In the Dark

Labour MP Tom Harris, publishes on his blog today, an email from an irate constituent which neatly illustrates Britain's current democratic deficit.

Tom's constituent is clearly not happy about the ban on incandescent 100watt light bulbs (my emphasis bold):

I can’t see a bloody thing. It is dark outside and we have run out of light bulbs that have anything other than a glow. I am stuck with a 60watt bulb in a room with a ceiling that an athlete couldn’t reach. Which bunch of well meaning but utterly misguided idiots decreed that to have 100watt conventional light bulbs was bad?

What idiots indeed? He continues:

Without being too hasty, I promise you my vote if you bring back proper, enlightening, illuminating lightbulbs.

Understandably frustrated and annoyed by the ban, he writes to his MP using his vote as the weapon. But what can Tom do?

The ban is the result of EU Eco-Design of Energy-Using Products Directive, Directive 2005/32/EC. No matter who the constituent votes for, the ban will remain.

Tom, and therefore by default his constituent, have been rendered powerless, and the MP is left with the only solutions of lending out light bulbs, if he had any, and publishing the email on the internet.

What a sad state of affairs!

P.S. I'm not sure what Tom's private response was, but it's notable that he doesn't mention the EU in the post itself, although some of the comments pick this up.