E-petitions: giving people a voice

Just a day before MPs got ready to enjoy their long summer break, with Parliament now in recess until 6 October, an interesting new announcement came out of the Commons. On Tuesday, 22 July, the Government called on the House to adopt an e-petition system that would allow the public to petition MPs through the internet. Parliamentarians will have to make a decision about this when they return in the fall.

The Rt Hon Harriet Harman, Leader of the House, made the announcement that the Government was behind the recommendations put forward by the Commons Procedure Committee, to create an e-petitions website and office. Hopeful of widening the scope of debate in Parliament, Harman has introduced other initiatives in her efforts to get Parliament more connected and engaged with the public. Last year, she introduced weekly topical debates in the Commons and would like to see this idea continued.

The Prime Minister’s Office already has an e-petitions system in place. Since it was launched back in 2006, more than 29,000 e-petitions have been received at Downing Street, resulting in over 5.8 million signatures. Last February, one million drivers signed a petition against road-charging, becoming the most popular petition on the Downing Street’s website. Despite the fact that the former Transport Secretary, Douglas Alexander, said that he would listen to motorists concern, he said that road-charging was inevitable. This of course raises some doubts about what impact e-petitions actually have.

However, being the optimist that I am, I think that giving people the opportunity to voice their opinion in this way is a great idea and one that would strengthen people’s confidence in our democratic system. Improving public access and engagement with Parliament is certainly a worthy pursuit when people often feel far removed and disengaged from Governmental procedures and processes. I hope that MPs will return from their summer holidays refreshed and reinvigorated, but most importantly, ready to support this new plan.