this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2023
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[–] Z3k3@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

And with every single one 9f these petitions that breaks the threshold

"We have considered it, no"

[–] HumanPenguin 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As far as I can tell. From another lemmy thread. The creater of this one. While happy in the unlikely event it works. Is more hopping that it allows the public to tell sunak, he is talking out of his arse when he says the people don't want an election.

Paraphrased from memory. If MPs have discussed a 1m or more request fr an election. Then opposition MPs will raise how out of touch he is.

Personally I was pretty darned insulted when he made that statement. So signed it cos what the hell do we have to lose. But I think it would tae way more then 1m votes to be noticed.

But you are right. No party ever is going to call an election earlyier then required, Unless they think they stand a good chance of winning.

The old a week is a long time in politics comment applies. How ever long they wait. =Something may happen to increase their odds or reduce the opposition.

Here with FPTP. i guess they hope lib dems or green will try to take some of the Labour vote. Or to many voters get annoyed that labour are not offering much different.

[–] Z3k3@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Problem is yhe fact he is out of the news way more than the last 6 pms puts him in a place ehere people no longer give a fuck.

For context I'm one of those evil Scots who are used against Labour so you can imagine my thoughts on the whole subject

BTW I signed it but I expect to do cock all. Even an attack seems unlikely from sir kieth

[–] DJDarren@thelemmy.club 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

he is talking out of his arse when he says the people don’t want an election

Trouble is, that petition is currently around 250,000 signatures. Assuming every one of those signatories has registered to vote, at the last GE there were just shy of 47m registered voters. So on that basis, just .5% of eligible voters want a general election right now. That really is a small enough number that Sunak can legitimately say there's no public appetite for an early election.

I've signed it, and would love to see those fuckers ousted. But I don't see this petition having any effect whatsoever - at this time.

Still, give it a couple of weeks and there might have been some significant movement.

[–] HumanPenguin 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah its going to take several million. But the issue is. Its self for-filling.

The more folks on different social medias trash the idea of using the system to send a message. The less motivation society feels to encourage others to sign it.

Simple fact is. We reall have no other way of telling sunak he is taiking out of his arse. Anything less then the M25 being crowded with protesters trying to bang on No 10s door. Can be classed as a small % of voters up in arms.

And lets face it. If we ever had a significant % of voters turning up to cvomplain. The govs resopnse would be to call it a civil attack on government. Because the simple practicality of a significant % of society showing up. I freaking dangerous for all around. How ever peaceful the intent. Such a crowd would cause deaths.

So encouraging large numbers to register their opinion online is the only real option. We need millions. The original poster said 1m. I think it needs nearer 5 to be hard to claim it just a small % 10 to be impossible.

But hear is the main point. It is already required to be discussed in parliament. So while the government can always ignore it. Opposition parties can disagree. The usual result is only a few gov MPs turn up. Say no. aAnd no one makes a fuss. But multi millions of votes is very possible if folks like us share the purpose. And that purpose is to make it clear to every opposition MP that they have a duty to stand up and be heard at this debate. To tell the PM that his we dont want an election. Is an out right lie.

it gets harder and harder for him to claim its not wanted. But also more damaging to his other claims when he is finally forced to do so a year later. The more he disagrees with a growing number on a gove official forum for expressing civil will. The more ant statement he makes is clearly seen as self serving.

[–] peter 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, I've never seen a petition that's actually done something. About 5 MPs turn up for the debate and they just read the petition and say "yeah cool but no"

[–] Syldon 2 points 1 year ago

Pardon all of the estimated 49,000 men who, like Alan Turing, were convicted of consenting same-sex relations under the British "gross indecency" law (only repealed in 2003), and also all the other men convicted under other UK anti-gay laws.

I had to dig to find an answer to this. Others pointed out Sugar tax, Meningitis B vaccine and Brain tumour research funding. There are not many though. Mostly because the Tories do not want to listen to any other opinion than their own. It will be an interesting stat to look into after Labour has been in power for some time.

[–] flamingmongoose@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Obviously this won't change anything but I like the idea of them having to debate this in parliament

[–] drekly@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

They usually just ignore it and say they've got nothing to say and move on

[–] snacks 5 points 1 year ago

signed it regardless. we shouldnt have to put up with this shit any longer

[–] angelsomething@lemmy.one 1 points 1 year ago (4 children)

And who should we elect? Stammer hasn’t given me the confidence that labour can solve this mess either. But I don’t disagree with the petion.

I feel the binary choice we have is kind of the problem.

[–] manualoverride@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Don’t let prefect be the enemy of good. Right now Sunak is enriching himself and his friends with corrupt policies (HS2 Land sale, India trade agreement, net zero rollback, etc.) if Starmer did that Labour would be minced by the press. Better to have a (so far) non corrupt leader who will be held to account.

[–] I_Miss_Daniel@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

What did Ford do?

[–] snacks 5 points 1 year ago

you elect your local MP. focusing on the leader over the basic local vote only gets you so far. We have countless left wing MPs dying to get into power, some centre some left. Getting rid of MPs like Grant Fucking Shapps and Rees Fucking Mogg is unlikely in thier constituency, so you still have the idea they get another 5 years.

im not saying the leader isn’t important, its just not the mechanism or a misunderstanding of the voting mechanism which is making people not see the wood for the trees.

[–] geophysicist@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's a false comparison. One party has created the mess over a period of 13 years. The other party wants to change it. Questioning the competency of the party who wants to change it is fair, but comparing it to the party who created it is not, in my opinion

[–] Syldon 1 points 1 year ago

Hence why we need PR voting in the UK. Many cannot vote for what they want. The fact Tactical voting is an actual thing, is clear evidence the system is wrong.