STOP #CETA
MEPs will be voting on CETA on mid February. Ask your MEPs to vote NO!
[A] Actions
1. Email our two local Labour MEPs (details below).
2. Send our Stop CETA tweets to as many people as possible. You can also use these on Facebook and other social media.
Tweet 1: URGENT: MEPs are voting on CETA mid-Feb. Ask yours to vote NO! Take action: http://groups.globaljustice.org.uk/sheffield/2017/01/12/urgent-action-stop-ceta/
Tweet 2: .@LindaMcAvanMEP #CETA poses a major threat to our democracy, public services and the environment. Vote NO to CETA
Tweet 3: .@rcorbettmep #CETA will give power to Corporations, threatening democracy, public services & the environment. Vote NO to CETA
Make sure you include the full stop at the front of the tweet. And you can swap the text of around and double your efforts.
A couple of fun cat-related Stop CETA tweets. Images to add to the tweets/Facebook etc are below to download & use.
Tweet 4: The fat cats have their eyes on our democracy. Stop #CETA. Take action: http://groups.globaljustice.org.uk/sheffield/2017/01/12/urgent-action-stop-ceta/
Tweet 5: Don’t pretend CETA won’t happen. It will, if you don’t take action now. Stop #CETA. Take action: http://groups.globaljustice.org.uk/sheffield/2017/01/12/urgent-action-stop-ceta/
And you can of course make up your own.
3. Get as many people as possible to do the same!
[B] The key MEPs to contact
In the European Parliament, the Labour MEPs are part of the Socialists & Democrats group, which has not yet decided on its official position on CETA. It is currently “inclined to vote yes”, but a lot of them are anti-CETA and there may well be enough waverers who could be persuaded to tip the balance against.
In the UK, it is the Labour MEPs who may respond if there is enough public pressure on them. The Conservatives are determined to drive CETA through Parliament, and the LibDems are very pro-CETA. The Yorkshire & Humber Labour MEPs are:
79 High St, Wath upon Dearne, Rotherham S63 7QB.
Home: 01709 875665, Email: lindamcavan@lindamcavanmep.org.uk
Twitter: @LindaMcAvanMEP, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/linda.mcavan
Key position: Chair of the [International] Development Committee: so see the final main paragraph. of the Employment Committee’s Draft Opinion
Unity Business Centre, 26 Roundhay Road, Leeds LS7 1AB
Phone: 0113 2430554, Email: richard@richardcorbett.org.uk
Twitter: @rcorbettmep, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rcorbett
Key position: Deputy Leader of the Labour Group Members of the EP
You can use ‘Write to Them’ to send a letter online. Go to https://www.writetothem.com, put in your postcode, and write away. This includes to MEPs in other regions.
[C] Message guidelines
Keep it short. Use your own natural ways of saying things. No need to go out of your depth, it’s your personal values and experience that you are expert in, and that will make your message convincing.
- On CETA’s economic damage, if you want to quote something that carries undeniable weight, you can’t do better that the one-page Draft Opinion on CETA put out in November 2016 by the European Parliament’s cross-party Employment and Social Affairs Committee, below (PDF: note 1). You can also find it on our website. Pick out a particular point that most concerns you and say why, or just refer to the opinion in general.
- On the attacks on democracy and on social and environmental public-interest policies, the best thing to look through – just to pick out bits that catch your attention – is an everyday-language legal analysis of CETA by Gus Van Harten, of Osgoode Hall Law School, available here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2850281
[D] Why CETA must be rejected by MEPs
For a run-through of the main dangers of CETA, see PDF (note 2).
PDF: CETA – Opinion on CETA & Why CETA must be rejected by MEPs
Example letter to MEPs re CETA vote
To download the cat-CETA images to use on Twitter, Facebook etc, right click, then save as…
