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Government Petition Sites That Never Lead to Change are Part of the Managed Illusion of Democracy

by Dr David Seedhouse
10 May 2022 6:00 PM

There follows a guest post by Dr. David Seedhouse, Honorary Professor of Deliberative Practice at Aston University, who says the public are being fobbed off with a Government petition website that never brings about any change.

For the last year I have run a website promoting participatory democracy: Our Decision Too. We have a small group of loyal supporters on the site who debate topical issues, providing examples of how citizens might be involved in direct decision-making, were we to have the opportunity. One of our members, concerned about the one-eyed mainstream media framing of the Ukraine-Russian conflict, asked if we might create a petition on the Government petitions site. Her original suggestion was:

We request that the House of Commons holds a full, emergency debate on the Government’s policy on the war in Ukraine. The war in Ukraine is a complex issue, not a simple matter of Russia = bad, Ukraine and the West = good.

While any U.K. citizen can start a petition, only 80 characters are allowed in the title so we agreed this version: “Debate the history of Ukraine-Russian relations to inform U.K. policy.”

The petition was rejected on the ground that it was “not clear what the petition is asking the U.K. Government or Parliament to do”. Apparently, one of the rules is that petitions need to call for a specific action and it seems a debate doesn’t qualify. So we had another go: “Hold a referendum on sending deadly weapons to Ukraine.”

This time the petition was published, but it was an edited version, altered without permission to this: “Hold a referendum on sending deadly offensive weapons to Ukraine.”

I received no explanation and have no opportunity to challenge the Government’s amendment since its email address is a ‘no reply’ address.

Were I able to, I would tell the Government:

  1. Adding ‘offensive’ significantly changes the meaning of the petition, implying that ‘defensive’ weapons (whatever these are) are acceptable.
  2. My name is now associated with a statement that I didn’t write and do not believe. I believe the Government should not fund any weapons to Ukraine without the informed consent of U.K. citizens.

A little digging reveals a depressing picture. Almost 40,000 petitions have been posted, three quarters of which have been rejected outright. The House of Commons has debated 126 and responded to 658, though the comebacks are largely bland and non-committal. Sometimes the Government claims to be doing what the petition asks already or makes blatant value judgements without apology. For example, the petition “make parking at work permanently free for all NHS workers” prompted this retort:

Free hospital parking for NHS staff was a time-limited measure during the pandemic. It is right to end this now as we learn to live with the virus. Free parking for staff working overnight remains.

While it is a relief to learn that the pandemic is officially over, there is an unmistakable sense of a jaded schoolteacher reprimanding a recalcitrant pupil, “Not again Jamieson, how many times do I have to tell you I make the decisions around here?”

In fact none of the 40,000 petitions have succeeded in bringing about their desired change. As Amelia Tait reports in the New Statesman: “Despite accumulating millions of signatures and hundreds of thousands of shares, not a single one of these campaigns succeeded in obtaining its intended outcome.”

The Government argues that petitions have occasionally been a catalyst for policy change, but can point to just four rather slight examples. Even granting these, a success rate of 0.01% is hardly an example of productive public engagement.

So why bother with a Government petitions website at all? If you are going to prohibit most submissions from the get-go, fob off almost all that do pass scrutiny with a vacuous response, and even change the wording of some without consent, is it really worth the effort?

I can only guess why the Government continues to run its weird petitions site but suspect that it is partly self-delusion and partly deliberate subterfuge. By running a website open to any U.K. citizen the Government reinforces its own myth that it really does believe in democracy. At the same time, by minutely managing what is allowed, it runs no risk of any group of citizens actually exercising what should be a basic democratic right – asking the Government to represent the will of the people.

Of course, we know from the past two years of repeated assaults on our fundamental freedoms that the U.K. Government, like many others, has no interest whatsoever in including citizens in any part of its decision-making processes. We have a practically meaningless vote once every five years, and that’s about as far as it goes.

Yet there are readily achievable alternatives. For example, instead of ‘possibly’ debating petitions if they reach 100,000 signatures, it would be a relatively simple matter to guarantee a vote on any petition over a threshold of say three million:

Petition → Threshold passed → Informed debate in the House → Free vote → Law passed or rejected

This form of direct democracy, though less immediate than the Swiss version, would require a radical divestment of power by the handful of people who guard it so jealously. At the moment there seems little chance that this will happen. To those outside the self-congratulatory Government bubble, inclusive citizenship seems as far away as ever.

The bottom line is the Government doesn’t trust us. It claims to be delivering what we want and thinks of itself as a world-leading example of democracy while doing everything it can to prevent representative change, including micro-managing its petitions process.

If we are ever to have meaningful democracy, superficial non-solutions like token petition sites and antiquated first-past-the-post elections must be seen for what they are and replaced by systems where we can reflect, debate and make our own decisions without Government censorship.

David Seedhouse is creator of Our Decision Too and welcomes new members. The site is free of charge.

