BRIEFING PAPER Number CBP 8620, 11 July 2019

By Philip Loft

Petitions in the UK

Contents: 1. UK e-petitioning prior to 2015 2. UK Parliament e-petitioning post-2015 3. Largest UK e-petitions 4. Public Petitions to the UK Parliament 5. Largest UK Public Petitions to Parliament/Number 10 6. Time spent debating petitions in the UK Parliament 7. Petitions to other institutions 8. Appendix 1: UK Parliament e- petitions receiving over 100,000 signatures in 2019 9. Appendix 2: UK Parliament e- petitions receiving over 100,000 signatures since 2015

www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary 2 Petitions in the UK

Contents

Summary 3 1. UK e-petitioning prior to 2015 4 1.1 Number 10 website (2006- 2011) 4 1.2 Cabinet Office website (2011-15) 4 2. UK Parliament e-petitioning post-2015 5 2.1 The current e-petitioning system 5 2.2 Number of petitions and petitioners 5 2.3 Who participates? 6 3. Largest UK e-petitions 8 3.1 Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU, 2019 8 3.2 EU Referendum rules triggering a 2nd EU Referendum, 2016 10 3.3 Prevent Donald Trump from making a state visit to the UK, 2016 12 3.4 Road pricing, 2007 13 4. Public Petitions to the UK Parliament 14 4.1 Procedure 14 4.2 Historic Trends 14 5. Largest UK Public Petitions to Parliament/Number 10 15 5.1 Pensions, 1945 15 5.2 Pensions, 1939 15 5.3 Ambulance dispute, 1989 15 5.4 Pensions, 1943 15 5.5 Chartists, 1842 16 5.6 Increase in entertainment duty, 1951 16 5.7 Sub post offices, 2000 16 6. Time spent debating petitions in the UK Parliament 17 7. Petitions to other institutions 18 7.1 Scottish Parliament 18 7.2 Profile of petitioners to the Scottish Parliament 19 7.3 Welsh Assembly 20 7.4 Northern Ireland 21 7.5 Local authorities 21 8. Appendix 1: UK Parliament e-petitions receiving over 100,000 signatures in 2019 22 9. Appendix 2: UK Parliament e-petitions receiving over 100,000 signatures since 2015 28

Contributing Authors: Thanks to the House of Commons Petitions Committee for help with data.

Cover page image copyright: © UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor

3 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

Summary

The presentation of petitions to Parliament has a ‘[Nothing shall] debar or hinder long history, though before the Civil Wars of the any person or persons… to 1640s petitions generally dealt with personal present any public or private grievances. Since the later eighteenth century, grievance or complaint to any radicals and reformers used petitions to make Member or Members of demands on parliamentary reform, the abolition of Parliament…or to the slavery, and religious toleration. These movements Kings Majesty for any remedy’. culminated in the mass-petitions of the Chartists in the 1830s and 1840s. Tumultuous Petitioning Act, 1661 People have continued to use petitions to express their opinion: the Hansard Society survey of political engagement in 2018 estimated that 28% of the population had signed at least one e-petition in the previous year.1 There are several institutional petitioning systems that currently operate in the UK. In the UK Parliament, Public Petitions may be presented to both the and House of Commons in paper form, in line with historic traditions. In 2006, the Labour Government introduced e-petitioning to the Number 10 Website, which was replaced in 2011 by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government by an e-petitions system shared between Government and the House of Commons. In 2015, a new e-petitions system, run collaboratively between the Government and the Commons, was established. This sees the House of Commons Petitions Committee examining both paper and e-petitions, debates held in Westminster Hall, and responses being provided by the Government. In the Scottish Parliament, a paper petitions system was set up in 1999 and an e-petitions system introduced in 2004. An e-petitions and paper system were introduced to the Welsh Assembly in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Since 2002, paper petitions have been submitted to the Northern Ireland Assembly, and plans were submitted in 2016 to introduce an e-petitions system. Local authorities also receive petitions from the public.

1 Hansard Society, Audit of Political Engagement 2019 4 Petitions in the UK

1. UK e-petitioning prior to 2015

The development of e-petitioning and debates over their introduction in the UK Parliament may be found in the House of Commons Library Briefing Paper E-Petitions (2015)

1.1 Number 10 website (2006- 2011) In November 2006, the Number 10 website was launched. Each petition that gained over 200 signatures received a government response. Within its first year of launch, 29,000 petitions had been created and 5.5 million signatures collected.2 By the time of the 2010 General Election, over 12 million signatures had been added to petitions begun on the website.3 From November 2006 to November 2008, half of petitions were rejected outright, in attempts to avoid duplication or offence.4 From February 2009 to March 2011, 94% of petitions received less than 500 signatures.5 Of issues receiving over 30 petitions on the Number 10 website from November 2006 to November 2008, 35 related to Zimbabwe, 39 called upon the PM to resign or hold a general election, 40 were concerned with the EU, 41 made suggestions for honours, and 43 dealt with fuel duty and road pricing.6

1.2 Cabinet Office website (2011-15) The new site from August 2011 to February 2013 received 19,789 petitions and saw 7 million signatures collected.7 By March 2015, the number of petitions had reached 60,818.8 Between August 2011 and February 2013, 5% of petitions obtained 500 signatures (c. 1000 petitions), whilst 0.7% attained the 10,000 signatures required to receive a Government response (c. 140). Only 0.1% of petitions attained the 100,000 necessary for a parliamentary debate (c. 20).9

