May the Force be with you, if you sign.

In the UK it is possible for the general public to force an issue to be considered by the government. This can be achieved by creating an online petition on the governments website, www.number10.gov. All that is needed is a total of 100,000 signatories for the e-petition to be debated in the House of Commons.

It is possible to have a look at some of the e-petitions that are currently active and helpfully the website points in the direction of currently "trending" examples. Also available is a list of the currently open e-petitions (6,273) in order of signatories. At the time of writing the most signed petition with 174,460 signatures was, 'Reconsider West Coast Mainline franchise decision'. In fact all of the top rated petitions seemed to have merit.

At the other end of the spectrum was a petition encouraging, 'Nuclear Attack drills to be practised nationwide.' This had just one signatory - the author.

You can also view rejected e-petitions, these include to name a few:

  • Preserve Home Made Jam
  • Knight Kenny Dalglish
  • Bring back hanging
  • National Service for teenagers
  • Teaching of the Arts in schools

America has a similar system. To petition the White House only 25,000 signatures are required. Anything gaining more than this number demands a response.

Just this week the US administration had to respond to an unusual response. 34,000 American citizens had signed a petition to build a real life Death Star just like that seen in Star Wars. The project was costed at $850 quadrillion and construction estimated to begin in 2016.

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/thefw.com/files/2012/12/Death-star.jpg

The petition was rejected by the Head of the Budget office on Science and Space. He explained that the Obama administration, "does not support blowing up planets." Moreover he pointed out that the USA was already involved in building a Space Station.

He even did a quote, "...look carefully and you'll notice something already floating in the sky - that's no Moon, it's a Space Station!"

 

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