I did think about using this task for something incredibly silly - maybe write something in green crayon demanding that everybody in Britain be given a free tricycle, or to suggest that Angry Birds is a CIA conspiracy. Then it occured to me that there is such a thing as Poe's Law.
Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing.
This is just a guess on my part, but I can't help but feel that no matter what ridiculous letter I come up with, there'll be some constituent somewhere writing something even madder.
Besides, there is something I wanted to write to my MP about which is actually worthwhile. Those of you on Twitter might have noticed the hashtag #spartacusreport flying about. This is a report (actually entitled Responsible Reform) which has been put together by disabled people to show how the government has been misleading Parliament about the true scale of cuts to disability benefits. I know quite a few disabled people who are, quite frankly, terrified about what's likely to happen to them, and are worried about how they're going to survive.
To quote the authors of the report.
Our report shows that :
-The Government broke its own code of consultation over the DLA reform-The Government has entirely misrepresented the views submitted as part of the consultation, giving a partial and biased view.-The Government claim that DLA must be reformed as claims has risen 30% in 8 years - we find that these statistics are entirely misleading and give a "distorted view"-There is overwhelming opposition to the new benefit, Personal Independence Payments-Some elements of PIP appear to already be going ahead, despite a rejection of the plans and before legislation has passed.-The Government are repeatedly warned that proposals for PIP may break International and UK equality and Human Rights legislation
I've used Write to Them to send a letter to my MP (Jenny Willot, Lib Dem, Cardiff Central)
Dear Jennifer Willott,
I would like you read the Responsible Reform report, also referred to
on the Internet as the Spartacus Report.
The report can be found online here:
https://skydrive.live.com/view.aspx/Responsible%20Reform%20for%20screen%20readers.doc?cid=cba86408918caa9e
This report into Disability Allowance Reform has been written,
researched and funded by disabled people. As one of your constituents,
I am very concerned by its findings and the misrepresentation of
disabled people that it exposes.
Please will you read the report and support sick and disabled people in
calling for a pause to Personal Independence Payments in light of this
new research.
I look forward to your response,
As well as writing to your MP, you can also support and publicise this report by using the #spartacusreport hashtag on Twitter, add the Spartacus Report twibbon to your Twitter profile, and sign this e-petition calling for a stop and review of the disability benefit cuts.
