Early Day Motions

As your MP I often get asked to sign Early Day Motions (EDMs). EDMs however are costly. The expense to you the tax payer is over £1,000,000 a year to run and they are ineffective. In Parliament today they do not bring change. They do not change law. As a result of this I, on principle, do not sign any EDMs at all, even if I do sympathise with the content. This position is shared by many of my colleagues in Parliament and will only change if EDMs are made more effective in the legislative process. As a result, if you are a constituent of South Derbyshire and would like me to sign an EDM, I will always decline. Instead I will take action in much more effective ways on your behalf, by lobbying Ministerial colleagues and speaking in debates. This will be much more cost effective and valuable way to work on your behalf.

If you would like more information on EDMs, please click on the link below:
 
 
I would like to add, that since my time in Parliament (May 2010) I have signed three EDMs out of over 2000 EDMs which have been written since the start of this Parliament. I would like to take this opportunity to explain to you why I did this as I think it’s important to be open and honest.
 
Shortly after being elected to Parliament I was asked to sign two EDMs one in June and the other in July in 2010, I did so as I fully supported their contents. However, since that time and after my constant learning on the job, I have become aware of how ineffective EDMs are. As I said above, I realised how costly they are to the tax payer, and that they are very ineffective. As a result, like many of my colleagues, I made the decision to no longer support EDMs even if I did support their content.
 
As for the third EDM I signed in June 2011. It was presented to me by another MP and I believed I was signing a letter of support and not an EDM, as soon as I was aware that it was an EDM I withdrew my name which you can see is on the record. This was a simple act of human error and if I had been made clearly aware it was an EDM I certainly would not have put my name to it.
 
I hope this answers any questions you may have about why I signed EDMs in the past. I will continue to work on your behalf through ways which I feel best meet the needs for South Derbyshire, either through lobbying Ministerial colleagues or through speaking in debates.
 
 
 
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Please note that all content dated prior to 7th May 2010 is from before I was elected a Member of Parliament.
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