Free WiFi access
in Clydebank

C/Bank Libraries

McDonald’s
Clyde Shopping Centre

McDonald’s
Kilbowie Retail Park

Beardmore Hotel
Reception Area

The Glen Lusset
Old Kilpatrick

MP’s, MSP’s and West Dunbartonshire Councillors work for YOU. They are paid with money gathered from YOU. Now their every move can be followed on the Internet.
The Internet gives ordinary people a voice, as well as the ability to communicate more directly with those in power. The UK and Scottish Governments have been using the Internet for a number of years to interact with the rest of us. One of the best known methods is the Downing Street petitions web site [http://petitions.number10.gov.uk] which was set up in 2006 to allow people to send electronic petitions directly to the Prime Minister’s office.

There has been an official site for 10 Downing Street [www.number10.gov.uk] for several years, and the major UK & Scottish political parties have web sites:

www.snp.org
www.scottishlabour.org.uk
www.scottishconservatives.com
www.scotlibdems.org.uk

True engagement with internet users has come relatively recently, though. The Government and political parties haven’t been shy of taking their message elsewhere on the web using social networking sites such as Facebook and tools such as Twitter to get people interested. The Downing Street Twitter page [www.downingstreetsays.com] carries reports from the Prime Minister’s daily press briefings.

But these are all official sources, and information will always be bias in favour of their own political views. If you go to the following sites you will find out what YOUR political servant[s] have, or have not, been up to......

Some of the most useful work on ‘politics and the internet’ has been done by an organisation called My Society [www.mysociety.org]. Although this group built the Number 10 Downing Street petitions web site, it went on to built several other extremely useful sites that you could use to find out more about your elected representatives. 

Write To Them [www.writetothem.com] is not just for MP’s , but includes members of the European parliament, members of the Scottish parliament [MSP’s], and local councillors.

They Work For You [www.theyworkforyou.com] offers all sorts of information about your MP & MSP’s and how to contact them. More interestingly, the site provides information about what they have said in Parliament and how they have voted. That way you can find out whether your representatives agree with your views. You can even set up an email alert so you get a message whenever your MP or MSP speaks, or when anyone mentions a particular topic.

Hear From Your MP [www.hearfromyourmp.com] enable people to sign up to email updates directly from their MP.

Tell Them What You Think [www.tellthemwhatyouthink.org] collects UK & Scottish Government consultations into one place so you can comment on them easily.

So, go ahead and register with these sites and you may be surprised to discover how much, or how little, your accountable public servants are doing for YOU!