Local people show their opposition to the government's plans

Liz Searle of Friends of Chopwell Woods helped organise a rally on Sunday. She has written a blog post for 38 Degrees to let everyone know how it went:

The Friends of Chopwell Wood and the Chopwell Wood Horse Riding Association organised a rally in Chopwell Woods on Sunday. Over 200 posters were put up more than a week before, facebook was used to spread the word, and 4000 leaflets were delivered to local villages. “Save Chopwell Wood” yellow lapel ribbons, and “I love Chopwell Wood” key rings were produced, to be given away to supporters at the rally.

The day came, the banner and gazebos went up, and the band arrived to play whilst supporters gathered. BBC and TyneTees TV crews and newspaper journalists began arriving. It was amazing to see 1200 people turn up!

The opening speech came from Paul Fountain of Friends of Chopwell Wood. He said,

“Managing a forest is a full time job not something for part-time volunteers to take on. We are already part of the Big Society, but working together and with the support of the Forestry Commission. Without FC everything we have achieved may be lost.”

He was followed by representatives of the Green Party, Horse Riding Association, Forestry Commission Trade Union, local Labour Councillor, Ramblers Association, and local MP David Anderson. Then the public were invited to the microphone to have their say, and some did. Everyone was against the forestry proposals included in the Public Bodies Bill and the Consultation. People queued to sign a paper version of the 38 Degrees petition that had been prepared. Eventually five points around the table were created and 700 people signed on the day, with many copies being taken away to be completed later.

Overall though we felt it was a very successful day, and we got a lot of media coverage – on both local TV news on Sunday night, and both local morning papers on Monday. Some of this may be included in the national press as there was a national photographer/jounalist attending.

Liz Searle – Friends of Chopwell Wood

In November 38 Degrees handed in 60,000 messages to Ofcom asking them to get the bid in front of the Competition Commission. At Christmas an Emergency Petition was put forward pointing out that Jeremy Hunt would not make an impartial judge. On New Year’s Eve Hunt got Ofcom’s report and has been sitting on it ever since.

Murdoch in meetings with Hunt

It has now emerged that Hunt has been having meetings with Murdoch’s people. He could be trying to find ways to make a deal with Murdoch’s advisers.

Now it’s our turn to get involved. Together we can get in touch with our MPs and ask them to put pressure on Hunt to ensure the report goes public and into the hands of the Competition Commission. But we don’t have long.

This is a fast moving campaign that needs quick responses. We’ve already had success in standing up to Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB power grab and now we need to do it again. To take action click here:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/hunts-secret-meetings

Here’s Robert Peston’s blog outlining more of the details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2011/01/ofcom_says_news_corps_sky_bid.html

Many 38 Degrees members thought the BBC should be defended.

38 Degrees members have been defending the BBC ever since James Murdoch’s attack on it in August 2009. The reports that the government was pushing the BBC to accept “a license fee raid” triggered a discussion about what we should do on our facebook page, and thousands of 38 Degrees members quickly contacted their MPs speaking out against these deep cuts being forced through behind closed doors.

We were worried about what this would mean for BBC programmes we all enjoy – cuts of over 20% could mean whole channels closing down. Secondly, members were worried about the long term future of the BBC. Many members believed that this decision to raid the BBC was influenced by Rupert Murdoch. Decisions about the licence fee were meant to be taken until next year, and there was a process that was meant to be followed. This deal was forced through behind closed doors and in less than 24 hours.

We’ll have to wait to see what the full effects of these cuts will be, and if they lead to specific issues we will want to campaign about. It it is clear though that the  and this probably isn’t the last time we’ll see politicians attacking. 38 Degrees members don’t think the BBC is perfect, but we do think it’s worth standing up for.

We will also need to keep up the pressure on Vince Cable to call a review of Rupert Murdoch’s plans to seize full control of BSkyB.

Tens of thousands of 38 Degrees members emailed their MPs after the Conservative Minister, Jeremy Hunt, launched an attack on the BBC by announcing plans to cut the licence fee in 2012.

38 Degrees members have been adding their MPs’ replies to this page on our website, and we’ve now got replies from most MPs. Quite a few MPs have also sent their constituents a reply they received from the Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey, after writing to him about the BBC.

Here’s the letter the Minister, Ed Vaizey has been sending to MPs:

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38 Degrees members with the 80,000 strong save the BBC petitions

Today people took to the streets across the UK calling on the BBC not to cut Asian Network, BBC6 Music and the BBC website. Flashmobs took place in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow, making sure that BBC bosses know how many people oppose their cuts. We’ve got photos from some of the demos below, when we get more we’ll add them in.

