Post by Patrick on Dec 27, 2010 22:16:57 GMT
The government is to follow the lead of the television programme The X Factor and allow the public to decide on legislation to be put before MPs.
In an attempt to reduce what is seen as a disconnection between the public and parliament, ministers will ensure that the most popular petition on the government website Direct.gov.uk will be drafted as a bill. It is also planning to guarantee that petitions that reach a fixed level of support – most likely 100,000 signatures – will be ensured time for a Commons debate.
Ministerial sources acknowledge that the proposals have the potential to cause headaches for the coalition as typical populist causes célèbres – such as a return of capital punishment or withdrawal from the European Union – risk coming top of the petition list.
The alternative explanation is that they cancelled the Petitions part of the Number 10 website so they could alter the wording a little and pretend it was their idea all along!
In an attempt to reduce what is seen as a disconnection between the public and parliament, ministers will ensure that the most popular petition on the government website Direct.gov.uk will be drafted as a bill. It is also planning to guarantee that petitions that reach a fixed level of support – most likely 100,000 signatures – will be ensured time for a Commons debate.
Ministerial sources acknowledge that the proposals have the potential to cause headaches for the coalition as typical populist causes célèbres – such as a return of capital punishment or withdrawal from the European Union – risk coming top of the petition list.
The alternative explanation is that they cancelled the Petitions part of the Number 10 website so they could alter the wording a little and pretend it was their idea all along!
