Supertramp Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Well 2 of the 3 issues debated have been accepted so far so it does work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 ok so you have an epetition and you get 100,000 signatures, what happens next ? well the subject of the epetition would be added to the list of debates for the house of commons and eventually it would bubble to the top there is absolutely nothing to say that MP's have to attend this debate and even if they do turn up there is absolutely nothing that says anyone has to say anything if it's something MP's don't want to discuss, or are perfectly happy with, then you will have several seconds of stony silence before the speaker moves on to the next order of business, the petition will then be consigned to history and the debate will be over suppose you get 1,000,000 signatures and actually get to put legislation in front of the house and they have to vote on it there is absolutely nothing to say they will vote in favour of it the situation is this, the only time your opinion matters is during the time that parliament has dissolved and your vote is required in a general election in that period politicians will promise you the moon in order to get your vote once your vote has been cast, you are of no further interest except as a source of taxation to pay for the running of the country, your opinion does not matter until the next election, any promises made to secure your vote may or may not be honoured but if they are not, then you have no recourse once you have cast your vote and a government is formed then there is absolutely nothing you can do to influence the running of the country you can write to your MP if you wish but they are not required to listen to you, they are certainly not required to obey you generally an MP will follow the instruction of the party whip because if they don't the party can have them demoted to a position of no influence, as I believe happened in the EU referendum vote, and then possibly removed from the party at the next election if the party whip does not give any orders they are free to follow their own conscience and then a long way down the list comes the wishes of their constituents but generally they will not do anything that will upset the leadership of their own party for fear of the reprisals so we have epetitions, so we can get a debate or even have our own legislation voted on the party or coalition that has formed the government will still do precisely what it wants and there is nothing we can do about it until the next election and even then it's a case of swapping one set of people who will do what they want and not listen to us for another set of people who will do what they want and not listen to us Sounds about right to me, they do say the only difference between a dictatorship and a democracy is that in a democracy we can choose our dictators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElasticMan Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Wel, ok, that would be suffice. I think it should, but would it? Would the Council debate, if a petiiton gained the same percentage in their Council run area, as the House of Commons would debate if 100'000 signatures were gained for the whole of the UK population? No. Of course not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe9T Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 No. Of course not. Even if the petition ONLY concerned that particular city and NOT the whole of the UK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe9T Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 Let's say a petition was organised in a particular area, that ONLY concerned those that lived in that partclar area and 0.16% signatures of the population of that area was gained, then what is the difference between that and 0.16% of signatures gained on a petition that concerns the WHOLE of the UK? 100'000 signatures gained on a petition that concerns the entire country of 60 million, is exactly the same as 891 signatures gained (or 0.16%) of the population of say Sheffield, if that petition ONLY concerned that city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truman Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Let's say a petition was organised in a particular area, that ONLY concerned those that lived in that partclar area and 0.16% signatures of the population of that area was gained, then what is the difference between that and 0.16% of signatures gained on a petition that concerns the WHOLE of the UK? 100'000 signatures gained on a petition that concerns the entire country of 60 million, is exactly the same as 891 signatures gained (or 0.16%) of the population of say Sheffield, if that petition ONLY concerned that city. The online petition only means that the subject may be debated in parliament..doesn't mean it will be carried..doesn't even mean that MP's will turn up to it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esme Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Well 2 of the 3 issues debated have been accepted so far so it does work.I seem to be having trouble finding a list of the ones debated so far I know one successful one was the release of the hillsborough documents which cost little to release and didn't change any policy another one was the removal of benefits from those who took part in the recent riots, which I don''t think got anywhere, but I may be wrong and my memory is blank after that, can you remind me what the other one was ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertramp Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Let's say a petition was organised in a particular area, that ONLY concerned those that lived in that partclar area and 0.16% signatures of the population of that area was gained, then what is the difference between that and 0.16% of signatures gained on a petition that concerns the WHOLE of the UK? 100'000 signatures gained on a petition that concerns the entire country of 60 million, is exactly the same as 891 signatures gained (or 0.16%) of the population of say Sheffield, if that petition ONLY concerned that city. No it's simple 100,000 signatures are needed and the issue will be debated in the House of Commons. It's not a certain percentage needed or any other figure, it is 100,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe9T Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cameron-ill-give-power-to-the-petition-1893322.html "Under a Conservative government, 100,000 signatures on a petition will be enough to guarantee a debate in the House of Commons. A million signatures will give the organisers the right to put legislation in front of the Commons which MPs WILL have to vote on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe9T Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 I seem to be having trouble finding a list of the ones debated so far I know one successful one was the release of the hillsborough documents which cost little to release and didn't change any policy another one was the removal of benefits from those who took part in the recent riots, which I don''t think got anywhere, but I may be wrong and my memory is blank after that, can you remind me what the other one was ? Signing up: Popular causes Downing Street e-petitions have turned into a rough guide to the sort of causes that have support in the tens and hundreds of thousands. They were introduced halfway through Tony Blair's premiership, but only really took off after campaigners used this device to organise opposition to a government proposal to tax motorists by the mile. The most popular Downing Street petitions, and the number of signatures they attracted, are: *No to road pricing: 1,811,424 *Create a Remembrance Day bank holiday in November: 531,400 *Allow the Red Arrows to fly at the 2012 Olympics: 502,625 *Reduce fuel duty: 304,641 *Ban the construction of a "mega mosque": 281,882 *Scrap inheritance tax: 128,622 *Create a dedicated military and veterans hospital: 113,979 *Don't scrap childcare vouchers: 93,626 *Make Jeremy Clarkson prime minister: 49,457 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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