2 House of Commons Procedure Committee, ‘E-Petitions’ (2008), 8. 3 MySociety, ‘What we learned from e-petitions’, August 2011. 4 Laura Miller, ‘Hansard Society: E-Petitions at Westminster: the way forward for democracy?’, Parliamentary Affairs (2008), 167. 5 Scott Hale, Helen Margetts, Taha Yasseri, ‘Understanding the Dynamics of Internet Based collective action using big data: analysing the growth rates of internet-based petitions’, Political Studies Association (2013), 7. 6 Laura Miller, ‘Hansard Society: E-Petitions at Westminster: the way forward for democracy?’, Parliamentary Affairs (2008), 168. 7 Taha Yasseri, Scott Hale, Helen Margetts, ‘Rapid ride and decay in petition signing’, Data Science (2017) 8 Catherine Bochel, ‘Process Matters: Petitions systems in Britain’s legislatures’, 3 9 Hale, Margetts, Yasseri, ‘Understanding the Dynamics’ , 10. 5 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

2. UK Parliament e-petitioning post-2015

2.1 The current e-petitioning system In 2015, Parliament established a Petitions Committee to consider e- petitions registered on a system for petitions shared between Parliament and the Government. Petitions receiving more than 10,000 signatures receive a response from the Government, and petitions receiving more than 100,000 signatures are considered for debate in Parliament. The Petitions Committee can also decide to inquire into topics raised in petitions, take evidence from expert witnesses, and produce reports. Petitions may also be rejected by the committee for several reasons, including that they do not relate to an issue for which the UK Government or House of Commons has responsibility, call for the same action on an already-open petition, or are offensive or libellous.10 Some 16,137 petitions have been rejected, as of July 2019.11 In order to sign a petition, subscribers must provide an email address and confirm their name, country, postcode, and that they are a UK resident. The same email account may be used up to twice to subscribe to a petition, but no more than this. The Petitions Committee of the House of Commons stated around 1% of signatures come from an email account that is used twice.12 As of July 2019, 66 petitions have been debated in Westminster Hall under the current system.13

2.2 Number of petitions and petitioners According to data from the House of Commons Petitions Committee, from July 2015 to July 2019, 99,031 e-petitions have been submitted, collecting more than 55.3 million signatures.14 The largest number presented in any full calendar year to date was in 2018, when 27,656 were begun, whilst the lowest full-year of petitioning was 2017, when 15,559 petitions were begun. These years also saw the highest and lowest numbers of signatures: there were 18.8 million signatures in 2016 and 7.9 million in 2017. The average number of signatures to a petition has fluctuated between 422 per petition (2018) to 933 (2016). Total number of petitions for 2017 are slightly lower than other years due to the General Election halting the petitions process.

10 House of Commons Petitions Committee, ‘How Petitions Work’ (accessed 11 July 2019) 11 House of Commons Petitions Committee, ‘Rejected Petitions’ (accessed 11 July 2019) 12 Full Fact, ‘Is it possible to repeatedly sign a Parliamentary Petition using the same email address?’ (25 March 2019) 13 House of Commons Petitions Committee, Petitions debated in Parliament (accessed 10 July 2019) 14 Data Parliament, E-petitions (accessed 3 July 2019) 6 Petitions in the UK

NUMBER OF E-PETITIONS TO UK PARLIAMENT NUMBER OF SIGNATURES ON E-PETITIONS TO UK PARLIAMENT 35,000 20 31,035 18 30,000 27,656 18.8

Millions 16 25,000 14 20,170 20,000 12 15,559 10 11.7 11.2 15,000 8 9.7 10,000 6 8.0 4,611 5,000 4 2 0 0 Jul- Dec 2015 2016 2017 2018 Jan-Jul 2019 Jul- Dec 2015 2016 2017 2018 Jan-Jul 2019 Note: includes rejected petitions. Source: Data provided by House of Commons Petitions Committee, July 2019 The majority of e-petitions started on the Petition’s Committee website routinely gain less than 100 signatures. Only three petitions since July 2015 have collected more than 1 million signatures, and 132 over 100,000. As 0.1% of all petitions started since July 2015, this is the same proportion as the 0.1% of petitions that received over 100,000 signatures under the Cabinet Office website of 2011-15. A slightly lower proportion have also achieved at least 500 signatures under the new e-petitions system—at 3.7%— compared to the Number 10 and Cabinet Office websites, which had 5-6% of petitions reach this figure in surveyed years.

SIZE OF UK PARLIAMENT E-PETITIONS Proportion of petitions collecting total number of signatures

