‘No confidence in Cameron’ petition is rejected by Parliament

Did you really think he was ever going to let Parliament debate a vote of no confidence in him?

Did you really think he was ever going to let Parliament debate a vote of no confidence in him?

After civil servants found excuses to remove more than 6,000 names from a petition calling for a vote of no confidence in UK prime minister David Cameron, the Commons Petitions committee has refused to debate it anyway.

The committee said it doesn’t have the power to schedule debates on motions of no confidence. Oh, really?

Didn’t the same committee schedule a debate on a no-confidence motion against health secretary Jeremy Hunt, in the Westminster Hall, on September 14 this year – after receiving an e-petition with around 220,000 signatures, calling for it?

The petition against Cameron has been signed by more than 188,000 people – almost twice as many as the 100,000 necessary to secure consideration for a debate in Parliament.

But MPs have ruled it out on a technicality which appears to be a lie.

“The House of Commons Petitions Committee has decided not to schedule a debate on this petition, because the Committee does not have the power to schedule debates on motions of no confidence, and the petition does not contain a specific request for action on policy,” according to a statement today (November 19).

“It is usually more effective to start a petition calling for a specific change to government policy or the law, rather than a petition about an individual Minister.

“It is still open to MPs to seek time for a debate on this petition in the main House of Commons Chamber, if they wish to do so. However, debates on motions of no confidence are fairly rare.”

All e-petitions are supposed to receive a response from the government after they achieve 10,000 signatures, but the government has never commented on this one, despite it reaching that milestone around three months ago.

So much for democracy!

We have a Conservative Government that will only listen to the people if they are saying what ministers want to hear.

Its e-petitions website – and the committee – clearly aren’t worth the time it took to set them up.

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21 Comments

  1. philipburdekin November 19, 2015 at 1:41 pm - Reply

    It was also announced today that he is getting a frecking big Jet to ferry the arsehole round the globe and you you guessed it we are paying. The monies will no doubt come from the benefits of the sick and disabled and those in receipt of some form of benefits.

    GOD PLEASE SAVE US FROM KINGY CAMORON.

  2. roybeiley November 19, 2015 at 2:05 pm - Reply

    I signed it. Are we going to let them get away with sticking their collective middle finger up at us?

    • Hell November 20, 2015 at 11:07 pm - Reply

      No were fckng not I signed it too

  3. Nick November 19, 2015 at 2:36 pm - Reply

    the same applies in all middle eastern countries in which they would vote for a no confidence vote on it’s leaders

  4. Brian November 19, 2015 at 3:26 pm - Reply

    This Jet! £10M to ‘refurbish’ £3M to buy, £1M in fuel, £3M in Staff costs, £3M in maintenance, At a guess, £20M over the ten years it will last! Current cost £700, 000 year. You do the sums. Tories can’t add up, they say it’s going to save money, idiots.

  5. bevchat November 19, 2015 at 3:39 pm - Reply

    why am I not surprised….well lets hope Voyager his new luxury jet takes him and the other R W cronies to other frontiers beyond this planet..!.

    • Mike Sivier November 19, 2015 at 6:33 pm - Reply

      I prefer ‘Airpork One’.

      • Jimbo November 24, 2015 at 1:13 pm - Reply

        I prefer Airhead one.

        • Mike Sivier November 24, 2015 at 8:22 pm - Reply

          I like it too.

  6. ian725 November 19, 2015 at 3:46 pm - Reply

    Its votes that count in a Election and this electoral system in England is archaic it should have been scrapped long ago and a fairer system used. Until that time we shall be stuck with this sort of Government.. Now isn’t that a demoralising thought, there is no democracy under a Conservative Government we are all their Subjects.

  7. A-Brightfuture November 19, 2015 at 3:56 pm - Reply

    Cameron has stuck his middle finger up at everyone who believes in the power of democracy and debate.

    Regarding “AIRPORK1”
    I thought our queen was the head of state, who had the privilege of such transport.

    I must have missed the massive media event of the “swearing in” of President Cameron.

    “I know he will be sworn at when he leaves”.
    Foxtrot Oscar Cameron.

  8. Callum November 19, 2015 at 6:15 pm - Reply

    Contact all your local MP’s and bring this to there attention. Urge them to seek a time for a debate.

    Below is the email which I have just sent to my local MP Tulip Siddiq:

    Hi Tulip Siddiq,

    I have been a resident of the Hampstead & Kilburn constituency my entire life, Recently I added my signature to a “Vote of No Confidence in David Cameron” petition.