Tags: DemocracyPetitionPropaganda

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113 Comments
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Davke
Davke
3 years ago

No no. You’re looking at all those chronic old diseases and problems. Never mind those. Look over here at the new shiny thing. This is the future. This is what matters now.

20
0
Lockdown Sceptic
Lockdown Sceptic
3 years ago
Reply to  Davke

Sturgeon wants to be a bigger DICKtator than Macron

Refuse to comply and our freedoms won’t die

FRANCE Business’s REFUSE To Enforce PASSPORTS / Hugo Talks Some More
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwNnhrahyW8

Stand in South Hill Park Bracknell every Sunday from 10am meet fellow anti lockdown freedom lovers, keep yourself sane, make new friends and have a laugh.

Join our Stand in the Park – Bracknell – Telegram Group
http://t.me/astandintheparkbracknell

4
-4
Pavlov Bellwether
Pavlov Bellwether
3 years ago

This needs to end now. Don’t comply. Ditch the masks. Protect the children. Updated website with useful information, resources and links: https://www.LCAHub.org/

25
0
RickH
RickH
3 years ago

Both this and the following item (re. education) tell us what we know already.

The problem is that the vast majority just don’t see these local and global imbalances, inequalities and other damage created by lockdowns – they just assume it’s all ‘necessary’ in fighting a terrible plague.

That’s what has to be cut through.

25
0
TheyLiveAndWeLockdown
TheyLiveAndWeLockdown
3 years ago

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-viral-true-indicator-sars-cov-transmission.html

Asymptomatic with COVID transmit it as much as Symptomatic…. Therefore the jab is even more dangerous

5
0
RW
RW
3 years ago
Reply to  TheyLiveAndWeLockdown

Short version: Proponents of current Corona policies convinced that lockdowns work and must be intensified because COVID hasn’t been eradicated yet. We already knew that one since last year.

The remainder of this useless collection of “anecdotes with numbers” can go directly to the bin: If I test positive for Sars-CoV2 and happen to have met someone who also tested positive, that’s not a proof that I got it from him or he from me.

3
0
Waffle
Waffle
3 years ago

UK approves Moderna’s Covid vaccine for 12 to 17-year-olds after medical watchdog rules jab is safe in children

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9901121/UK-approves-Modernas-Covid-jab-12-17-year-olds.html

Not overly surprised, but still disappointing news.

7
0
RW
RW
3 years ago
Reply to  Waffle

This will at least be approved as safe and effective way to protect older adults for children aged 3 months and over (or whatever the earliest age for dropping them into a nursery happens to be).

4
0
Waffle
Waffle
3 years ago

Some positive news – Dandelion Root extract can block Spike Protein. Invitro studies found Taraxacum Officinale has positive benefits for SP exposure arising from SARS-CoV-2. Root decoction found to be anticoagulant, anti-adhesive, anti-aggregation, anti-oxidative.

https://twitter.com/ukmfa1/status/1427601233083240454?s=20

2
0
chris c
chris c
3 years ago
Reply to  Waffle

Careful now, the French call dandelion piss-en-lit for a reason, it is highyl diuretic. A friend used to make dandelion coffee which was delicious but best drunk close to a toilet.

1
0
Encierro
Encierro
3 years ago

I will drink to that.

3
0
RW
RW
3 years ago

The bit I was expecting:

we need to redouble our efforts by reducing the availability of alcohol, restricting its marketing and by uprating minimum unit price.

Obviously the only thing one can possibly do when policies said to improve so-called public health end up pushing people into so-called problem drinking: We are never wrong, the other’s are just inherently wicked!

14
0
Rogerborg
Rogerborg
3 years ago
Reply to  RW

What the Grauniad doesn’t mention, but to be fair, Al Beeb does, is that the Scotch actually drank less last year, so the minimum pricing is “working”.

However, what it’s doing is reducing the moderate drinking that wasn’t a problem, not the addiction drinking that is.

5
0
RW
RW
3 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

This happens to be one area where the Americans are actually ahead of us (and significantly so): They consider substance abuse a mental disorder which might require treatment and not an excuse to punish the people affected by it.

4
0
Nessimmersion
Nessimmersion
3 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

Like high tax Skandiland, the minimum pricing nonsense boosts alternative alcohol sources.
Day 1 of Nicola Stalins min pricing & majestic wines open a new warehouse in Berwick on Tweed – funny that.
Amazon & all the online wine beer websites were sold out of many of their product lines last year.
(Just for info Norway has super high tax on alcohol & is one of the worlds biggest consumers of sugar – who thinks they are putting it on cornflakes and not stills)

9
0
FarligGods
FarligGods
3 years ago
Reply to  Nessimmersion

This is a fact comiong from one who lives in Norway. The Norwegians go to Sweden, the Swedes go to Denmark, the Danes go to Germany, the Germans go to Poland and the Czech Republic etc etc…… And yes, home distilling is a big thing in Norway, I don’t know many people who either don’t have a still or don’t know someone that has…

1
0
tom171uk
tom171uk
3 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

Correct. And entirely foreseeable.

