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38 Degrees

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38 Degrees
FoundedMay 2009
Focusprogressive political activism
Location
Methodpetitions, lobbying MPs, newspaper advertising campaigns, meetings
Key people
David Babbs (executive director), Hannah Lownsbrough (campaigns director), Johnny Chatterton (digital campaigns manager)
Website38degrees.org.uk

38 Degrees is a UK non-profit, progressive, political activism organisation that campaigns on a diverse range of issues, such as protecting the environment and tackling climate change, democratic media ownership, child poverty and political reform. The organisation claims to "campaign for fairness, defend rights, promote peace, preserve the planet and deepen democracy in the UK".[1]

38 Degrees takes its name from the critical angle at which the incidence of a human-triggered avalanche is greatest.

History

38 Degrees says it was inspired by groups like MoveOn in the United States, GetUp! in Australia and Avaaz globally. These organisations all use the internet to mobilise people and connect them and their governments. 38 Degrees believed an organisation based on a similar model was needed in the UK.[1]

The organisation launched on 26 May 2009.[2] Founders include Gordon Roddick, co-founder of The Body Shop, and Henry Tinsley, ex-chairman of Green & Black's chocolate.[3] The project was developed by Ben Brandzel, formerly of MoveOn, Avaaz, GetUp! and the Barack Obama presidential campaign in the United States. Other board members include Gemma Mortensen of Crisis Action, Paul Hilder of Oxfam, and Benedict Southworth of the World Development Movement.

The Executive Director is David Babbs, who signs off some emails and appears in the media. Babbs was formerly Head of Activism at Friends of the Earth where he was responsible for the Big Ask Campaign. Babbs also previously worked at People & Planet.[4] Other staff who sometimes sign off emails are Johnny Chatterton and Hannah Lownsbrough.

Previously known as Progressive Majority, 38 Degrees is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.[5]

Methodology

38 Degrees describes itself as a people-powered and multi-issue movement. It aims to empower UK citizens by providing easy ways for them to take action on the issues they care about e.g. climate change, human rights and poverty. Campaigning techniques include both online methods, such as online petitions, and offline methods, such as calling an MP or visiting a surgery.

Campaigns

Campaigns include:

  • Proposed sale of state-owned forests. In October 2010, Caroline Spelman – Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – announced plans to sell off publicly owned forest and woodland in England.[6] 38 Degrees launched a petition against the selling off of forests, raising concerns about loss of public access and impact on conservation. 38 Degrees members paid for an opinion poll which showed that 84% of the public were opposed to the government plans, and funded national newspaper adverts condemning the proposal. The 38 Degrees petition passed 500,000 signatures on 11 February 2011. 38 Degrees' campaign against forest privatisation has been praised by environmentalist Jonathon Porritt who contrasted their clear stance and responsiveness to member concerns with the "betrayal" of other green groups.[7]
  • Tax avoidance. On 5 January 2011, 38 Degrees ran a series of member-funded adverts in national newspapers, challenging George Osborne for his record on tackling tax dodging, highlighting an alleged £120 billion lost in unpaid tax annually and Osborne's own involvement in a tax dodge. The adverts were timed to coincide with a rise in VAT from 17.5% to 20%. They were printed in the Independent and the Guardian, while the Daily Telegraph, Metro and the Daily Mail refused to run them.[8]
  • "Stand up for the NHS". 38 Degrees members campaigned against the closure of NHS Direct – closure plans which were subsequently scaled back although ministers denied this was because of public pressure. 38 Degrees members also organised a series of public meetings around England in January 2011 to highlight concerns with NHS reforms proposed by Andrew Lansley.
  • The BBC and the licence fee. 38 Degrees launched a campaign called "Stand up for the BBC", after James Murdoch gave a speech to the Edinburgh Festival in 2009 calling for the BBC to be broken up. 38 Degrees members voted 80% in favour of the campaign. Recently the government announced it was putting on hold plans to "top slice" the licence fee after 38 Degrees pressure.
  • Bankers' bonuses. In November 2009, 38 Degrees worked with the think tank Compass on a successful campaign for the UK government to impose a tax on bankers' bonuses.
  • House repossessions. A campaign launched with the Big Issue to freeze repossessions during the recession. Every year in the UK, 75,000 homes face repossession.[14]
  • 10:10. 38 Degrees teamed up with 10:10 to urge MPs to vote to reduce the carbon emissions of Parliament by 10% in 2010. Over 48 hours, 10,000 members contacted their MPs.[15] The vote was lost but the government pledged extra money for green initiatives.[16]
  • Donald Trump in Aberdeenshire. 38 Degrees has been working with Tripping up Trump, a campaigning group in Aberdeenshire, to oppose Donald Trump's proposals to use compulsory purchase powers to force people off their land to make way for his luxury golf course complex.[17]