1,000- 10,000- Over 0-9 10-99 100-499 500-999 9,999 99,999 100,000 Jul- Dec 2015 30% 47% 10.0% 2.9% 7% 2.9% 0.5% 2016 42% 47% 5.0% 1.5% 3% 1.1% 0.2% 2017 59% 33% 4.1% 1.1% 2% 0.9% 0.1% 2018 74% 21% 2.3% 0.7% 1% 0.7% 0.1% Jan-Jul 2019 78% 19% 1.1% 0.3% 1% 0.2% 0.1% Jul 2015- Jul 2019 64% 29% 3.1% 0.9% 2% 0.8% 0.1% Petitions collecting total number of signatures 1,000- 10,000- Over 0-9 10-99 100-499 500-999 9,999 99,999 100,000 Jul- Dec 2015 1,390 2,150 462 134 317 136 22 2016 8,568 9,427 1,000 306 609 222 38 2017 9,137 5,087 641 173 358 142 21 2018 20,462 5,761 643 182 394 181 33 Jan-Jul 2019 24,315 6,022 329 92 194 65 18 Jul 2015- Jul 2019 63,872 28,447 3,075 887 1,872 746 132 Note: includes rejected petitions. Source: Data provided by House of Commons Petitions Committee, July 2019 PETITIONING HOT-SPOTS Number of signatures 2.3 Who participates? Jul 2016- Feb 2017 Bristol West 94,650 Based on the first 6,257 closed petitions to the UK Parliament, Brighton Pavilion 84,341 parts of Brighton, Bristol and were the petitioning hot- Holborn and St Pancras 72,712 spots of Britain. Of the ten constituencies to have signed the Hornsey and Wood Green 72,115 most petitions from July 2016 to February 2017, seven were in Bethnal Green and Bow 70,518 London, with Brighton Pavilion, Bristol West and Cambridge Source: House of Commons Petition’s Committee, constituting the remainder.15 Your Petitions: A Year of Action (2016), 2.

15 Philip Cowley and Mark Stuart, Parliamentary petitions (2017) 7 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

Below is a map, created by Mark Edwards, Philip Cowley and Chris Hanretty, showing the number of signatures per 1,000 heads in each constituency of Great Britain on e-petitions between July 2015 and February 2017.16 A zoomable version is available here.

PROPENSITY OF BRITISH CONSTITUENCIES TO SIGN PETITIONS, 2015-2017

London

Source: Cowley and Stuart, Parliamentary petitions. Petition counts to July 2015 to February 2017. In the first year of the petition’s website launch (July 2015-July 2016), 48% of visitors to the site came via social media, 30% via typing the address into a browser, 12% via other websites, and 10% via search engines. This suggests that access to social media is a significant determinant of participation in the current e-petitioning system.17

16 Cowley and Stuart, Parliamentary petitions 17 House of Commons Petitions Committee, Your Petitions: A Year of Action July 2015- July 2016 (2016), 12. 8 Petitions in the UK

3. Largest UK e-petitions

Since the current e-petitions system was introduced in July 2015, only three e-petitions to the UK parliament have received over 1 million signatures. Due to the partial nature of their web-archiving, it is less certain what e-petitions were submitted to the Number 10 and Cabinet Office Websites.

3.1 Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU, 2019 A petition created in 2019 to revoke article 50 and remain in the UK garnered nearly 6.1 million signatures. This number is equivalent to 13% of the UK Parliamentary electorate.18 The Government responded that it was its ‘firm policy not to revoke article 50’, and the petition was debated in Westminster Hall in April 2019. An average of 12.4% of the UK Parliamentary electorate signed the petition in each constituency across the UK. 16 of the 20 highest signing areas were in the London region, though the highest proportion of the electorate signing the petition was seen in Bristol West, at 44.8%. The smallest proportions of the UK Parliamentary electorate signing the petition were seen in the West Midlands (9 of the 20 lowest signing-constituencies) and Yorkshire and Humber (6 of the 20 lowest signing constituencies).

TOP 20 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES LOWEST 20 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES

Number of % 2018 Number of % 2018 Constituency Region Signatures Electorate Constituency Region Signatures Electorate Bristol West SW 37,154 44.8% Walsall North W Midlands 1,988 3.0% Cities of London and Westminster London 25,111 42.8% West Bromwich West W Midlands 2,157 3.5% Brighton, Pavilion SE England 29,199 41.8% Birmingham, Hodge Hill W Midlands 2,620 3.6% Hornsey and Wood Green London 32,168 41.5% Dudley North W Midlands 2,159 3.6% Islington North London 27,123 39.4% Barnsley East Yorks & Humb 2,454 3.6% Cambridge E England 28,148 38.6% Wolverhampton South East W Midlands 2,206 3.6% Edinburgh North and Leith Scotland 28,043 38.2% Kingston upon Hull East Yorks & Humb 2,356 3.6% Hampstead and Kilburn London 29,105 37.8% Easington NE England 2,227 3.7% Kensington London 21,697 37.7% Stoke-on-Trent North W Midlands 2,641 3.8% Islington South and Finsbury London 23,731 36.9% Doncaster North Yorks & Humb 2,707 3.8% Richmond Park London 27,857 36.1% Wentworth and Dearne Yorks & Humb 2,842 3.9% Dulwich and West Norwood London 26,532 35.9% Stoke-on-Trent South W Midlands 2,589 3.9% Holborn and St Pancras London 28,319 35.9% Boston and E Midlands 2,735 4.0% Battersea London 24,709 35.6% Rotherham Yorks & Humb 2,448 4.0% Hackney North and Stoke Newington London 27,983 35.4% Hartlepool NE England 2,792 4.0% Hackney South and Shoreditch London 26,862 35.3% West Bromwich East W Midlands 2,427 4.0% Ealing Central and Acton London 23,872 34.8% Wolverhampton North East W Midlands 2,392 4.0% Chelsea and Fulham London 20,783 34.6% Great Grimsby Yorks & Humb 2,439 4.0% Putney London 20,544 34.6% Redcar NE England 2,657 4.1% Lewisham, Deptford London 24,778 34.2% Clacton E England 2,799 4.1%

Source: Petition ‘Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU’ and ONS Electoral Statistics, UK 2018 The below map shows the percentage of the UK Parliamentary Electorate signing the petition in each constituency.

