Does it work?
I had a long arguement with Ed a few weeks ago.
He was saying if anyone was angry about uk policy, they should lobby.
I have the opinion that lobbying is next to useless here in the UK. You need big bucks. You make a party political donation (known as bribery abroad). The government runs a consultation excercise, and your view wins. Unless someone made a larger donation.
In short I do not think lobbying works for mere mortals. Its basically pointless.
What do you think?
(We still need to participat in the poilitical environment, if just to make sure people know there is an alternative viewpoint.)
Half of these politicians and journalists don't know their rear from their elbow. They need to listen to other people if only to be aware of the issues.
Plus, it takes a bit of effort to do something such as write a letter. People don't write letters just for the fun of it. If an MP or a journalist is bombarded with letters about a certain issue then he/she knows that this issue will get them votes or readers.
Ofcourse, if you have money then you can generally get what you want. But if 'mere mortals' don't like some rich dude they can launch a campaign and boycott the rich guys businesses.