Rejected petition Make Epetitions binding

The Conservative party proposed the introduction of Epetitions in their election manifesto. They were proposed as a way of empowering everyday people. A way to get the issues that matter to the public debated in the Houses of Parliament. The reality has been somewhat different.

Many petitions have reached the requisite 100'000 signatures. The issues have been debated in back offices. They have received little or no publicity and the findings have been largely ignored. In the last year 6.4 million signatures were added to Epetitions. This shows that the public have a need for the petitions. The catastrophically low voter turnout in recent elections shows that the public have become disenfranchised from the political process.

I call for binding rules meaning that, if an Epetition reaches its target, the government must debate the matter in the main chamber of the House of Commons and a minimum number of MP's from the relevant department must attend the debate.