18 ONS, Electoral Statistics, UK: 2018 9 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

% ELECTORATE SIGNING PETITION TO REVOKE ARTICLE 50, 2019

London

Source: Petition ‘Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU’ and ONS Electoral Statistics, UK 2018 10 Petitions in the UK

3.2 EU Referendum rules triggering a 2nd EU Referendum, 2016 The second-largest e-petition attracted more than 4.1 million signatures in 2016. This number was equivalent to around 9% of the UK electorate in 2016.19 The petition called for the EU referendum to be repeated if the vote for leave or remain did not meet a specific threshold. The Government responded that no such threshold had been provided in the relevant legislation and that no further referendum would be held. The petition was debated in September 2016. Of the 20 constituencies seeing the greatest proportion of their electorates sign, 18 were in London. The remaining two were Brighton Pavilion and Bristol West. 12 of the 20 constituencies with the lowest proportion of their electorates signing the petition were in Scotland. An average of 8.4% of the electorate signed in each constituency, with a high of 32.2% in Kensington and a low of 1.9% in Glasgow East.

TOP 20 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES LOWEST 20 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES Number of % 2016 Number of % 2016 Constituency Region Signatures Electorate Constituency Region Signatures Electorate Kensington London 18,421 32.2% Glasgow East Scotland 1,285 1.9% Cities of London and Westminster London 19,058 31.1% Banff and Buchan Scotland 1,437 2.1% Hornsey and Wood Green London 24,141 31.1% Airdrie and Shotts Scotland 1,369 2.2% Hampstead and Kilburn London 22,904 28.8% Glenrothes Scotland 1,456 2.2% Bristol West SW England 23,841 28.7% Motherwell and Wishaw Scotland 1,567 2.3% Brighton, Pavilion SE England 19,549 28.6% Walsall North W Midlands 1,600 2.4% Islington North London 20,365 28.4% Barnsley East W Midlands 1,698 2.5% Chelsea and Fulham London 16,999 27.8% Easington NE England 1,606 2.6% Islington South and Finsbury London 18,377 27.3% Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill Scotland 1,814 2.6% Battersea London 19,290 27.0% Doncaster North Yorks & Humb 1,910 2.7% Hackney North and Stoke Newington London 20,940 26.9% West Dunbartonshire Scotland 1,792 2.7% Richmond Park London 20,671 26.5% Glasgow South West Scotland 1,704 2.7% Hackney South and Shoreditch London 19,884 26.3% Kilmarnock and Loudoun Scotland 1,970 2.7% Westminster North London 16,345 26.0% Kingston upon Hull East Yorks & Humb 1,818 2.7% Holborn and St Pancras London 22,020 25.6% Redcar NE England 1,819 2.8% Bethnal Green and Bow London 19,041 25.4% Wentworth and Dearne Yorks & Humb 2,050 2.8% Dulwich and West Norwood London 18,684 25.3% North Ayrshire and Arran Scotland 2,031 2.8% Putney London 15,178 25.0% Central Ayrshire Scotland 1,922 2.8% Ealing Central and Acton London 17,504 24.8% Angus Scotland 1,802 2.9%

Source: Petition ‘EU Referendum Rules triggering a 2nd EU referendum’ and ONS Electoral Statistics, UK 2016

The below map shows the percentage of the UK Parliamentary electorate signing the petition in each constituency.

19 ONS, Electoral Statistics, UK: 2016 11 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

% ELECTORATE SIGNING PETITION ON REFERENDUM RULES, 2016

London

Source: Petition ‘EU Referendum Rules triggering a 2nd EU referendum’ and ONS Electoral Statistics, UK 2016 12 Petitions in the UK

3.3 Prevent Donald Trump from making a state visit to the UK, 2016 The third-largest e-petition was begun in 2016, and called upon the Government to prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to the UK. The petition gathered 1.9 million signatures, equivalent in number to around 4% of the UK Parliamentary electorate.20 The Government responded that the President of the United States should receive ‘the full courtesy of a State Visit’. This petition was debated together with a petition stating that Donald Trump should make this visit (gaining around 317,542 subscribers) in February 2017. Of the 20 constituencies seeing the greatest proportion of their electorates sign, 16 were in London. The remaining were Brighton Pavilion, Bristol West, Cambridge and Edinburgh North and Leith. 8 of the 20 constituencies with the lowest number of subscribers were in Northern Ireland and 5 in the West Midlands. An average of 3.8% of the electorate signed in each constituency, with a high of 16.3% in Brighton Pavilion and a low of 0.9% in Mid Ulster. 32 constituencies had more than 10% of their electorates sign the petition.

