Greenpeace is in trouble with some previously friendly Labour MPs after an e-mail campaign before today’s Commons vote about the third runway at Heathrow collapsed some of their e-mail boxes. The group had asked the public to contact 57 Labour MPs who had indicated they would vote against the project, amid fears that some might waver and follow the government line.
Several have complained to the parliamentary authorities. Nick Palmer, MP for Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, said that he had had 5,000 e-mails, coming in every ten seconds at their peak. “It means my own constituents that I’m here to represent can’t contact me about Heathrow or any other subject,” he told a political blogsite. “It’s making me less likely to support them.” A Greenpeace spokesman responded: