Following up from my meeting with my MP David Gauke, I did get a letter back from him just a month later. Not bad going given previous form.
It was a short letter forwarding on a more detailed letter from Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth.
It doesn’t seem to address the first of the two actions Gauke took from our surgery directly – about them taking leadership on the issue of climate change.
I’m now left wondering whether to follow that up with Gauke, or to start a Freedom of Information request to see whether he followed up on both points, or just the second. What do you think?
Here is the letter below – at least a useful piece of paper to brandish:
John Bell vs Climate Change (currently 15,148-155 to Climate Change) 
Definitely don’t send him another letter on this. The reasonable thing to do would be to go and talk to him again.
But as he is an expert at the brush off and climate change is not his top priority, I would go down the Freedom of Information route which I’m sure you would be heading anyway after your next meeting.
At least he’ll know you mean business in future communications.
I’m going to start off with the letter / email, then arrange a follow-up.
It depends on what he understood by “leadership”. You might have meant “leading the international communities on climate change”. He might have understood “we are the government so we lead by default even if that means doing nothing”. Unless your meeting had offical minutes, I doubt if a FOI search will reveal anything. I agree that another face to face talk would be good if you can prepare counter arguments to his position. Good luck.
He understood alright – he is expert at the “agree with others’ point without changing his position” game.