TOP 20 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES LOWEST 20 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES Number of % 2016 Number of % 2016 Constituency Region Signatures Electorate Constituency Region Signatures Electorate Brighton, Pavilion SE England 11,138 16.3% Mid Ulster Northern Ireland 585 0.9% Bristol West SW England 13,177 15.9% North Antrim Northern Ireland 709 1.0% Hackney North and Stoke Newington London 12,346 15.9% West Tyrone Northern Ireland 631 1.0% Bethnal Green and Bow London 11,499 15.3% Fermanagh and South Tyrone Northern Ireland 704 1.0% Hornsey and Wood Green London 11,848 15.2% Newry and Armagh Northern Ireland 852 1.1% Islington North London 10,777 15.1% Walsall North W Midlands 806 1.2% Hackney South and Shoreditch London 11,176 14.8% Wolverhampton South East W Midlands 779 1.3% Lewisham, Deptford London 9,640 13.3% Easington NE England 793 1.3% Dulwich and West Norwood London 9,769 13.2% Barnsley East W Midlands 869 1.3% Holborn and St Pancras London 11,310 13.2% East Londonderry Northern Ireland 848 1.3% Islington South and Finsbury London 8,833 13.1% Doncaster North Yorks & Humb 938 1.3% Cambridge E England 8,834 12.3% Upper Bann Northern Ireland 1031 1.3% Streatham London 8,800 11.9% Boston and Skegness E Midlands 909 1.3% Vauxhall London 9,080 11.9% Cannock Chase W Midlands 1003 1.4% Cities of London and Westminster London 7,254 11.8% Wentworth and Dearne Yorks & Humb 1007 1.4% Walthamstow London 7,607 11.7% Strangford Northern Ireland 871 1.4% Hampstead and Kilburn London 9,247 11.6% Houghton and Sunderland South NE England 929 1.4% Edinburgh North and Leith Scotland 8,514 11.6% West Bromwich West W Midlands 911 1.4% Camberwell and Peckham London 9,014 11.3% Kingston upon Hull East Yorks & Humb 929 1.4% Source: Petition ‘Prevent Donald Trump from making a state visit to the United Kingdom’ and ONS Electoral Statistics, UK 2016

20 ONS, Electoral Statistics, UK: 2016 13 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

3.4 Road pricing, 2007 In 2007, a petition protesting against the Labour Government’s proposal to introduce road pricing to reduce road congestion attracted 1.8 million signatures (equivalent to around 4% of the 2007 UK Parliamentary electorate), greater in size than any other petition on the website since its creation in November 2006 and the largest until at least August 2010.21 The then-Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote a reply to those that had signed the petition. No data has been archived setting out the distribution of signatures to this petition. Further data on recent e-petitions may be found in the Appendix.

21 Louise Butcher, ‘Roads: National Road Pricing’, House of Commons Library (2010), 13. 14 Petitions in the UK

PUBLIC PETITIONS TO THE HOUSE 4. Public Petitions to the UK OF COMMONS 1898-1902 35,646 Parliament 1908-12 24,414 1918-22 245 4.1 Procedure 1928-32 83 1938-42 32 Public Petitions are handwritten or word-processed documents 1942-52 147 presented in paper form by an MP or peer in their respective 1952-62 224 House (though their presentation in the Lords is extremely rare).22 An MP typically makes a short statement before an 1968-76 137 adjournment debate setting out who the petitioners are, the 1978-79 4 number of signatures a petition has, and what the request of 1979-80 42 the petitioners is. Petitions are then placed in the petitions bag, 1980-81 29 behind the Speaker’s chair. An MP can also submit a Public 1981-82 26 Petition without formally presenting it.23 1982-83 29 1983-84 732 Public Petitions are considered by the House of Commons 1984-85 1,059 Petitions Committee, and normally receive a response from the 1985-86 516 1986-87 108 relevant department. 1987-88 356 1988-89 227 4.2 Historic Trends 1989-90 960 Public Petitioning was an important means of participation in 1990-91 183 Parliament in the period before universal suffrage. From 1688 to 1991-92 452 1788, 12,300 ‘large collective’ petitions were presented to the 1992-93 2,651 Westminster Parliament,24 and around 960,000 Public Petitions 1993-94 102 were presented to the UK Parliament between 1833 and 1994-95 119 1995-96 77 1918.25 1996-97 55 From the First World War onwards, possibly reflecting the 1997-98 99 extension of the franchise, the number of Public Petitions 1998-99 99 declined substantially. Twentieth-century trends are shown in 1999-2000 87 2000-01 35 the table to the right. Totals prior to 1978 are for select groups 2001-02 131 of years only. A recovery in petitioning numbers took place in 2002-03 220 the 1980s and early 1990s, though did not recover to pre-1914 2003-04 128 levels. In 1994-95, 1,059 petitions were presented, compared to 2004-05 51 only 4 in 1979-80. The greatest number of Public Petitions 2005-06 293 presented in a single session in recent years were the 2,651 2006-07 161 presented in 1992-93. An average of 176 petitions were 2007-08 221 presented per session in the 2000s, compared to an average of 2008-09 123 around 18 per session from 1968 to 1979. 2009-10 393 2010-12 187 2012-13 146 Table sources: Second report from the Select Committee on Procedure Powers of 2013-14 175 chairmen of standing committees; Public Petitions (1972-73), 25; House of Commons 2014-15 166 Information Office, Public Petitions (2010), Sessional Returns of the House of Commons 2015-16 165 2016-17 328

22 From December 2000 to at least June 2008, no public petitions were presented to the Lords: HL, 11 June 2008, C WA103 23 House of Commons, Ask your MP to present a petition (accessed 11 July 2019) 24 P. Loft, Data: Petitioning and Petitioners to the Westminster Parliament (2019) 25 Richard Huzzey and Henry Miller, Exploring British History through a popular form of political participation (2017) 15 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

5. Largest UK Public Petitions to Parliament/Number 10

Paper petitions also receive large numbers of subscribers. Because the House of Commons has not systematically recorded the presentation of petitions and their signatures, this list only reflects the largest known petitions at the time of writing and should not be taken as definitive.26 Notably, three of the largest known petitions occurred between 1939 and 1945, and on the common issue of pensions.