0
0
misslawbore
misslawbore
3 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

Read what I said above. Addicts will make their own booze, whether it be beer wine or spirits. And these drinks will not be reflected in any statistics.

0
0
Hugh
Hugh
3 years ago
Reply to  RW

Yes but the nasty nats need to make life worth living as well.

0
0
misslawbore
misslawbore
3 years ago
Reply to  RW

Such stupid policies only lead to people making their own spirits.This happened in Sweden until they joined the EU and the prices of alcohol became lower. My ex had his own still and regularly made his own pure alcohol on top of the cooker. The result was disgusting, even orange juice could not disguise the awful taste. And people get ill drinking it.

0
0
Rogerborg
Rogerborg
3 years ago

Now, come on, be fair, this isn’t the whole story.

We also had record drug deaths last year as well.

How’s that minimum alcohol pricing working out?

10
0
TheyLiveAndWeLockdown
TheyLiveAndWeLockdown
3 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

What!?! You’re saying mind altering chemical use has a high degree of fungibility and pushing one away from legal use drives one into less pure illegal drugs?

1
0
Lockdown Sceptic
Lockdown Sceptic
3 years ago

Sturgeon want to be a bigger DICKtator than Macron

Refuse to comply and our freedoms won’t die

FRANCE Business’s REFUSE To Enforce PASSPORTS / Hugo Talks Some More
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwNnhrahyW8

Stand in South Hill Park Bracknell every Sunday from 10am meet fellow anti lockdown freedom lovers, keep yourself sane, make new friends and have a laugh.

Join our Stand in the Park – Bracknell – Telegram Group
http://t.me/astandintheparkbracknell

2
-2
Annie
Annie
3 years ago

That headline is illiterate.

3
0
iane
iane
3 years ago
Reply to  Annie

Probably an in-joke against the Scots (whose education system pre-SNP was pretty good)!

1
0
Nessimmersion
Nessimmersion
3 years ago
Reply to  iane

Since the Natzis started interfering Scots education has tumbled down the PISA scorecard.

2
0
helenf
helenf
3 years ago

A 3% decrease in suicides in Scotland in 2020? Sorry, but that simply cannot be true. That would be like claiming there was also a decrease in domestic violence.

2
0
iane
iane
3 years ago
Reply to  helenf

Yes – how many got re-classified as covid to protect the witch of the north from accusations that she has mis-managed mental health (as well as essentially everything else)?

6
0
CGL
CGL
3 years ago

Well, well, what a surprise – whoever would have guessed that might happen?
Every which way they win don’t they. Suicides, alcohol deaths and drugs, heart attacks and strokes caused by the extreme stress they have caused. Lives cut short because of all the harms caused by fear, lockdowns and isolation. The list of ways they have killed people just goes on and on. And they stand by and rub their hands with glee.

3
0
Nessimmersion
Nessimmersion
3 years ago

Wot, put people under virtual house arrest for months, shut down most sport and outdoor activities, close all supervised drinking establishments, wreck education, expect people to sit indoors through a Northern winter with up to 7 hours of daylight a day, then look surprised when people drink for something to do.

12
0
Hugh
Hugh
3 years ago

What have the nasty nats done about the Buckfast triangle anyway? Has minimum pricing actually helped?

1
0
tom171uk
tom171uk
3 years ago

As with everything, they cannot contemplate that their own authoritarian policies but be problematic. They will not accept that lockdown, mask wearing and so on are destroying mental health. Neither can they accept that minimum pricing is a failure: their response will be to raise the price further.

Anxiety and depression increase. Illegal drugs, and black market booze, cheaper than legal alcohol. Criminals prosper. Violent crime goes up. A total disaster, which the wonderful, caring govern will fix – by using the same failed policies.

4
0
Cranmer
Cranmer
3 years ago
Reply to  tom171uk

Some years ago I worked in a liaison role between industry and the government and used to get a lot of information from the Welsh and Scottish ‘governments’. Most of it consisted of them crowing about some new type of petty state interference in the private lives of citizens.

2
0
RTSC
RTSC
3 years ago

It’s notable from the article that when listing actions which must be taken to address the problem, Alison Douglas, the chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, made a number of recommendations which all involve Governmental/Quangocracy expanding their powers …… but failed to identify the cause of increased drinking and the remedy:

STOP LOCKING DOWN.

4
0
TheBigman
TheBigman
3 years ago

Won’t matter when Stasi Sturgeon brings about prohibition. She already does very little to protect our Whisky on the world stage.

1
0
Jules
Jules
3 years ago

Highest drug related deaths
Highest alcohol related deaths
Highest suicide deaths

The average life expectancy of a man in areas of Glasgow the same as a man in sub-Saharan Africa.

Education attainment gap off the scale.

But it’s OK. Everyone should keep wearing a mask – forever. That’ll sort it.

3
0

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