(This item appears on the Brighton Argus on 21st August 2023) Today we can enjoy our final Bank Holiday. Next Monday will see Parliament reopen and so it is likely that this week our MPs will be preparing for their work next week. One important theme that they are able to focus on in the next few days is the public e-Petitions that have gained support from people who vote for them and who expect their views to be fairly represented by them in Parliament.

It is well known that petitions which reach over 100,000 signatures are expected to be discussed by MPs but some of them occasionally discuss petitions that are obtaining fewer signature lists. Indeed, the plans to discuss Petitions next Monday and the following Monday are both based on subjects with far less than 100,000 signatures so of course there could be many other petitions discussed over the next few months.

However, there are several that have reached or about to reach 100,000 signatures and it would very encouraging if our MPs could consider discussing their significance during the rest of this year.

The petition that achieved 100,000 signatures at the beginning of the Parliament Summer was created by Dr Tess Lawrie entitled “Hold a parliamentary vote on whether to reject amendments to the IHR 2005” that is number 635904. The initial text of the petition describes “We are concerned that Parliament has not discussed and will not have a say on the 307 proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations, AND the amendments to 5 Articles of the IHR that were ADOPTED by the 75th World Health Assembly on 27 May 2022.” Each month this petition achieved significant number of signatures and it has now been supported to reach the 100,000 mark. A remarkable achievement.

A large number of those signing in Sussex came from Wealden represented by Nusrat Ghani with the next largest number in Eastbourne which is represented by Caroline Ansell. I hope this important subject discussion is taken up by these Sussex representatives  

The next petition that raised 100,000 this Summer achieved it in the last few days which is entitled “End the use of animals for toxicity tests & prioritise non-animal methods (NAMs)”. It is 633591 and it was written by Maria Iriart. The initial text was “Radically divert funding and evolve policy to implement the use of NAMs in all regulatory toxicity tests. Actively encourage use of NAMs, noting that this data is of superior human relevance compared to animal tests data. Establish clear pathways to develop & validate NAMs and end the use of animals” It started in March and during the first three months it only achieved 13,000 signatures rising to 7,000 in June and 25,000 signatures in July so it had achieved 45,000 at the beginning of this month. It reached 30,000 in the first half of August rising to over 31,000 signatures last week which is how it reached 106,000. Considerable numbers of signatures were from Horsham represented by Jeremy Quin and also Wealden area.

There are two other petitions that achieved 100,000 this year and while that was some time ago, they have not yet been discussed in Parliament. Both petitions focus on the same subject from opposite viewpoints. The first one states “Remove LGBT content from the Relationships Education curriculum” and the text goes on to say “We believe kids shouldn’t learn about this at an early age. I am sure there are many parents who do not want their or other children taught about LGBT in primary school.” It is referred as 630932 and it was created by Fares Rahmani. It is interesting that it achieved 196,000 signatures in its first three weeks and it reached 249,595 signatures at its six-month period in July. There were not many signatures from Sussex but the biggest signing area was Crawley represented by Henry Smith with the next largest area being Hove from Peter Kyle.

The second petition that achieved 104,920 signatures this year that has not yet been discussed in Parliament is 631529 entitled “Do not remove LGBT content from the Relationships Education curriculum” which was provided by Dan McCarthy. It achieved 74,000 signatures within its first week. There are considerable quantities of signatures in Sussex, with nearly 1,000 in Brighton Pavilion represented by of Caroline Lucas. The other two Brighton and Hove locations which included a large number of signatures including Lloyd Russell-Moyle. The other significant numbers of those who signed were in Hastings and Rye represented by Sally-Ann Hart and East Worthing and Shoreham represented by Tim Loughton.

The other possible petition is “Require train operators keep ticket offices and platform staff at train stations” which is referred as 636542 which was created by Elizabeth Garnsey. It began in April and for nearly 3 months it only achieved 40 signatures. However, in July it increased 66,900 signatures and it now has reached over 78,000 signatures. There are another six weeks remaining to contribute it and the text is “We want the Government to require train operators keep ticket offices and platform staff at train stations, to help maintain health and safety standards and customer information.”

All of the active petitions, a grand total of 1,200 items could still be actively supported by those of us who are based in the UK. It would be incredible if the petitions could be effective through our support and the willingness of our MPs to discuss them in Parliament.