5.1 Pensions, 1945 A petition presented in November 1945 on the behalf of the British Federation of Old Age Pensioners claimed to have been signed by 6 million people. The petitioners asked for legislation to improve the condition of pensioners.27 This was equivalent in number to 18% of the UK Parliament electorate in 1945.28

5.2 Pensions, 1939 In July 1939, an estimated 5 million adults signed a petition to the Commons calling for a doubling of the state pension to £1.29 This number was equivalent in size to around 16% of the 1935 UK Parliament electorate.30 The petition was collected over a 6-week period.31

5.3 Ambulance dispute, 1989 Presented in December 1989, 4.5 million signed a petition in support of ambulance workers who were then a dispute with the government over pay.32 This number was equivalent in size to around 10% of the 1989 UK Parliament electorate.33 The dispute was resolved with a pay increase in March 1990.34

5.4 Pensions, 1943 A petition was presented to the House of Commons in November 1943, which was signed by nearly 4.1 million people. Petitioners called for an increase in the weekly allowances awarded to old age pensioners.35 The number of subscribers were equivalent in size to just over 12% of the

26 This list is partly informed by Colin Leys, ‘Petitioning in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries’, Political Studies, 3 (1955), 45-63. 27 HC Deb, 21 November 1945, c. 407 28 Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, British Electoral Facts, 1832-2012 (2012), 91. 29 John Macnicol, The Politics of Retirement in Britain, 1878-1948 (Cambridge, 1998), 319. 30 Rallings and Thrasher, Electoral Facts, 91. 31 Margot Jefferys, Growing Old in the Twentieth Century (1989), 32. 32 HC Dec, 15 December 1989, c1293-4 33 Rallings and Thrasher, Electoral Facts, 103. 34 Roger Seifert, Industrial Relations in the NHS (1992), 274-6. 35 HC Hansard, 9 December 1943, c 965. 16 Petitions in the UK

1945 UK Parliament electorate.36 This petition was rejected by the House of Commons for failing to comply to procedural rules.37

5.5 Chartists, 1842 The 1842 petition presented by the Chartist movement contained 3.3 million signatures—around a third of the adult population. The Chartists petitioned for the introduction of universal male suffrage, the secret ballot, annual elections, the payment of MPs, for electoral districts of equal size, and the abolition of property qualifications to become an MP. Other Chartist petitions were presented in 1839 and 1848.38

5.6 Increase in entertainment duty, 1951 In 1951, a Public Petition against a proposed increase in the Entertainment Duty had 3.1 million signatures.39 This number was equivalent in size to nearly 9% of the 1951 UK Parliament electorate.40 Specifically, petitioners opposed an increase on duty on cinema contained in the 1951 Finance Bill. The petition was collected over a 12- day period.41

5.7 Sub post offices, 2000 In April 2000, a paper petition was presented to Number 10 Downing Street against the closure of sub-post offices and was signed by 3 million people.42 This number was equivalent in size to nearly 7% of the UK Parliament electorate in 2000.43

36 Rallings and Thrasher, Electoral Facts, 91. No data on the size of the electorate was published during the Second World War. 37 HC Deb, 8 Dec 1943, c. 965. 38 Malcom Chase, The Chartist Petition of 1842 (2016) 39 Select Committee on Procedure, Public Petitions (Evidence) (1992), 2. 40 Rallings and Thrasher, Electoral Facts, 102. 41 HC Deb, 5 June 1951, (no column number) 42 HC Deb, 12 April 2000, c. 376. 43 Rallings and Thrasher, Electoral Facts, 103. 17 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

6. Time spent debating petitions in the UK Parliament

TIME SPENT DEBATING/RECEIVING PETITIONS House of Commons. Hours: Minutes % of Main Westminster Westminster Chamber Hall Hall time 1997/98 1.25 1998/99 1.06 1999/00 1.22 2000/01 0.37 2001/02 2.26 2002/03 4.27 2003/04 2.31 no data 2004/05 0.59 2005/06 4.44 2006/07 3.16 2007/08 4.24 2008/09 3.02 2009/10 3.04 2010/12 3.51 2012/13 1.59 7.09 2% 2013/14 2.56 5.43 1% 2014/15 2.18 15.51 5% 2015/16 2.13 38.01 8% 2016/17 2.37 51.55 14%

Source: House of Commons Sessional Returns, 1997/98-2016/17 The number of hours that the main chamber of the House of Commons has spent debating or receiving Public Petitions has been low since 1997/98. The smallest amount of time spent receiving or debating petitions in the House of Commons Chamber in a single session was the 37 minutes in the 2000/01 session, whilst the largest amount of time was 4 hours 44 minutes in the 2005/06 session. Since 2012/13, the amount of time spent debating petitions in Westminster Hall has surpassed all these sessional totals for the main chamber. In Westminster Hall, the proportion of time spent debating petitions has increased in each session since 2014/15. In 2015/16, around 8% of all time for Westminster Hall was spent on petitions.44 In 2016/17, the time spent in Westminster Hall debating e-petitions increased to 51 hours 55 minutes, or around 14% of Westminster Hall business.45

44 House of Commons Sessional Returns: Session 2015-16 (2016), 36. 45 House of Commons Sessional Returns: Session 2016-17 (2017), sections C and D. 18 Petitions in the UK

7. Petitions to other institutions 7.1 Scottish Parliament From May 2000 to May 2019, 1,495 petitions were presented to the Scottish Parliament. There is no requirement that petitioners collect signatures in support of the petition that they submit (aside from the petitioner’s own). Once presented, they are considered by the Public Petitions Committee, who may choose to collect further information, take oral evidence, refer the petition to another committee, or allow time for the Parliament to debate the petition. All petitions must relate to a topic that is within the powers of the Scottish Parliament. Unlike in other bodies, petitions presented to the Scottish Parliament can also be transformed into laws after a process of deliberation and scrutiny.

