tease

the e-petitions were launched with a big hullabaloo. democracy for the people, by the people. sort of.
simply put the idea is if you e-petition gets 100,000 signatures then it would be debated before parliament. the big worry was that hanging would top the charts and our politicians would have to debate it.
as it turns out the various pro-hanging petitions haven't made the required numbers.
instead the petition that tops the list is one that argues that those involved in the recent riots should have their benefits removed.
when the backbencher committee met to decide what should be discussed in the next free day for debate not one parliamentarian supported the e-petition motion. the motion might make it onto the debate list in october.
they say they want the petitions to work, but first there are some problems that need to ironed.

it seems the problem is they only want to debate those things that they like and not what the public might want.
with that slap in the face i suspect that this exercise in public engagement isn't going to be a roaring success.