Much of my correspondence from constituents comes in the form of standardised campaign emails about a given topic. I have in the past sent letters back in reply, once I have obtained the government’s formal response on the issue.
Given the big increase in postage charges, I have decided that it would be lighter on the taxpayer if I normally replied to these by email only. In future where there is a high volume campaign email, and I have been contacted by email, I will only reply with emails. Currently the cut Air Passenger Duty is a high volume campaign, with some support for the campaign to keep petrol and diesel duty down.
If any constituent would like a letter by reply I would be grateful if they would say so in their original email.
4 Comments
John,
I’m surprised, given your grasp of modern communications, that you’ve persisted with ‘snail mail’ for so long.
S.S.
Yet a “snail mail” reply seems, in my eyes, to be worth more. Email is quicker for informing, but a letter shows care.
John – I would have thought a reply in the same manner as the original would be the best option. So if someone cares enough to send you a letter, reply by letter. If all they want is info and send an email, reply via email. If they comment on your blog, a reply.
That would be my way of dealing with it.
Reply: I am only substituting email replies for incoming campaign emails, which is now the largest category by a big margin.
A sensible measure – I tend to support the rule of thumb to reply in the same manner, so phone back about a phone call, reply to a letter by letter, unless asked otherwise. (If I were a constituent emailing John, I could well be emailing from somewhere else and may not even see a postal reply for weeks or months – or indeed have a disability which makes email much more suited, for example a blind person using a Braille terminal for email.)
The strangest one must be a letter I received from my new MP, in response to an email I’d sent his predecessor several years earlier. It didn’t actually address or even mention the original issue, just acknowledged that I was a constituent who had previously contacted my MP. Come to think of it, he did reply by letter to a subsequent email from another constituent, which seemed a little odd to me at the time – though far better than receiving no response at all.
John, Why bother, you will be part of a tiny group soon. Just blag your salary and pension mate, the Conservatives are dead in the water.