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| The falling numbers of people voting in Suffolk Parish, Town, Borough, County and General elections troubles me. |
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| But the right to elect the people who spend your Council Tax and Income Tax should not be taken for granted. |
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| That’s why I have recently launched a brand new interactive website - www.telldavidruffley.com. This allows my constituents to log on and give their views to me on line in surveys on the important Suffolk issues of the day. |
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| I am the first MP in East Anglia I know to take local politics into the 21st century in this way. Suffolk people want responsive local politicians and this will help me meet that demand. I have recently headed a league table of MPs nationally for responding to constituents’ enquiries. These were letters sent electronically to MPs via the independent website www.faxyourmp.com. That’s one example of how technology monitors what your politicians do on your behalf. |
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| But I am continuously looking for new ways of making politicians like myself more accessible. My new survey website was the natural next step. |
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| This kind of technology, of course, isn’t for everyone. Lots of my constituents are not on the internet. But in ten years’ time many more will be. Indeed, in ten years time voting in Suffolk council and general elections will probably be done over the internet! |
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| I am not a natural at computer technology, so I am continually impressed by the ease and skill with which young pupils in our local schools use computers. Go to our primary, middle and upper schools to see how technology is being embraced by the very young. The youngsters of today will be the older public opinion of tomorrow. So it is vital that Members of Parliament become more “interactive”. |
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| It is often said that younger people are not interested in national politics. Yet they do care passionately about the environment, fair trade and Third World Debt. |
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| They are disillusioned with ‘old style’ politics. |
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| I know what they mean. Politicians must take some blame for this and work harder to engage people of all ages once again. |
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| To earn the trust of the public, politicians of all parties - locally and nationally – must only promise what can be achieved. More humility wouldn’t go amiss either. |
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| Politicians don’t have all the solutions. We should not pretend we do. |
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| We mustn’t promise to solve every problem, agree with everyone, right every wrong or cure every ill. |
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| But we MUST do our best to LISTEN. This is what my latest initiative is all about. I hope Suffolk people of all ages use it! |
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