E-petitions to parliament set for green light

Wednesday, 29 December 2010 12:00 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

The prospect of popular online causes being debated in parliament may come into force within 12 months.

Ministers are seeking to replace the previous e-petition page on the Downing Street website with a new facility on the Directgov website.

The plans would mean petitions which gain enough online support will get parliamentary time for debate - with the possibility for some becoming bills remaining open.

Details of under what format the petitions would be debated are still being thrashed out by ministers. It is expected they could take the form of private members' bills championed by a single MP - meaning those petitions which make it to the floor of the House might be easily defeated.

Approval from House of Commons authorities including Speaker John Bercow will still have to be sought before the proposals can go ahead.

E-petitions to the government were first introduced under Tony Blair's premiership, purportedly to engage with online public opinion, though there was no obligation to take popular proposals into legislation.

The capricious nature of the system saw some more obscure proposals become popular - including one simply calling for the resignation of then prime minister Gordon Brown. It gained the support of 70,000 people.

The coalition's plans stem from a Conservative manifesto pledge, carried into coalition policy in June.

Labour figures denounced the plans, arguing the internet could not represent public opinion and that the proposals would see bizarre subjects being discussed in the House of Commons.

The government insists petitions would be screened before being approved for debate.

Paul Flynn, a Labour member of the influential public accounts committee, told the Today programme: "If we get the e-petitions in there will be some asking for Jeremy Clarkson to be prime minister, for Jedi and Darth Vader to be the religions of the country."

He added that the blogosphere "is dominated by the obsessed and the fanatical and we will get crazy ideas coming forward".

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