John and Ann wrote: > Is this petition business a good idea? Who, sat in Downing Street looking at > these petitions, could not now say - motorist petition 1 million plus, > canals petition 6000 - clearly canals are very much a minority interest and > thus our cuts are safe. > This comment does not reflect my opinion (I signed it) but a neutral > observer looking at it - ???? > John.
Good question. You will be pleased to know that at least the Minister Barry Gardiner has read it (well, his staff have) as I have received a letter from him in direct response to the petition. When I get a moment I'll put a copy up for everyone to see; I'm thinking of responding to the letter so I might wait until I've composed that. My view of petitions is that on their own they probably have little effect on political views. However, they are a device to engage the public in debate and, as such, probably help increase the number of letters written to MPs and Ministers. You may be surprised to know that our paper petition is doing much better than the e-petition and that is good news because I believe that the paper petition is a much better way of engaging the public in debate. By the way, anyone collecting signatures for the paper petition can delay sending them back to immediately after the March 3/4 events. Cheers Will Chapman Save Our Waterways > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > -- Will Chapman Save Our Waterways www.SaveOurWaterways.org.uk
