MP’s vote today at 4pm on whether the V should be compulsary for care home workers. The letter I mention is here: Note I have shortened the V word for here, please alter back to use the full word before sending to your MP Subject: Please vote against mandatory V Dear [YOUR MP’S NAME], I am writing to ask you to vote against the Draft Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021, which has been announced at short notice for today. This would make double Cov V mandatory for care home staff and people in related roles who work in or visit care homes such as cleaners, kitchen staff, trades, beauticians, volunteers and inspectors. I’m urging you to vote against this proposal because it is: Coercive: Mandatory V abandons long held public health principles in this country. It would be the crossing of the Rubicon on medical choice, medical confidentiality and bodily autonomy – vital elements of the protected right to privacy. The Government could no longer claim that no one is “forced” to receive V in England. Counter-productive: There is no legal precedent for mandatory V in the UK, except for Victorian Britain, where mandatory smallpox V were ultimately reversed after instigating the anti-V movement. Mandatory V is likely to increase distrust. Support has long proven more effective at improving uptake than coercion. Seismic legal shift: Mandatory V have been explicitly prohibited under the Public Health Act. Hepatitis B V are not mandatory under national law for health workers, but recommended under NHS Trusts’ policies. The impact of this legal change has not been fully considered. Unnecessary: 85% of eligible staff, and over 95% of residents in care homes have received V. Many more may have natural immunity – this has not been considered. Discriminatory: This legal change will reverse long-held protections on workers’ medical privacy, opening a can of worms of new risks to workers’ rights. Existing or prospective employees in care homes without V could face either unwanted medical treatment or redundancy, whilst workers in sectors that serve care homes – from kitchen staff to trades and beauticians – will be seen as undesirable and face job losses. Un V employees are disproportionately likely to be young people, who face a low risk from Covid, and black and minority ethnic groups. GMB reports that over a third of care workers will consider quitting their jobs if this vote is successful tomorrow. This is a real and serious risk to safety and quality care in care homes, when it is needed most. Please vote against mandatory V today. Kind regards, [YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS] ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkZhiO8niHc

I explore Robert Cialdini’s powers of persuasion as detailed in his book ‘Influence - The Psychology Of Persuasion’. I talk about one of his areas of persuasion, authority, how it works and how effective it can be. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiSwBHwhdCo