After looking up Stephen McPartland’s voting record, I thought I would write to him to address my concerns, and here is the letter for anyone who is interested to know what our MP actually stands for, because it is our right to know who really represents us:
Dear Mr McPartland,
I am writing to you as a resident of the constituency you represent with the intention of expressing my various concerns regarding both your position as the Member of Parliament for Stevenage and your questionable ideology. Please allow me to clarify that this is not merely a letter of gratuitous criticism, but a letter which I sincerely hope you take into careful consideration.
Despite the fact that I am fifteen years old, I take a great interest in politics due to my upbringing in a household where I was taught to respect those around me and support those in need, and my desire to help make this nation a more compassionate, equal society, challenging those who act to discriminate against others, whether it be for their gender, ethnicity, religion or wealth. As a result of this interest and aspiration, I researched you as a Member of Parliament and carefully scrutinised your voting record, which does not reflect positively on you. I wholeheartedly believe that as humans, we are all equal and all important, and this leads me to address my first concern; your stance on homosexuality. Of course, I also believe that we are entitled to freedom of thought and speech, however you have no right to decide whether or not a gay member of our community is allowed to get married to a member of the same sex. According to my research, you voted strongly in opposition to equal rights to marriage for gay people. May I ask though, how legislation for gay marriage affects you, unless of course, you aren’t telling us something? Feel free to remain loyal to your viewpoint on the matter, but please do not allow it to subtract from anyone else’s happiness. You are not entitled to interfere with other people’s lives or discriminate against them because of your reluctance to accept individuality in this way, and I truly do not think this attitude is representative of the Stevenage community, who are in my experience largely accepting of social diversity and supportive of equal rights.
Unless, Mr McPartland you believe yourself to be above the rest of us, why do you oppose equality? The only reason anyone could possibly support inequality is because they think they are better than everyone else– nobody wants to be worth less than everyone else, so if you do not view us all equals, you must think that some are better than others. Can you justify yourself and explain to me why you are worth more than a homeless veteran who struggles to survive every day? Can you explain to me why you are more deserving of a home and sustenance than him? If you truly believe he is just as deserving as you, then why have you continuously voted for policies which benefit the rich while putting the poor at a further disadvantage?
Not only is it profoundly immoral to vote against the Mansion Tax while voting against policies which would guarantee work for the young and unemployed, but it is incredibly illogical. This nation is statistically the sixth wealthiest on the planet, yet there are families that are forced to suffer, going without just to feed their children, old people freezing to death because they have no where to call home! Can you tell me why this is? It is because of greed. There is enough wealth in the nation for everyone to live comfortably, but the vulnerable such as the disabled and ill must go without so that avaricious politicians and corrupt bankers can have far more than they need. In this country, in 2015, we have an unstable, unfair society built on the foundations of the working class. Surely the logical way to run any system is for the biggest burden to be reserved for those capable of bearing it? It is logical to impose higher taxes on those who can afford it, that way, not only would the government have more money, but no one would have to go without and everybody benefits – let the strong be the ones to carry the vulnerable – let us build a society on the strongest foundation to keep it stable, rather than rely on those who can barely support us to carry the burden! The fact that you do not want the rich to receive further taxes while you wish to cut welfare spending even further leads me to conclude that there is a major flaw in either your morals or your logic, and I’d be willing to bet which. While there is an unfortunately false image of the Conservative Party being the party who are sensible and logical in their handling of the economy, your ‘long term economic plan’ actually makes very little sense as the whole system relies on taking money from those who do not have any, rather than taking money from a reliable source where the people can afford to pay the price. Placing the burden upon the poor rather than the rich is rather the same as trying to balance a ton of bricks on a wooden plank rather than vice versa. Perhaps the phrase ‘long term’ is just an excuse for your procrastination in reducing the deficit.