    This petition has gathered 190,000+ signatures and counting yet the government has refused to debate this in parliament on the grounds of, & I quote;

    -“The House of Commons Petitions Committee has decided not to schedule a debate on this petition, because the Committee does not have the power to schedule debates on motions of no confidence, and the petition does not contain a specific request for action on policy.
    It is usually more effective to start a petition calling for a specific change to government policy or the law, rather than a petition about an individual Minister.
    It is still open to MPs to seek time for a debate on this petition in the main House of Commons Chamber, if they wish to do so. However, debates on motions of no confidence are fairly rare.”

    However, this is a blatant lie. The very same committee scheduled a debate on a no-confidence motion against health secretary Jeremy Hunt, in the Westminster Hall, on September 14 this year following an online petition receiving 220,000 signatures.

    A government does not hold the right to lie to it’s citizens to protect a MP, even if that MP is the PM. By choosing to refuse this motion entry into the House of Commons, this government is going directly against democracy, which as a democratic citizen of the UK I cannot let fly & nor should any of citizen of the UK yourself included Miss Siddiq.

    I am contacting you today as my MP to ask you to raise this in parliament and to gather other MP’s to unite and seek a time to debate this petition in parliament as should have been done on the petition reaching 100,000 signatures. The government is still to release a comment on the petition in question which it is obliged to do so at 10,000 signatures.

    This is a gross wrong doing by the government onto the people of the UK.

    I both urge and politely request you and the other MP’s to fight for democracy and get this debate into parliament.

    Included below is the link to the petition:
    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104471

    Thank you,

    {My Name}

    • allan j November 19, 2015 at 9:41 pm - Reply

      reposting this on anonymouse gloucester (facebook)
      maybe others could share it around with the neccesary changes made for your area

  9. Darren Honey November 19, 2015 at 6:18 pm - Reply

    OK so lets reword the petition to include all the things they say are required, get it signed by everyone again and then resubmit it…….and then when they reject it, resubmit it again…..and again and again and again.

    • allan j November 19, 2015 at 9:39 pm - Reply

      and again right up until the next election. that is if we all survive that long

  10. Vicky Hodgson November 19, 2015 at 7:03 pm - Reply

    What really pisses me off is that the Independent keeps reporting that Cameron started the Gov e petition site! So, I went onto their facebook page found the latest story and posted
    “Mr Cameron introduced the e-petition initiative when he entered Downing Street in 2010 in a bid to boost democracy and transparency. ”
    This is a total lie!
    I have proof I was signing Government petitions in 2009, when. in fact they were far more democratic and transparent because the name of every signatory was publicly displayed on the site!” :-)

  11. RJ November 19, 2015 at 7:03 pm - Reply

    “Didn’t the same committee schedule a debate on a no-confidence motion against health secretary Jeremy Hunt, in the Westminster Hall, on September 14 this year – after receiving an e-petition with around 220,000 signatures, calling for it?”

    Actually I watched this debate and the first thing said was “the Petitions Committee does not have the power to initiate a vote of no confidence, and so we decided that the debate should be on the issue underlying the petition, which was the contracts and conditions of NHS staff.”

    The minutes are linked to from the petition page here https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104334

    I guess they could have done a similar thing and debated… welll what exactly? It needs to be more specific than just the Tories are shite.

  12. mich November 19, 2015 at 9:59 pm - Reply

    Astonishing how he’s able to carry on after all the scandal with him with Lord Ashcroft’s book, i’m sure this led many people to have no confidence with hamface and is certainly not running this country fairly or even efficiently?

  13. Hell November 20, 2015 at 11:10 pm - Reply

    When something is not fit for purpose shouldn’t it be removed and thrown away?

  14. HAL7000 November 24, 2015 at 3:51 am - Reply

    Well you know what you all should have done? When people don’t vote you end up getting governments you don’t like. But let’s not forget, e-petitions with 188000 signatures shows the resentment of how many people? Well, let’s look. The voting population of the UK, last time i looked was 51 million. Therefore the percentage of people who signed this petition was 0.04%. Last time I checked a democracy was decided by the majority, not the disgruntled minority. The laws on votes of no confidence are, naturally, a lot more difficult because the decision of such a vote is far more powerful and far reaching than a vote on a health secretary. If you want a vote of no confidence gain 51% of the voting population at least.

    • Mike Sivier November 24, 2015 at 12:44 pm - Reply

      With 51 per cent of the voting population on-side, you could just have a revolution and cut out the middle-people sitting in Parliament.
      Not everybody knows about all the e-petitions; not everybody signs them. Not everybody has the internet. For every signature on a normal petition, Conservative estimates suggest another eight people would sign if they knew about it/were able.
      That still doesn’t suggest 51 per cent of the voting population, as you want, but it does suggest a large groundswell of public opinion which politicians must take into account if they don’t want that public opinion to count against them later.

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