23/03/2020
Guys. Please read the new Corona virus bill.
This post includes a letter template.
Please print sign and send.
https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2019-21/coronavirus.html
Letter to your MP
Dear ..........
I am writing to ask you to give the emergency Coronavirus Bill the utmost caution, your closest scrutiny, and the strictest time limits when it comes before the House of Commons on Monday. I particular, I am asking you to please support Amendment 1 (to end the Act after 6 months, pending review), Amendment 6 (to sunset the Act after 12 months) or New Clause 10 (to end the Act after 3 months) to shorten the duration of these exceptional, emergency powers.
I am extremely concerned about this Bill. Extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary measures, but we cannot let basic rights fall casualty to crisis. The Coronavirus Bill contains the most draconian powers ever proposed in peace-time Britain. It contains: - sweeping powers to detain, isolate and test ‘potentially infectious’ members of the public, even children, in quarantine facilities on threat of criminal sanction - powers to forcibly take biological samples from adults and children - powers to shut down gatherings, which could thwart the possibility of protest against extreme measures - diluted safeguards on state surveillance powers - extended powers for detention and forced treatment under the Mental Health Act at a time when people are under unprecedented psychological pressure. I did not vote for this.
I believe our country has the courage to overcome this emergency through co-operation and community spirit, not criminalisation. As a constituent, I am entrusting you to protect the laws and liberties that are the foundation of our democracy, so that when this is over, we can all be reunited with the freedoms that define us. Please assure me that you will closely scrutinise these powers, vote for a shorter duration, and protect our fundamental rights.
Best wishes
(Name)
A Bill to make provision in connection with coronavirus; and for connected purposes.
