Previously on Interactiv-ist Wednesday YBF showed you how to sign up to online petitions on the 10 Downing Street website. We could not, however, show you how to create your own petition as they were not being accepted by the PM due to him being out of office. He’s back in his office now though so why not make a petition and get people to sign it and let him know what you think about a particular subject. Whether it’s the EU, civil liberties or The Labour Party causing problems in your area, let him know what you think!
You will now be asked to search to make sure your not making a petition that will overlap with another. If you are and there is another that supports your views make sure you promote that one instead and you have no need to create a petition here.
However, if you can’t see what you want after you have searched click ‘Create Petition’ at the bottom of the page or just click here
Part 1 –
Insert the details of your petition including –
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to…
More details about your petition (1000 characters maximum)
Duration of the Petition
Choose a short name for the petition
Finally select a category for the petition
Part 2 –
Add these details
Name
Organisation (If there is one)
Address
UK Postcode
Where you are now if your an expatriate
Telephone Number
Email and confirm it below
Part 3 –
Confirm the details, add any further notes and create your petition!
Alternatively if you would like to send a paper petition you can be sending it to:
10 Downing Street,
London,
SW1A 2AA
Once your petition has ended its time duration, usually provided there are 500 signatures or more, it will be passed to officials who work for the Prime Minister in Downing Street, or sent to the relevant Government department for a response.
Every person who signs such a petition will receive an email detailing the Government’s response to the issues raised.
Make sure you let the PM know what you think about any issue you feel strongly about!
In recent years blogging has become ever more popular amongst individuals who want to make their opinion known. With the mainstream media being continuously monitored by organisations such as Ofcom and having an inherent bias towards the left a lot of people’s views were not being allowed to get into the public sphere. There is, however, one ‘sphere’ of influence that has no regulation and enables people to write what they believe, the blogosphere.
You can set up a blog very simply using Blogger or Wordpress. You can customise it to your own personal niche and have your say on the world as you see it through your eyes.
Also make sure you read other blogs in the conservative blogosphere. The conservative blogosphere continues to dominate over Labour or the Liberal Democrats due to its individualistic nature. People speak their minds and people will listen.
If you are not sure where to start, reading conservative blogs is the best thing to do. Here are the top ten conservative blogs recommended by Total Politics:
The Top 100 Right of Centre blogs can be found here
Start reading today and find out first hand from people in the political world what is happening in Westminster and beyond. And remember have your say – blog today!
Something that is heard so often these days from the left is talk of how capitalism is evil and how due to the recession capitalism has failed. Here at YBF we would disagree. Capitalism is working perfectly and it is because of capitalism that we live in modern Britain and have access to all the technological advances that we do. That is why YBF would like to say ‘Enjoy Capitalism’.
During the summer YBF was privileged enough to meet the guys behind Bureaucrash. Bureaucrash is an international network of activists, called crashers, who share the goal of increasing individual freedom and decreasing the scope of government.
You can see some of the merchandise, or Contraband, available from Bureaucrash here (including the Enjoy Capitalism sticker displayed above).
As Richard Branson says:
“Capitalism may be in some sort of a crisis at the moment, but I still know of no better way of increasing human wealth and happiness.”
He goes on:
“Entrepreneurs have made the world a better place, taking the risks involved in innovating products and services that make people’s lives easier, better and safer. In the West, they have largely destroyed poverty as the rest of the world knows it and as history knows it.”
Now that the Left is intent on campaigning for a return to bigger government and dances on the supposed grave of capitalism it’s up to all of us to defend free-markets and to pronounce proudly: Capitalism Works!
Much of the work done by conservative activists of all ages is far too inward-looking and parochial. As a result it is far from welcoming to potential new members.
The last thing anybody who is considering joining a political party wants to hear is a litany of gripes aimed at that party’s leadership or, worse, that branch’s officers and members. Just as when you enter a shop you want to be greeted by staff with a cheery demeanour so it is with any organisation that you are considering joining.
If when you are set to welcome new members at a recruitment stall or even a social, fundraising or speaker event, you must resist the temptation to give vent to the many (perhaps justified) frustrations from which you may be suffering. It is a profoundly unattractive trait of conservatives (and, to be fair, the English in general!) to moan rather than to exhibit the welcoming and optimistic approach of Americans or Irish. It is only when considering the inherent truth of this that you realise the accuracy of Australians branding us as whinging poms!
When welcoming new members – or prospective new members – it is imperative that those individuals, whatever their age, are embraced into the conservative movement with enthusiasm. If people are made to feel welcome, they are more likely to get involved and to stay involved.
Make events fun – that is the lesson. What we are doing as conservative activists is of the utmost importance for the future of our nation. But we can do it with humour too!
Michael Andrew Gove (born 26 August 1967) is a Conservative politician, journalist and author in the United Kingdom. He is the current Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Surrey Heath since 2005. He has been called a “one-man think-tank”.
He was educated in Aberdeen at schools in the state, and independent sector, specifically at Robert Gordon’s College. He later studied at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, (1985-1988) where he served as President of the Oxford Union, returning in 1993 to serve as Chief Adjudicator at the World Universities Debating Championship.
Gove joined The Times in 1996 as a leader writer and has been comment editor, news editor, Saturday editor and assistant editor. He has also written a weekly column on politics and current affairs in the newspaper and contributed to the Times Literary Supplement, Prospect magazine and The Spectator. He has written a sympathetic biography of Michael Portillo and a critical study of the Northern Ireland peace process, The Price of Peace, for which he won the Charles Douglas-Home Prize.
