This petition was submitted during the 2015-2017 parliament
Petition Senior Ministers should be available to mainstream media during crises...
With self-evident crises (like the NHS or Southern Rail) the Minister with that brief should be directly answerable.
I have lost count of the number of times I've heard phrases like 'we asked for a comment but no one was available.'
More details
Clearly we don't need to interrogate Ministers on their shoes or their trousers (leather or not) - this would be petty.
When something serious is unfolding, however, they should be immediately available and answerable.
Some Ministers (eg Jeremy Hunt) seem to see their job as some kind of sinecure: not good enough.
We don't need written statements - they can't be interrogated. Nor a junior sacrificial lamb (eg Chris Philp). We need the Minister with overall responsibility.
This petition closed early because of a General Election Find out more on the Petitions Committee website
22 signatures
Show on a map the geographical breakdown of signatures by constituency
10,000 signatures required to get a government response