Over 80,000 people signed the “Save the BBC” petitions – which 38 Degrees members presented to the BBC Trust (see the photo above).

The BBC won’t announce it’s plans for another few months but one thing is clear, tens of thousands of us don’t want the BBC to cut the services we love. So what should we do now? If you have any ideas let us know in the comments below.

The Birmingham Flashmob

The London Flashmob

No Colour busks at the London Flashmob.

Check out the bands MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/nocolouruk

The Yorkshire Flashmob

Our BBC billboard ads

Over the last few weeks, thousands of us have taken action to tell the BBC Trust not to go ahead with their planned cuts to 6Music, Asian Network and the website.

We’ve now arrived at the critical final stage: next Tuesday, 25th May is the final day of the BBC Trust’s consultation period. On the day, we’re working with the National Union of Journalists and the campaigns to save 6Music and the Asian Network to hold flashmobs outside BBC offices all around the UK. At 1pm we will make as much noise as possible to send our message loud and clear to BBC bosses, so bring a whistle, saxophone, drum or just your voice!

There are events planned in Leeds, London, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol already, but if one of those isn’t close enough to you, then you can click here to set up your own on the 38 Degrees website: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/bbc-flashmobs/

Together, we’ve already taken action to make sure the BBC Trust knows we don’t want these cuts.  Tens of thousands of people have signed the save the BBC petition. Our billboards, paid for by thousands of people chipping in, went up around the country on 10th May. And we e-mailed hundreds of election candidates and asked them to pledge to protect the BBC and public broadcasting.

Now we need another big push to make sure we get our message across – click here to join in one of our BBC flashmobs: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/bbc-flashmobs/

Our billboards mean that the first message new MPs are going to get from us is that it is critical that we defend the BBC.  Over the last few days we’ve had lots of opportunities to see how important impartial news is.  Our billboards send a clear and loud message that it is us, not millionaire media owners, who should have the final say on the BBC.

Please help spread the message further and save the BBC.  If you haven’t signed the petition yet you can do so here and if you have, please ask your friends, family and colleagues to sign too.

Here’s the video of us outside the BBC Trust:

Here’s how the posters will look on the big billboards all around the UK:

Billboards will go up where BBC bosses can't miss them

Hundreds of members helped by making comments about the first design (which we shared on our blog and Facebook a few weeks ago), and the designers have taken their main comments on board, by making sure there was a way for everyone to join in as they want past the billboards and by ensuring that we mentioned the cuts that members were most concerned about: 6Music, Asian Network and the website.

Nobody working for the BBC will be able to miss our message: these huge billboards on the doorsteps of their offices will send a huge signal that thousands of us don’t want them to cut services like 6Music, Asian Network and the BBC website. By bringing together everyone taking action to stop the cuts, we’ll make it clear that we won’t stand by and let millionaire media owners dictate what happens to our BBC.

What do you think? How else can we make sure BBC bosses get our message?

So far, the number of people who signed up for our petition has hit a groundbreaking 35,735, and more and more people are joining in from all over the country.

The map below shows where the people who have signed the Stop the BBC Cuts petition live. It proves that worries about cuts to the BBC really are a national concern – there are dots all over the map, from the north of Scotland all the way down to Cornwall in the south.

Please help pass on the message and save the BBC. If you haven’t signed 38 Degrees petition yet, you can join in here.

Since the election was announced thousands of us have been emailing our local Parliamentary candidates, asking them to pledge their opposition to cuts to the BBC and their support for public service broadcasting.

We’ve been looking through some of the responses from candidates that have been forwarded on to us. The great news is that many of our candidates have signed the pledge, and just want to let us know how strong their support for the BBC is. Like us, they’re worried about the BBC’s commercial rivals getting the upper hand in the debate over its future.

Some of the other most common responses have been:

It’s not a politician’s place to comment on individual editorial or programming decisions – it’s a matter for the BBC.

Axing 6 Music and Asian Network is the wrong decision, but we shouldn’t be opposing all cuts to the BBC. Some scaling back of its operations is appropriate.

The BBC needs to be offering fewer channels of better quality, so these cuts are appropriate.

What’s the best way to reply? If your candidate(s) wrote back to you with one of these (or any other) responses, please post it below so other 38 Degrees members can have a look, help you reply or just leave a comment.

If you haven’t already emailed your candidates, you can do so here.