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This petition was submitted during the 2015 to 2017 Parliament

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Closed Require at least 80% of MPs to attend debates held as a result of a petition

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The British government implemented an official petition system to hear the needs of the people. However, it is failing its purpose: petitions reaching 100,000 signatures are debated, but often by a very small number of attending MPs. This must change to force the government to hear our wishes.

The petition to "accept more asylum seekers and increase support for refugee migrants in the UK" was signed by over 450,000 citizens, but only 27 MPs turned up to debate.

The petition to "make the production, sale and use of cannabis legal" received almost 250,000 signatures, yet even fewer of our elected MPs turned up to debate.

The petition system in its current form is a method for the government to systematically ignore the wishes of the electorate. This needs to change.

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10,000

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  • Petition closed

  • Petition published

    This petition can now be signed.

    If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

    If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

    This petition will stay open until 16 August 2016.