A HUNDRED MPs have now signed the Early Day Motion calling on the Government to reverse its decision to axe an annual £ 52,000 grant to the Woodcraft Folk.
Among the signatories of Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn's EDM are dozens of well-known Labour figures, leading Liberal Democrats Menzies Campbell and Lembit Opik and former Tory minister Peter Bottomley.
Eleven Co-op MPs had signalled their dismay at the move as campaigners sought a meeting with Children's Minister Margaret Hodge before the Easter break.
Despite a successful lobby of Parliament which attracted over 220 Woodcraft Folk members and supporters to Westminster, no meeting has yet been arranged.
The Woodcraft Folk's Deputy General Secretary Chris Pyke told the News: "The lobby of Parliament was very heartening. We thought we might get 70 or 80 people there, but there were at least 220 present, ranging from six-months-old to pensioners.
"So many people wanted to talk to their MPs about the funding issue that, in effect, we had a rolling meeting in Committee Room Five for over two hours with people making the case and MPs listening to their concerns in a sort of shift system."
Added Mr Pyke: "It's great that a lot of MPs are lobbying the Government on our behalf to try to get the decision reversed and there is also a possibility it will be raised in the House of Lords. At the moment, we are no further forward but we are hoping to get a meeting with the minister to press for a rethink."
The fact that support for Jeremy Corbyn's EDM has gone into treble figures is giving the campaign heart.
The following Labour/Co-op members have so far backed the motion: Mark Lazarowicz, David Taylor, David Lepper, Andy Reed, David Drew, Jim Dobbin, Mike Gapes, Andy Love, Louise Ellman, Alan Keen and Doug Naysmith.
Among the ?big guns' of the Parliamentary Labour Party who have signed the EDM are Dianne Abbott, Clive Soley, Kevin McNamara, Gerald Kaufman, Barbara Roche, Kate Hoey, Doug Henderson and Joan Ruddock.
In this article
- Chris Pyke
- David Lepper
- Deputy General Secretary
- Doug Naysmith
- Early day motion
- Easter
- Islington North
- Jeremy Corbyn
- Lembit Opik
- Liberal Democrats
- Margaret Hodge
- Mark Lazarowicz
- Menzies Campbell
- minister
- MP
- Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Peter Bottomley
- Politics of the United Kingdom
- Social Issues
- The Woodcraft Folk
- Woodcraft
Join the Conversation