Tag Archives: Parliamentary Petition

Parliamentary Petitions Lost

Posted on by
2

I have received the following email from Parliament:

You recently signed the petitions:

Give Government powers to veto or amend local road traffic schemes eg. ULEZ/LTNs

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/659730

Review the brightness of car headlights for safety

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/653793

Ban local authorities imposing 20mph speed limits on major roads

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/652269

Raise Motorway Speed Limits to 100mph and Dual Carriageways to 80mph

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/651666

Because of the General Election, the closing date for the petitions you signed has changed. All petitions now have to close at 00:01am on 30 May. This is because Parliament will be dissolved, which means all parliamentary business – including petitions – must stop. This means the petitions site will be closed and people will not be able to start or sign petitions.

We’re sorry we weren’t able to give you more notice that this would happen.

The petitions will be available for people to read on the site even though it will be closed for signatures. These petitions won’t be reopened after the election.

The Government can’t respond to petitions during the election period. This means if any of the petitions has over 10,000 signatures, they can’t receive a response from the current Government after 29 May. After the election, the new Government will have to decide whether to respond to petitions from before the election.

The current Petitions Committee, the group of MPs who decide whether petitions are debated, won’t exist after 30 May. This means that if any of the petitions has over 100,000 signatures, they can’t be scheduled for debate during this Parliament. After the election, a new Petitions Committee will be responsible for deciding which petitions are debated.

The petitions site will reopen when a new Petitions Committee is appointed, but at the moment we don’t know exactly when.

______________________

It is surely most disappointing if these petitions are to be completely lost.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

Another 4 Years of Sadiq Khan, and Rail Renationalisation plus a Petition to Sign and a Public Consultation

Posted on by
2

So in London we have another 4 years of Sadiq Khan as Mayor. That will certainly mean higher Council taxes and more taxes on motorists. Sadiq Khan helped himself to win the election by promising free school meals to primary pupils and no rises in public transport fares – paid for out of your taxes of course.

With a possible Labour Government in Parliament, the outlook is indeed bleak for financial prudency. Labour have promised to “renationalise” the railways when part of the rail network is already in Government ownership and all of it is very heavily subsidised. The Taxpayers Alliance have published a note on this subject showing how misconceived it is – see https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/briefing_railway_renationalisation . As the article points out, “Three of the four largest subsidies given to franchises in 2022-23 were given to renationalised railway services with £697 million, £602 million and £402 million given to ScotRail, Northern and South Eastern respectively”. That’s not peanuts!

Boris Johnson has pointed out that Transport for London (TfL) has been “bankrupted” by Sadiq Khan and he is right. Massive subsidies coming out of taxpayers and motorist’s pockets are the only thing keeping it afloat. Khan wants billions more pounds in subsidies which he might get from a Labour Government, or from a London road tax which he has already asked for.

Three ways that taxes are likely to be raised in London on motorists are by ULEZ schemes,  LTNs and road charging “pay per mile” schemes. There is a new Parliamentary Petition you can sign to enable these to be controlled by Government. Please sign it:  https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/659730

There is also a Public Consultation on “Restricting the Generation of Surplus Funds from Traffic Contraventions” from the Department for Transport – see https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/restricting-the-generation-of-surplus-funds-from-traffic-contraventions . This is definitely worth responding to as it is clear that many local councils are abusing their powers simply because they wish to raise money to fill their budget holes. It’s not about improving road safety or regulating traffic or parking.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

You can “follow” this blog by entering your email address in the box below.  You will then receive an email alerting you to new posts as they are added.