Parliament is putting the brakes on a host of popular petitions signed by thousands of drivers calling for motoring changes – because of the General Election.
In some cases, more than 42,000 people signed up for demands, including speed limit changes to 100mph, calls to exempt those with Blue Badges from low-traffic neighbourhoods, and new driving licence changes for younger people.
If a petition reaches more than 10,000 signatures, it prompts a response from the Government, and 100,000 is the limit which activates the level for a debate in Parliament.
At present, the Parliamentary petition website states “there will be a General Election on Thursday 4 July. This means that Parliament has been dissolved and that all parliamentary business, including petitions, has been stopped.”
Since the Dissolution of Parliament on May 30, all business in the House of Commons and House of Lords has come to an end. There are currently no MPs and every seat in the Commons is vacant until after the General Election
This time is known formally as prorogation and is introduced when the King announces the end of this Parliamentary session with a notice in the House of Lords.
The pre-election period, formally known as purdah, is also a sensitive time for civil servants who have to follow strict guidelines on the duties they can carry out.
The Petitions Committee, which is a group of MPs who decide which petitions are debated, ceased to exist when Parliament was dissolved this week.
And decisions about whether to debate any petitions from the previous Parliament will be the responsibility of the new Petitions Committee.
But as the petitions website makes it clear that “all petitions that were open on the site are now closed and can no longer be signed. They won’t be reopened after the election.”
It adds: “You can start a new petition when the site re-opens. This could have the same wording as a petition you started before the election.”
GB News reports many people on social media are upset at the reset of so many popular petitions. One person said: “It’s morally wrong that they can unilaterally decide to shut down our democratic rights to be heard, without automatic right of recourse.”
Another person who managed to get over 300,000 signatures for a petition said it was “so disappointing” that the hard work of all those involved would be erased.
