E-petitions

[redgiant]

Saw this on the Beeb news site today - BBC News - E-petitions urge MPs debate return of death penalty

Will having e-petitions actually change politics to allow us voters more say in what laws are agreed or will it be treated like another one of those independent surveys? I think it will be the latter unfortunately.

 

[redgiant]

Saw this on the Beeb news site today - BBC News - E-petitions urge MPs debate return of death penalty

Will having e-petitions actually change politics to allow us voters more say in what laws are agreed or will it be treated like another one of those independent surveys? I think it will be the latter unfortunately.

As for the death sentence question I think the results are going to show that people are strongly against it coming back.

Aside from the risk that you could kill someone who didn't commit the crime it also won't sort out the large prison population we have at the moment as the backlog of getting people through a UK Death Row will require more prisons to be built anyway.

 

[DaveB]

It's just another way for the government to pacify the nutters that would otherwise be bombarding their MP's with rambling semi-coherent letters written in green ink and starting "Why, Oh Why, Oh Why...."

 

[Arturo Bassick]

It seems like there are a lot of reactionary dickheads who do not understand the e-petitions site too.
There is a petition to not bring back the death penalty.

The ethos of the e-petitions site is that if 100,000 signatures are gathered then Parliament will debate the issue.
So the reaction to the call for the death penalty to be reinstated may actually be the trigger for the Parliamentary debate.

 

[Pondlife]

It's just another way for the government to pacify the nutters that would otherwise be bombarding their MP's with rambling semi-coherent letters written in green ink and starting "Why, Oh Why, Oh Why...."

WHS

Signing one of them would have the same effect as twittering #meatycockburger would have on MaccyD sales. 0

 

[Pondlife]

It seems like there are a lot of reactionary dickheads who do not understand the e-petitions site too.
There is a petition to not bring back the death penalty.

The ethos of the e-petitions site is that if 100,000 signatures are gathered then Parliament will debate the issue.
So the reaction to the call for the death penalty to be reinstated may actually be the trigger for the Parliamentary debate.

Nope

Any petition signed by more than 100,000 UK citizens goes to the cross-party Commons Backbench Business Committee, which will decide whether it is worthy of debate.

 

[DimPrawn]

Why not skip the petition and just form a mob roaming the streets with piano wire.

Lets start by visiting MPs and bankers homes.

 

[AtW]

The best political system was described in Sheckley's "A Ticket to Tranai" - no crime, no beggars, no taxes, no divorces and politicians are under complete control of the voters...

 

[Pondlife]

Scores on the doors so far

Petition to retain the ban on Capital Punishment View 	1,634 	04/02/2012
Restore Capital Punishment View 	786 	04/02/2012
Keep Formula 1 Free To Air in the UK View 	706 	04/08/2012
Legalise cannabis View 	248 	04/08/2012
Absolute right to self-defence within ones home View 	216 	04/02/2012
Decriminalise recreational drugs View 	186 	04/08/2012
Formula 1 and other sports events View 	179 	04/08/2012
Return of Hanging for Serious Crimes View 	164 	04/08/2012
Remove the ban on gay blood donation View 	119 	04/08/2012
withdraw from the european human rights act View 	95 	04/08/2012
Repeal the Digital Economy Act View 	92 	04/02/2012
No to reintroducing the death penalty View 	71 	04/08/2012
Anonymity in rape trials View 	64 	04/11/2011
Petition to legalize Euthanasia View 	63 	04/08/2012
Stop HS2 View 	61 	04/08/2012
The return of Capital punishment for crimes of Murder View 	58 	04/08/2012
Do Not Restore Capital Punishment View 	47 	04/08/2012
Britain wants referendum to leave EU View 	40 	04/08/2012
Do NOT bring back capital punishment. View 	37 	04/08/2012
Against the restoration of capital punishment View 	37 	04/08/2012

 

[Arturo Bassick]

Nope

Any petition signed by more than 100,000 UK citizens goes to the cross-party Commons Backbench Business Committee, which will decide whether it is worthy of debate.

Fair comment, but misses my point.
The reason for the web site is to petition Government to debate an issue, it is not a referendum on the posters chosen subject. So a petition against something is just as likely to trigger debate as a petition for the same something.