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Wilson at Downing Street
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Reading East MP, Rob Wilson, yesterday was in No10 Downing Street. He was part of a delegation from the House of Commons Procedure Committee investigating the new Downing Street E-Petitioning website.
The site now has over 4,500 petitions running, the most successful of which was the recent petition against road pricing which received a record 1.8 million signatures. The Committee were investigating how to bring the E-Petition website within the overall context of Parliamentary scrutiny with the appropriate oversight and safeguards as to how the information gathered will be used. Speaking after the visit Rob said: “I have some concerns that the website as currently constituted could be used for political or campaigning purposes, rather than simply responding to people's concerns. "I think the public need to have the assurance that by signing up for a petition on a particular issue they are not going to recieve Government propaganda , for example, just before important elections. "The concept of allowing the public to express their views to Parliament and the government through E-petitions is a good one but it must be properly regulated and protected from abuse.” 08/03/07 |