Previously, Gove had worked for the BBC’s Today programme, On The Record, Scottish Television and the Channel 4 monologue programme A Stab In The Dark, alongside David Baddiel and Tracey MacLeod. He is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s The Moral Maze and Newsnight Review on BBC2.
Michael Gove was instrumental in the launch of the centre-right magazine Standpoint, and serves on its advisory board.
Gove joined the Conservative Party at university and was secretary of Aberdeen South Young Conservatives. He has helped write speeches for various cabinet and shadow cabinet ministers, including Peter Lilley and Michael Howard. He applied for a job at the Conservative Research Department, but was told he was “insufficiently political” and “insufficiently Conservative”, so he turned to journalism.
Gove was previously chairman of Policy Exchange, a right-wing think tank launched in 2002. As Conservative candidate in the safe seat of Surrey Heath, he entered Parliament in the 2005 general election.
In parliament, most of his questions are about Children, Schools and Families, Education, Local Government, Council tax, Foreign Affairs, and the environment.
Gove is seen as part of an influential set of young up-and-coming Tories, referred to as the Notting Hill set, which includes David Cameron, George Osborne, Edward Vaizey, Nicholas Boles and Rachel Whetstone. They are perceived as modernisers in social issues and humanitarian interventionist in foreign policy. Michael Portillo has predicted that Gove will one day lead the Conservative party. When Cameron was elected leader in December 2005, he appointed Gove the housing spokesman shadowing the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. On 2 July 2007, Gove was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.
If you would like Michael Gove MP to speak on your campus? Get in touch with YBF by emailing steven@ybf.org.uk. Michael Gove will speak on topics such as education and Conservatism.
Save General Election Night is a campaign to make sure we get the chance to watch our government change over night as we have done for years. Increasing numbers of councils are planning on counting the votes cast on the Friday morning rather than the Thursday night.
This is a cross-party campaign, started by political blogger Jonathan Isaby of ConservativeHome with the support of Labour MP Tom Harris and Mark pack of Lib Dem Voice – is for all those – candidates, political activists, broadcasters, journalists and voters alike – who oppose this development.
Please contact your local council (most likely the electoral registration department or Chief Executive’s office) to discover when the votes for your constituency at the general election will be counted.
If your council indicates that it will be counting on Friday or that it is yet to be decided, again, please let Jonathan Isaby know so that it can be posted with the others on the Facebook page, but please also lobby your local councillors and council leader to urge them to count the votes on the Thursday night.
Keep Track of Breaking News- One of the best things about Twitter is it keeps you up to date with all the news that’s important . It’s not just world news, but news that often flies under the radar. By following the right people, you always have access to the latest niche news you can’t find anywhere else.
Monitor Your Reputation- If you’re using twitter for professional purposes, it can be an effective tool for online reputation management. Track your name to keep tabs on what people are saying about you at any given time. Useful if you want to run for public office.
Fast Answers- If nobody is around to answer your question or you just want a fresh perspective on a topic, Twitter is one of the best ways to get a fast response. Simply pose your question to the community, and within minutes, you’ll have an array of responses from your followers. It could even spark a larger discussion that gets you some attention.
Gain Exposure for Your Website or Blog- Perhaps the most obvious benefit of Twitter is generating traffic to your website or blog. When you’re connected with followers who care about you, they’ll help spread your content by ReTweeting it to their friends.. Use Twitter responsibly, and you’ll experience more traffic to your blog and website.
Stay in Touch- Whether it’s a business contact from across the country or a friend from down the street, connecting with them on Twitter is an easy way to stay in touch. You’ll always know what they’re up to, and you can engage in brief discussions through DM or @ messages. Even if it’s someone you see all the time, you might get to experience a whole new side of them by following them on Twitter.
Meet New People- But you don’t have to follow just the people you know. You can also make valuable new contacts with Twitter. You can interact with others who like the same music as you, share the same political views, you can find all the new contacts you need through Twitter. Take the time to look through their profile, website links, and past Tweets to determine if it’s someone you’d be interested in following.
Be Several Places at Once- Let’s face it–you can’t be everywhere at once. People often live Tweet from events and conferences so if you can’t make it you can always find out what’s happening.
Build Your Authority- If you’re using Twitter to discuss a particular niche, you can build your authority by writing high quality Tweets. A few ways to build your authority on Twitter are to send out links to useful resources, provide useful tips to your follower’s, give insight into relevant topics, answer questions, and engage in discussions with your followers.
It’s Free! – One of the over riding reasons to use Twitter is that it doesn’t cost you anything and you can keep up to date with the worlds events through the eyes (or Tweets) of thousands of other people.
It’s Entertaining- Lastly, Twitter is just fun. You can get involved in some great conversations with your friends, and you’re bound to see some hilarious Tweets that make your day a little better.
Remember you can follow YBF on Twitter just click here.
Previously on Interactiv-ist Wednesday YBF showed you how to sign up to online petitions on the 10 Downing Street website. We could not, however, show you how to create your own petition as they were not being accepted by the PM due to him being out of office. He’s back in his office now though so why not make a petition and get people to sign it and let him know what you think about a particular subject. Whether it’s the EU, civil liberties or The Labour Party causing problems in your area, let him know what you think!