At this point I must question your intentions entirely – it has become perfectly clear to me that your aims are to make the rich richer and the poor poorer, because the inequality clearly isn’t significant enough when Iain Duncan Smith spends as much on his daily meals as some people have to live on in a week! Your voting record stands as evidence against you; your votes were frequently placed against extra spending in welfare and employment for the young, while your votes regarding tuition fees lead me to believe that you simply do not want ordinary people getting opportunities in life, that they should be reserved for those who can afford it. Does this mean that you measure a man by his wealth? Do you think that you only deserve more if you can pay for it with a currency that holds value only because we agree it does? Your preference for the rich is reinforced by your ‘very strong’ vote against the Mansion Tax. You clearly do not see us as equal in any way, and it seems that your arrogance exceeds your morals. Is the reason you voted against the Mansion Tax because it will affect you and your greed is so excessive that you cannot bear to part with any of your wealth? Because you don’t want a more equal society? Then admit that you do not see as equals, or explain yourself. The Mansion Tax would positively benefit society, so why do you oppose it, if not for yourself?
In contrast to your reluctance to vote on any policy which may require you to give anything back, you seem more than willing to keep the working class exactly where they are. It is no secret that you consistently voted against policies which could give more money to those on benefits, and that makes me wonder whether you actually want to provide opportunities to the people, or if you are merely interested in ensuring that the minimum money possible is spent on welfare so that people like you can keep as much as you like, sharing the least possible amount so that you get to keep more – ‘share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie’. Now I could understand why you voted against further spending in welfare, after all, it would make sense if money was scarce, but there is an abundance, an abundance which is not evenly distributed. Of course, the deficit is high and the Conservatives, so you say, need to get the economy back on it’s feet (of which our dear chancellor George Osborne is doing a spectacularly poor job might I add). The pathetic excuse of the Conservative Party is that they are making ‘tough decisions’ and they must be ‘selective’ with their spending, but there is plenty of money in this country as it is! You do not need to cut welfare, you need to get the rich to pull their weight and stop burdening our country as they do! I’m sure if Mr Osborne stopped using taxpayer’s money on his horses (in addition to other personal luxuries), the deficit would have been completely eliminated by now. Ask yourself Mr McPartland, who are the true scroungers in this country? If your votes were put forward with good intentions, you owe it to your constituents to explain yourself, or am I correct in thinking that they were made for your benefit, representing yourself, not the people who you allegedly represent?
Now I will finish off by telling you this; you do not represent the people of Stevenage. The only thing that won your party this General Election was your astonishing ability to lie and convince ordinary people that you work for them! Mr McPartland, I know many people who voted for you – they were not voting for anti-gay rights, they were not voting for austerity, they were not voting for a renewed nuclear weapons system! Instead, 24% (hardly a majority) of the electorate believed your rhetoric and abuse of figures. You continuously fed us the fallacy that Labour left you an enormous mess and you had to deal with it. Let me tell you that historically, only two Labour governments have seen increases in national debt, and one of these followed the global financial crisis of the Wall Street Crash in 1929, hardly Labour’s fault. In fact, after the Second World War, the Labour government of 1945-51 saw the debt decrease by 40% despite being left with the ruins of the war! Only three periods in the last 200 years have seen a larger percentage increase of debt than in George Osborne’s reign as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and two of these were world wars! The entirety of your support is built upon lies and accusations, shifting the blame to anyone but yourselves. First of all Labour is at fault, then the Liberal Democrats – it would seem that the irresponsible party is the Conservative Party, who cannot accept responsibility for anything.
All in all, I believe that you are not a suitable representative of the decent, hard working people and you should start to work in the interest of your constituents like any honest MP, or resign. The theory behind this system is that since we cannot sit every citizen in a room together, each local area elects one person to represent them all, so that everyone gets a voice. Your job is to be our voice in the Commons, so please, represent us properly! Work for us, not against us. You have a clear moral choice ahead of you – you have the potential to help many people, so use it! Of course, you could continue to work for your own interests, but I urge you to think, for that is the purpose of this letter, about the difference you could make. Stop helping the wealthy at everyone else’s expense and help the people who need it, help build a better Britain for everyone! I write to you not in hatred, but hope. I want nothing more than a compassionate, fair, and unified society. Does that not sound better than a divided, greedy, malicious one? Because as an MP, it is your decision. I have put a lot of time and thought into this letter, so please at least consider my words, and I would be very grateful if you would write back to me.
Yours sincerely,
Jacob Cooper, 15
