Debate on Money Creation in Parliament – Get ready to act

It might sound unbelievable, but for the last 170 years, parliament has ignored the question of how money is created. The last significant debate on the creation of money in Parliament happened in 1844! And even though money plays an extraordinarily important role in today’s world, most Members of Parliament still wrongly believe that only the Bank of England has the authority to create money.

On Tuesday the 21st of October Steve Baker MP stood before the Backbench Committee and made a bid for a historic debate in the Chamber on‘Money Creation and Society’

“I believe that this is a problem that is absolutely at the heart of our society and what is wrong with our economy. The organisation Positive Money has helped me to campaign on this issue… I want it to be on money creation and society to flesh out both the problem and the range of possible solutions.”

The Backbench Committee will now consider the proposal. Due to limited time it is not possible to allocate debates on all the subjects which are suggested. However, if they do schedule our debate we will find out one week in advance.

We need to be ready to seize this opportunity!

Be ready to act

Once we know the debate is taking place, we need to make sure as many MPs attend as possible. The Backbench Committee announce the following weeks debates on a Wednesday, so we are watching them and preparing to make the most of this opportunity.

We need your help. As soon as we know the debate is taking place, we will ask you to do the following:

1. Email your MP – we will have a template ready.

2. Phone your MP – there is no simpler or more effective way of getting your voice heard.

3. Tweet your MP – for lots of Members of Parliament this is now the quickest way of getting your message across.

4. Tell friends and family! – we need as much help as possible to make sure MPs attend this historic debate.

In the meantime, we are still asking supporters to visit their MP drawing their attention to the results of the Dodds Poll we commissioned and asking them to attend the upcoming debate.

Have you been to see your MP? If so, make sure you tell us about it – just email dora[at]positivemoney[dot]org. If not, here is a briefing to help you make the appointment and prepare for your meeting.

Responses from political parties

Virtually every member of Parliament has been emailed by Positive Money supporters about the issue of money creation. We have had responses from MPs of most political parties. Read here about what Conservative MPs, here on what Labour MPs and here about what Liberal Democrat MPs think about the problem.

The responses we have had suggest that the debate is urgently needed.

If you haven’t emailed your MP yet, please do so now (there’s a template)