NUMBER OF PETITIONS NUMBER OF SIGNATURES TO PETITIONS Scottish Parliament, years ending May Scottish Parliament, select years only 2000/01 169 Year Signatures (approx) 2001/02 137 1999 26,800 2002/03 114 2000 120,000 2003/04 114 2001 45,000 2004/05 110 2002 39,000 2005/06 122 2003 21,449 2006/07 78 2004 160,000

2007/08 103 2005 11,339 2008/09 112 2006 14,185 2009/10 77

2010/11 62 2016/17 26,005 2011/12 37 2017/18 26,508 2012/13 46 Note: calendar years 1999-2006, sessional years 2013/14 34 running May-May from 2016/17 2014/15 40 Source: Scottish Parliament, Public Petitions 2015/16 33 Committee Report (2006), Scottish Parliament, Public Petitions Committee Annual Report 2017 and 2016/17 42 Annual Report 2017/18 2017/18 37

2018/19 25 Source: Scottish Parliament Statistics and Scottish Parliament, Public Petitions Committee Reports

During the years for which data has been published (1999-2006 and 2016/17-2017/18), the largest number of signatures submitted in a single year was in 2004, and the second largest number of signatures occurred in 2000. In 2004, 160,000 signatures were gathered by the ‘Cod Crusaders’ who called upon the Scottish Parliament to oppose EU fisheries policy and return control over the fishing industry to Scotland.46

46 Scottish Parliament, Public Petitions Committee Report (2006), Section 6; Scottish Parliament, Petition PE804 19 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

This was equivalent in size to 4% of the Scottish Parliament electorate in 2004.47 In 2000, ‘Keep the Clause’ campaign gathered 120,000 signatures to call upon the Scottish Parliament to halt the repeal of Section 2A (Clause 28) of the 1988 Local Government Act.48 Section 28 stated that a local authority ‘shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality’ or ‘promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship’. The number of petitioners was equivalent in size to 3% of the Scottish Parliament electorate in 2000.49

7.2 Profile of petitioners to the Scottish Parliament From June 1999 to June 2006, individuals submitted 50% of all petitions to the Scottish Parliament, whilst community groups submitted around 18% of all petitions. Businesses, Trade Unions and Local Authorities submitted around 2-3% of all petitions over the period.50 The profile of petitioners to the Scottish parliament has not varied greatly from 2006 to 2015.51 A questionnaire sent to petitioners in 2015, and returned by 113 individuals, found that: - 71% were aged 45-74 (compared to 36% of the population) - 62% were male (compared to 49% of the population) - 58% had a first degree or higher (compared to 26% of the population) - 37% were retired - 32% had a disability (compared to 20% of the population - 3% were aged 18-24 (compared to 10% of the population) - White and Asian groups appeared in rough proportion to the population as a whole. In terms of geography, Glasgow, Lothian and Highlands and Islands were overrepresented regions, whilst northeast Scotland was underrepresented, as can be seen in the figure on the following page.

47 National Records of Scotland, ‘Electoral Statistics- Scotland 1st December 2004’ 48 Scottish Parliament, Petition PE183 49 National Records of Scotland, ‘Electorate Figures for 1996 to 2001’. 50 Scottish Parliament, Public Petitions Committee Report (2006), Section 12. 51 Scottish Parliament, Review of the Petitions Process, Paper 859 (2015) 20 Petitions in the UK

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF PETITIONERS TO THE SCOTITSH PARLIAMENT

Source: Scottish Parliament, Review of the Petitions Process, Paper 859 (2015)

7.3 Welsh Assembly52 During the first and second Assemblies (1999-2003, 2003-2007), fewer than 60 petitions were received by the Welsh Assembly. In the third Assembly, a Petitions Committee was established and e-petitioning introduced. From May 2007 to December 2014, over 830 petitions were submitted. Of these, 583 were deemed admissible and submitted to the 53 Petitions Committee for consideration. All petitions must relate to topics within the devolved powers of the Assembly. Once at least 50 signatures have been collected, it may be presented to the Committee, who may gather further information, hear witnesses, conduct a short inquiry, or send the petition to another committee.54 From April 2008 to November 2008, 85 e-petitions were received. Of these topics gaining more than 10 petitions, 16 petitions related to roads and infrastructure, 14 to the NHS and healthcare, and 13 on the environment.55 Of the most recent 200 closed petitions considered by the Welsh Assembly, 45 gained over 1,000 signatures (23% of the 200) and 74 had less than 100 (37% of the 200).56 5 of the 200 had over 10,000 signatures (3% of the 2000). The largest petition was signed by around 15,000 in October 2014 to ‘Save General Practice’. A June 2018 petition ‘Against Pheasant Shooting’ gained 12,706 signatures and a November 2018 petition ‘Stop the proposed M4 motorway’ collected 12,270 signatures. These signatures are all equivalent to less than 1% of the registered Welsh Assembly electorate.57

52 Unlike other bodies, the Welsh Assembly takes into account petitions collected on other petitioning website. However, data in this section only takes into consideration petitions created on the Welsh Assembly Petitions website and paper petitioning. 53 Presiding Office of the Welsh Assembly to Committee of Procedures in the Northern Ireland Assembly (December 2014), 2. 54 National Assembly for Wales, Petitioning the Assembly (2017) 55 Miller, ‘E-petitions at Westminster: the way forward?’, 170. 56 National Assembly for Wales, ‘Completed Petitions’ (accessed 9 July 2019). 57 Stats Wales, Electoral Roll: electors by National Assembly constituency, 2006-2018 21 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

