The following has been produced by AOPA UK as a suggestion for lobbying your MP, elements of it will also be of use elsewhere.
You can easily find out who your representatives are by clicking
here.
SAVING THE IMC RATING – THE SALIENT POINTS WHEN WRITING TO YOUR MP
Explain why you did an IMC Rating and add any personal experiences that you may have had with it.
Include some or all of the points below as well as any you think will help this cause.
EASA does not want to ban the IMC rating. It has worked to obtain a European consensus on it, but some countries don’t agree.
The IMC rating is one of the significant factors contributing to the UK’s high GA safety rate, which is far better than the rest of Europe - France has some 90 fatalities a year, Germany about 80, the UK 20 to 25.
It is designed to save low-time pilots from the consequences of running into bad weather, a greater problem in the UK than in most of the rest of Europe because of our maritime climate.
The abolition of the rating is an unintended consequence of an administrative change. It is not a matter of standards or safety – quite the opposite. It is a matter of bureaucratic tidiness, and it calls for a political solution.
The CAA has been operating the rating for 40 years, during which time it has been audited at least 20 times by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, which has never expressed any concern.
There is no credible suggestion that it is unsafe, and there is a mountain of evidence that it makes better pilots and has saved many lives.
The IMC rating is supported by every major aviation organisation in Britain, from the British Air Line Pilots Association to the General Aviation Safety Council and the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators.
While EASA is still discussing the rating, it cannot adopt it without the unanimous agreement of 27 states. An administrative omission currently prevents the UK from offering the rating to British pilots in UK territory. A device must be created to allow this, and this must be arranged through the political process.