Petitions

Question 1

point

Answer 1

One way which citizens can influence the Government’s decision making is by starting or signing petitions.

Question 2

explain

Answer 2

Anyone can start a petition through the UK Parliament’s petition site. Petitions that receive 10,000 signatures will get a response from the Government while 100,000 signatures will see the topic considered for debate in Parliament.

Question 3

example

Answer 3

For example, in the last Parliament (2019 - 2024) 1,006 petitions got a response from the Government and 202 were debated.

Question 4

rebuttal

Answer 4

However debates that are based on petitions are poorly attended by MPs.

Question 5

rebuttal explain

Answer 5

This shows that it is an ineffective way for citizens to influence Government decision making because the MPs do not have to attend the debates nor base any policy decisions on any of them.

Question 6

rebuttal example

Answer 6

For example, the debate about making verified ID a requirement for opening a social media account had poor attendance and the Government didn’t go ahead with the policy regardless of the petition.

Question 7

link

Answer 7

Therefore, although many petitions get responses from the Government or get debated on, there is no requirement for MPs to attend which results in poor debates and most issues do not get resolved.