Results

38 Degrees is credited with:

  • Helping persuade UK P. M. David Cameron to back-track on a major National Health Service reform plan (according to Sky News' political commentator Jon Craig).[18]
  • Playing a key role in persuading the UK government to drop plans to privatise England's forests in February 2011.[19][20]
  • Being nominated for an Observer ethical award as campaigning group of the year in May 2011.[21]
  • Being listed in Wired magazine's May 2011 Wired 100, described as a "powerful political force".[22]

Controversies

  • 38 Degrees director David Babbs was the subject of a controversial interview by Sky News anchorwoman Kay Burley who was accused of aggressively interrupting Babbs and telling him to leave a protest about electoral reform and instead "go home and watch it on Sky News". The term "sack Kay Burley" subsequently trended on Twitter and hundreds of complaints were made to Ofcom.[23]
  • 38 Degrees has been criticised by a Conservative MP, Dominic Raab, for allowing members to send "clone emails" to MPs via its website.[24] Raab stated he would lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office about 38 Degrees using his parliamentary email address, but no complaint was ever upheld and it remains possible to email Raab via the 38 Degrees website.[25]
  • 38 Degrees has also been criticised by a Conservative MP, Eleanor Laing, for allowing members to send "clone emails"[26]. Laing complained that "I'm talking about an organization called 38 Degrees which floods our systems with emails, the same email over and over again hundreds of times; people don't even put their full name and address so they cannot be identified as real people. It is cowardly to hide behind the anonymity of an email, which has been proposed by someone else for the purpose. 38 Degrees is for the purpose of bringing down the system".

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "About us". 38 Degrees website. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  2. ^ "A British MoveOn - 38 Degrees - Launches Today". Liberal Conspiracy. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  3. ^ "The team". 38 Degrees website. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Where are they now profile: David Babbs". People & Planet. Retrieved 14 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Companies House (company ID 6642193)". Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  6. ^ Vidal, John (29 October 2010). "UK government confirms forest sell-off plans". The Guardian. London.
  7. ^ Lean, Geoffrey (14 March 2010). "Green groups lost in the woods". The Telegraph. London.
  8. ^ Reynolds, John (5 January 2011). "Newspapers spike ad targeting Osbornes tax record". Media Week.
  9. ^ Cook, Mariam (4 December 2009). "Armchair revolutionaries: internet activism and Copenhagen". The Guardian. London.
  10. ^ "What's your MP doing this summer?". BBC News. 19 July 2009.
  11. ^ Helm, Toby; Asthana, Anushka (9 August 2009). "MPs set to desert House of Commons in droves". The Guardian. London.
  12. ^ "Protect MPs with a privacy law, says Lembit Opik". Wales Online. 7 August 2009.
  13. ^ Babbs, David (27 May 2009). "We need a recall law now". The Guardian. London.
  14. ^ "Repossessions crisis hits UK". The Big Issue in Scotland. 4 June 2009.
  15. ^ "10:10 in Parliament". 10:10 global. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  16. ^ Chatterton, Johnny (22 October 2009). "1010 vote - the result". 38 Degrees blog. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  17. ^ "Aberdeenshire council: don't force local families out of their homes". 38 Degrees online petition. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  18. ^ Why Tory MPs Have NHS Jitters – Boulton & Co., Sky News Blogs
  19. ^ How England's forest were saved for the nation – The Telegraph
  20. ^ Forest sell-off: Social media celebrates victory – Fiona Harvey, Environment, Guardian.co.uk
  21. ^ Observer Ethical awards Winners 2011 Guardian.co.uk
  22. ^ 2nd annual Wired 100: Positions 100-80 Wired.co.uk
  23. ^ Quinn, Ben (9 May 2010). "Kay Burley criticised over 'aggressive' interview". The Observer. London.
  24. ^ John Spence (11 August 2010). "Dominic Raab challenges 38 Degrees over removal of e-mail address". The Vibe website. Retrieved 14 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ "Tory MP in bid to have email address removed from lobbying websites". The Daily Mail. London. 10 August 2010.
  26. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0170424/Parliament_Week_The_Speakers_Debate/


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