The largest petition presented to the Welsh Assembly during the 5th Assembly is ‘Pembrokeshire says NO!! To the closure of Withybush A&E!’ being signed by 40,045 people.58 As of July 2019, the petition is still under consideration by the Petitions Committee. The number of subscribers is equivalent in size to 1.8% of the registered Welsh Assembly electorate.59

7.4 Northern Ireland The first Public Petition to the Northern Ireland Assembly was presented in January 2002.60 From 2006 to September 2014, the Assembly received 28 Public Petitions. These included a petition signed by 120,000 people that opposed any changed in the abortion law in 2007, being equivalent in number to nearly 11% of the Northern Ireland electorate.61 In 2016, the Northern Ireland Committee on Procedures proposed the introduction of e-petitioning for the Assembly.62

7.5 Local authorities Since 2010, English local authorities have been required to introduce schemes for the handling of petitions, though many had pre-existing petitions systems.63 The number of petitioners required to sign a petition before a debate can be held on its subject cannot be greater than 5% of the total local authority population, though 90% of authorities in 2011 had set no threshold.64 As of 2015, only 4 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities had a e-petition facility, whilst in Northern Ireland and Wales no council had such a system.65 However, paper petitions schemes were in operation in Wales.66

58 National Assembly for Wales, Petitions Committee 12/02/2019, paragraph 35. 59 Stats Wales, Electoral Roll: electors by National Assembly constituency, 2006-2018 60 Northern Ireland Assembly, ‘History’ 61 Derek Birrell, ‘Review of Public Petitions Procedures’ (December 2014), 2; Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, Electoral Statistics- 2007 62 Northern Ireland Assembly, Committee on Procedures, Review of Public Petitions Procedures (2016) 63 The Local Authorities (Petitions) (England) Order 2010 64 Tony Elliman, ‘E-petitions buried as councils fail to offer citizens a right to reply’, Guardian, 21 June 2011. 65 Catherine Bochel and Hugh Bochel, “Reaching in?” The potential for e-petitions in Local Government in the United Kingdom’, Information, Communication and Society (2015), 14. 66 Consultation Document: Draft Local Government (Wales) Bill (2015), 45. 22 Petitions in the UK

8. Appendix 1: UK Parliament e- petitions receiving over 100,000 signatures in 2019

Aside from the Petition to Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU, which gained over 6 million signatures, 6 other petitions gained over 100,000 signatures during 2019 (data as of July 2019).

These show that petitioning hot-spots vary from issue to issue. 1. Make 'netting' hedgerows to prevent birds from nesting a criminal offence This petition was begun in March 2019 and received 367,701 signatures, being debated in Westminster Hall on 10 April 2019. The petition was particularly popular in , with 11 constituencies in the top 30 places for signing, as measured in terms of the proportion of the electorate signing. 8 constituencies in also appeared in the top 30.

TOP 30 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES As proportion of UK Parliament electorate Number of % 2018 Constituency Region Signatures Electorate St Ives SW England 1,360 2.1% Buckingham SE England 1,632 2.0% Stroud SW England 1,553 1.9% Truro and Falmouth SW England 1,332 1.9% Camborne and Redruth SW England 1,168 1.7% Central Devon SW England 1,220 1.7% Stratford-on-Avon W Midlands 1,188 1.7% Brighton, Pavilion SE England 1,169 1.7% North Herefordshire W Midlands 1,126 1.7% Chesham and Amersham SE England 1,182 1.6% Totnes SW England 1,088 1.6% Aylesbury SE England 1,345 1.6% Bristol West SW England 1,308 1.6% Ceredigion Wales 809 1.6% Ludlow W Midlands 1,038 1.6% Torridge and West Devon SW England 1,217 1.6% Somerton and Frome SW England 1,266 1.5% South East Cornwall SW England 1,041 1.5% Lewes SE England 993 1.4% Hereford and South Herefordshire W Midlands 1,010 1.4% Arfon Wales 556 1.4% Suffolk Coastal E England 1,098 1.4% Henley SE England 1,037 1.4% North Cornwall SW England 938 1.4% North Norfolk E England 936 1.4% Wantage SE England 1,171 1.4% Norwich South E England 932 1.4% Bath SW England 810 1.4% Source: Petition ‘Make “netting” hedgerows to prevent birds from nesting a criminal offence and ONS Electoral Statistics, UK 2018 23 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

2. Leave the EU without a deal on April 12th This petition was begun in March 2019 and was signed by 247,599 people. As of July 2019, it is currently waiting for a date for debate. 7 of the 30 constituencies seeing the highest proportion of the UK Parliamentary electorate sign were in the East of England, 6 were in the South East of England, and 5 were in the East Midlands.

TOP 30 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES As proportion of UK Parliament electorate Number of % 2018 Constituency Region Signatures Electorate Boston and Skegness E Midlands 739 1.1% North East Cambridgeshire E England 880 1.1% Louth and Horncastle E Midlands 821 1.1% Sittingbourne and Sheppey SE England 843 1.0% South Holland and The Deepings E Midlands 778 1.0% Redcar NE England 656 1.0% South Basildon and East Thurrock E England 734 1.0% Cleethorpes Yorks & Humb 722 1.0% