 |
|
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
David
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 781
Location: Sefton Park, Liverpool
|
 Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 12:03 pm Post subject: Parliament & City Council welcome chess triumph |
 |
|
The recent EU Individual Open tournament, held this September in Liverpool, has already attracted widespread favourable coverage in the national Press. Now the politicians are joining in. Last night (Oct 17) at Westminster, chess-playing MP, Angela Eagle sponsored an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons:
| Angela Eagle MP wrote: |
| That this House welcomes the recent outstanding success of the International Chess Tournament held in Liverpool between 6th and 15th September noting that this was the first international chess tournament held in the UK since 1986 and the first in Liverpool since 1923; recognises the sponsors including Liverpool John Moores University, the Mersey Partnership, the World Museum and the Liverpool Culture Company for their support for the event; believes that this was a major boost to Liverpool's reputation not least because it received massive internet exposure by the live transmission of the matches on the tournament website which was visited by 8.6 million people from 104 different countries, 1.25 million people logged on to the live transmission on the final day, 76 per cent. of whom stayed online for an hour or more; and congratulates British Grandmaster Nigel Short on winning the tournament in a strong field of international players as well as recognising the Grandmaster norms achieved by two young British players |
An EDM is a technical device by which backbench MPs can propose matters of national importance to be debated by Parliament. In practice, none ever reach that point because Government business takes up all the available time. So an EDM has become a means by which substantial matters can be tabled to which MPs add their signature if they support the motion. Most EDMs attract maybe twenty signatures. The fact that this EDM has already attracted 45 on its first day is well above par. For the details so far, see here:
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=31401&SESSION=875
Most of the signatures so far are Labour MPs, no doubt reflecting Angela Eagle's lobby on our behalf. But it needn't stay that way, and probably won't. If you would like your own MP to sign, send him/her an email drawing the EDM to their attention. It all helps.
So does the motion being debated tonight (Oct 18 ) by Liverpool City Council. This says:
| Liverpool City Council wrote: |
INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT
Council welcomes the success of the recent International Chess Tournament in Liverpool and congratulates the organisers and participants for their efforts.
In light of the unprecedented international interest in the event shown by coverage of the tournament in the Press and on the Internet, Council calls on the Chief Executive to report on the steps which can be taken to assist the organisers continue their work to:
• Organise further events, in particular in 2007 & 2008;
• Promote interest in chess in the city, particularly among young people;
• Promote Liverpool as a city with a particular interest in chess, advocating the wider cultural, educational and economic benefits this can bring |
All of this interest and support needs to be followed up skilfully and with political adroitness. I'm doing my best of course. But we have much more to do. So far, so good though 
David
_________________
Optimum semper profectum |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
David
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 781
Location: Sefton Park, Liverpool
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:38 am Post subject: |
|
|
UPDATE
As of this morning (Oct 19), 58 MPs have now signed the Early Day Motion, including members of all main political parties and some minor parties too.
And last night, Liverpool City Council unanimously approved the motion on chess development in the city
David
_________________
Optimum semper profectum |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
David
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 781
Location: Sefton Park, Liverpool
|
| Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
UPDATE 2
By this morning, some 65 MPs had now signed the chess EDM; the latest batch include mainly Con and LibDem MPs. The total may not change now until next week since MPs tend to spend Fridays in their constituencies.
But email your MP over the weekend, and urge their support. If we can push the signatures over 100, that's a significant number because only a few ever manage that many. Click on the link above to see if your MP has already signed. Don't bother with members of the Government; only backbencher MPs can sign an EDM - ie Maria Eagle can't sign her sister's EDM because she's a minister
David
_________________
Optimum semper profectum |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
psowray
Joined: 21 Oct 2006
Posts: 2
Location: London
|
| Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:54 am Post subject: |
|
|
David & others,
Maybe this tip will be useful for anyone planning to write to their MP.
I used the web site www.theyworkforyou.com to contact my local MP. To his credit, my MP (Greg Hands) signed up within 24 hours. Maybe he would have signed anyway, but I'd like to think my intervention helped!
All the best,
Peter Sowray |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
David
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 781
Location: Sefton Park, Liverpool
|
| Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 4:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Good thinking, Peter, and welcome. A rare venture "norf o' Wa'fud" for you  We're not all Northern hard cases up here; head cases, a few but nice with it. It can get grim though - when t'wind rips across t'moor an' between yer whippet's legs, chillin' the black pudding tucked under yer cloth cap, an' scourin' the knees o' the lassies crouchin' in their 'uts Hhmm, I might need to edit that later 
Anyway, your Hands-on email was a good idea. Thanks. For anyone lacking easy access their MP's address, the formula address is straightforward: [surname][first name initial]@parliament.uk. So it's, say, browng@parliament.uk. Otherwise, Peter's link is good because it prompts the MP on receipt that the email is from a constituent only.
David
_________________
Optimum semper profectum |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
David
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 781
Location: Sefton Park, Liverpool
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Support looks to have topped out at 70 MPs. That's a respectable, well above average total, but not the 100 MPs I'd hoped for. How different it might be if we have a functioning ECF alert to the lobbying process.
Of those signing, about 54 Labour; 7 Lib Dem; 4 Conservatives; 3 DUP; 1 SNP; and 1 Plaid Cymru. We might have hoped for more from the Tories; there were significant absentees among Lab & Lib Dem MPs too.
David
_________________
Optimum semper profectum |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
subRebel style by ktauber
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
