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NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

express.co.uk

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Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#21

Post by andyjohnson0 »

andyhmltn wrote: post #12
arethuza wrote: post #2

As a UK citizen I feel that he certainly hasn't done me any harm and probably has done quite a lot of good so I find it bizarre that the government would make such a statement, especially as he would be mad to consider coming here! I presume the real reasons for this are: - To show solidarity with the US (presumably the NSA and GCHQ are as thick as thieves) - So he doesn't give anyone at GCHQ ideas I'm going to write…

Great link, I will write to mine now. Any ideas what kind of thing to write and how to structure it? I've never done this kind of thing before so any help would be great :-)

If you want to be taken seriously then keep it respectful. MPs regard themselves as representatives who use their own judgement, not delegates who have to do what their constituents tell them.

Do not rant. Outline your concerns clearly and directly, request that they take some form of action, and ask them to reply to you giving their views and what action they took. Remember that the MP will expect requests to be something actionable: ask them to consider writing to the Home Secretary and/or Prime Minister, speak if the matter comes up for debate, sign an early day motion, etc.

It's important to ask them to reply to you - and be prepared to follow-up if they don't. I've read that there is a lot of variation among MPs in how they deal with this kind of contact. My MP, a young-ish fairly enthusiastic Lib-Dem, is pretty good in this respect. More 'traditional' MPs may be not so good. Give them time, though. Despite the popular view, they are busy people.

Also remember that MPs as individuals have essentially no power in issues relating to day-to-day foreign relations and state security. Don't expect too much.

(Also, http://www.theyworkforyou.com/houserules)

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#23

Post by arethuza »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #21
andyhmltn wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great link, I will write to mine now. Any ideas what kind of thing to write and how to structure it? I've never done this kind of thing before so any help would be great :-)

If you want to be taken seriously then keep it respectful. MPs regard themselves as representatives who use their own judgement, not delegates who have to do what their constituents tell them. Do not rant. Outline your concerns clearly and directly, request that they take some form of action, and ask them to reply to you giving their views and what action they took. Remember that the MP will expect requests to be som…

Excellent advice - particularly about making a request that is actionable and asking for a reply.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#24

Post by dalore »

ig1 wrote: post #15
weavie wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit irrelevant. There's not a chance that he would have even considered coming to the UK.

Well hypothetically say he wanted to go to Iceland, you can't fly from HK to Iceland so you'd have to change in Europe. The obvious route is changing via London Heathrow, this stops him doing that.

Actually the airports of Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris are all bigger, better and see more traffic than outdated Heathrow.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#25

Post by ig1 »

dalore wrote: post #24
ig1 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well hypothetically say he wanted to go to Iceland, you can't fly from HK to Iceland so you'd have to change in Europe. The obvious route is changing via London Heathrow, this stops him doing that.

Actually the airports of Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris are all bigger, better and see more traffic than outdated Heathrow.

You could definitely argue that Heathrow isn't the best airport, but it's clearly the biggest by passenger numbers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in...

(CDG might be bigger for non-human traffic)

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#26

Post by cabalamat »

arethuza wrote: post #2

As a UK citizen I feel that he certainly hasn't done me any harm and probably has done quite a lot of good so I find it bizarre that the government would make such a statement, especially as he would be mad to consider coming here! I presume the real reasons for this are: - To show solidarity with the US (presumably the NSA and GCHQ are as thick as thieves) - So he doesn't give anyone at GCHQ ideas I'm going to write…

> To show solidarity with the US (presumably the NSA and GCHQ are as thick as thieves)

Yes, and it is also consistent with the proposition that the UK's decision to extradite Assange was made at the political level in order to suck up to the USA.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#27

Post by voltagex_ »

venomsnake wrote: post #14

That is fun. But they do have the right according to wikipedia. The treaty has been claimed to be one-sided[3] because it allows the US to extradite UK citizens and others for offences committed against US law, even though the alleged offence may have been committed in the UK by a person living and working in the UK (see for example the NatWest Three), and there being no reciprocal right; and issues about the level o…

a) Tony, b) hasn't been in power for some time now.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#28

Post by venomsnake »

voltagex_ wrote: post #27
venomsnake wrote: post #14

That is fun. But they do have the right according to wikipedia. The treaty has been claimed to be one-sided[3] because it allows the US to extradite UK citizens and others for offences committed against US law, even though the alleged offence may have been committed in the UK by a person living and working in the UK (see for example the NatWest Three), and there being no reciprocal right; and issues about the level o…

a) Tony, b) hasn't been in power for some time now.

The treaty was signed in 2003. He was pretty much in office as a walking rubber stamp for any Bush request back then if I recall correctly.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#29

Post by andyhmltn »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #21
andyhmltn wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great link, I will write to mine now. Any ideas what kind of thing to write and how to structure it? I've never done this kind of thing before so any help would be great :-)

If you want to be taken seriously then keep it respectful. MPs regard themselves as representatives who use their own judgement, not delegates who have to do what their constituents tell them. Do not rant. Outline your concerns clearly and directly, request that they take some form of action, and ask them to reply to you giving their views and what action they took. Remember that the MP will expect requests to be som…

Thank you! In regards to them not replying: My local MP seems to take issues very seriously when written to. We had an issue a few months ago regarding my sister not being able to get to school and getting fined and she was in constant contact and helped solve the situation.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#30

Post by threeseed »

arethuza wrote: post #2

As a UK citizen I feel that he certainly hasn't done me any harm and probably has done quite a lot of good so I find it bizarre that the government would make such a statement, especially as he would be mad to consider coming here! I presume the real reasons for this are: - To show solidarity with the US (presumably the NSA and GCHQ are as thick as thieves) - So he doesn't give anyone at GCHQ ideas I'm going to write…

Why is it bizarre ?

The UK government simply doesn't want a repeat of the diplomatic mess that was Julian Assange's asylum claim.

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