with various British charities.

But so far, we’ve only had responses from about 5% of the Commons – to get a more accurate picture we need more. We’re planning to publish the results in full later in the summer and we can keep on adding results at least until then. Has your MP replied? If not, why not?

It’s not too late – we’ll be collecting their answers all through the recess, so get on to them from our website

They’re your representatives, and they’re answerable to you.

MPs who have responded to date: Laurence Robertson, Evan Harris, Ed Vaizey, Angela C Smith, Martin Horwood, Ian Cawsey, Lynne Featherstone, Jim Knight, Angus Robertson, Sandra Gidley, Caroline Flint, Robert Key, Jo Swinson, Richard Burden, Ronnie Campbell, Susan Kramer, Ashok Kumar, Andrew Selous, Dr Bob Spink, Charlotte Atkins, Martin Linton, John Mason, Des Turner, Paul Rowen, Roger Williams, Alistair Burt, Jim Fitzpatrick.

Despite the best efforts of uncooperative computers and a dodgy printer, a group of us made it down to Westminster on Wednesday morning to hand in the petition on recall. And a suitably hefty tome it made too with a total of 5,111 signatures.

The first port of call was the Houses of Parliament to hand it over to Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

Taking time out of his prep for Prime Minister’s Questions, we were collected from central lobby and escorted up to his office. As you might expect, the Lib Dem leadership have been squirrelled away at the top of one of the Palaces of Westminster in something akin to Rapunzel’s tower. After negotiating the stairs we were welcomed in by the man himself (surprisingly tall and a very firm handshake in case you were interested).

Clegg quizzed Executive Director David Babbs on the organisation and cast an envious eye over the rapidly increasing membership numbers – 38 Degrees is going from strength to strength in a way that the old-school political organisations can only dream of.

It was then time for the handover. And there’s very little resistance from the Lib Dems on the issue of a right to recall. Clegg even asked if he could sign the petition himself – one down two to go. If only all the party leaders were so receptive to the people’s desire for real change in the way our politics works.

The next stop was Downing Street, to see if we could hand in a copy of the petition at number 10 for Gordon’s perusal. We didn’t make it through the main gates, but the very friendly police officer on duty took our names and agreed to hand in the petition on our behalf. It’s a shame the Prime Minister, or a member of the government, couldn’t take a little time out to listen to what our members had to say on the issue – they’ve clearly been too be busy thinking about how best to fudge the next big issue on the agenda.

But at least we can be sure the petition will have made it into government hands – and a reply to our demands should be imminent. The Conservatives on the other hand have to date been unable (or unwilling) to accept the petition at all. We’re still hoping for an audience with David Cameron to hand across the demands on all our members behalf – come on, Dave! Fingers crossed it’ll happen before all the MPs jet off for summer recess.

We’ve got the support of one of the three main parties, now we just have to hope that all the grand words used by Labour and Conservative alike about listening to and engaging with the people in the light of the expenses scandal were more than just hot air. The enthusiasm of 38 Degrees’ membership shows a clear will from the public at large for a right to recall – the politicians must take note.