UK: Tracking contacts with MPs to endorse The Manchester Declaration

Right to repair: policy & activism
29

Ah that’s a shame @Alexandra_Mates! I imagine she has other priorities at the moment, but let’s hope her staff gets back to you soon :crossed_fingers:

30

Great tweet by Anneliese Dodds endorsing the Manchester Declaration and #RightToRepair - well done @Alexandra_Mates!

https://twitter.com/AnnelieseDodds/status/1172538507291742209

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31

Thanks @ugo! She’s great. I’ve uploaded the doc I took with us, in case it would be useful. I included a brief history of the right to repair movement too, which I enjoyed researching!

Anneliese Dodds MP - Manchester Declaration meeting agenda.pdf (437.4 KB)

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32

I received an email from Meg’s staff, below, please advise on further correspondence.
Dear Alison Buckland

Thank you for your further email regarding the Restart Project.

Regarding your request for Meg to email policy@therestartproject.org, could you let us know how this would be used and what exactly you require from Meg?

We were informed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy about the transfer and Meg is now awaiting a response from DEFRA which she will then pass on to you.

33

Hi @Alison_Buckland,

Thanks for the update - this is how I would respond to Meg’s staff:

The email would be to confirm that Meg Hillier is happy to endorse the Manchester Declaration. Following her confirmation, we would add her name to the list of 6 other MPs who’ve already endorsed it.

Hopefully she’ll agree to it!

34

Hi,
I sent your draft but haven’t received anything back as yet, and I guess she hasn’t signed the declaration yet either, shame.

35

Hi everyone,
Clive Lewis has endorsed the Declaration, after our contact with him last summer (!) and we’re working on Ed Miliband (now Shadow cabinet member for BEIS) whose podcast we appeared on last month. And congrats to Southampton Repair Cafe @david_middlewick @simon_mason who are working on Caroline Nokes, who would be our first Tory endorser. She sent a supportive but unofficial letter, falling short of full endorsement.

To those still seeking endorsement, given our situation, you could propose a video chat with your MP - they might be more available now than ever :wink:

Stay safe!

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36

And hope you’ve seen @Victoria_Jackson @sam_Jarman that Brighton MP seems to be pumped about the Right to Repair! Hope you can get in touch about the Manchester Declaration?

https://twitter.com/lloyd_rm/status/1250742540900331520

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37

Great news: Caroline Lucas just endorsed the Declaration! Well done @Victoria_Jackson and @sam_Jarman, hopefully Lloyd Russell-Moyle will follow suit soon!

Is anyone else in touch with their MP? While Restart Parties and Repair Cafes are obviously not taking place, this might be a good time to reach out to your MP and raise the importance of repair, and ask for their endorsement for the Declaration. Let us know if you need any help or advice on this

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38

That’s great. Pointing out that Caroline Lucas is a long-time member of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee which is taking up its e-waste inquiry again after being suspended in November for the election.

And @Sarah_Maloy, as I’m now a Nottingham resident, shall we reach out to Nadia Whittome, the most junior member of the EAC, who is making waves herself? :slight_smile:

39

Happy to announce that Caroline Nokes MP is the first Conservative party MP to endorse the Declaration - well done to Angela from Southampton Repair Cafe for making this happen! @David_Middlewick @Simon_Mason

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40

Well done to @James_Diamond of Hackney Fixers for confirming the endorsement of Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, after the initial contact by @Alison_Buckland last year!

Looking forward to seeing many of you tonight from 8pm for the opening session of Fixfest UK where we’ll be discussing Right to Repair in the UK and next steps for the Manchester Declaration - it’s not too late, join now!

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41

Cool, thank you James for following up the cause.

42

Well done to @Lorna_Montgomery for reaching out to and getting an endorsement for the Declaration from Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath. She is our first LibDem MP endorsing the declaration, and the party’s Environment and Climate Change spokeperson.

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43

The latest MP to sign the Manchester Declaration is Robert Goodwill, MP for Scarborough and Whitby and the second Conservative MP to endorse the declaration! He currently sits on the Environmental Audit Committee and was one of the MPs to hear @ugo speak about the importance of repair when giving evidence to the committee back in June.

We’re grateful to our friends at the local Whitby Area Men’s Sheds for working with us to contact Mr Goodwill.

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44

And another Conservative MP, this time Penny Mordaunt. Big thanks to @Clare_Seek for persisting in Portsmouth!

Now might be a good time to follow up with your MP, given this new piece in BBC:

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45

Just another update: after the news spread widely and incorrectly that we already have the Right to Repair in the UK we’ve launched a petition for the real Right to Repair.

Now is a good time to get back in touch with your MP, whether or not they have endorsed the Manchester Declaration, and raise their awareness about our 3 demands of government:

  1. Include everybody, DIY-ers and repair cafes
  2. Commit to more products
  3. Lower VAT on repairs

There may be a Parliamentary debate on these issues in June when the government presents the legislation for the measures it has announced. @ugo will keep us posted. Now is a great time to refresh MPs about the issue and its importance.

Here’s background if you’d like to read more.

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I forgot to update this at the time, but this polling data should be powerful in talking with MPs.

You’ll note that Right to Repair is popular across the political spectrum. Potentially really useful: you can pull out regional and data by party affiliation from the YouGov numbers here to make a more persuasive argument with your MP.

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47

It’s been a while, but the list of signatories of The Manchester Declaration has continued to grow.

Here’s the latest count:

:fountain_pen: 64 signatory groups
:busts_in_silhouette: 20 allied groups
:boom: 14 MPs endorsed

See them all here.

A huge thanks to everyone who’s already signed!

If your repair group or local MP hasn’t signed yet, it’s not too late :wink:

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The Manchester Declaration has been superseded by the UK Repair and Reuse Declaration, which was created by the UK repair movement in late 2023 and calls on UK policymakers to introduce specific policies to help foster repair and reuse. Learn more about it here.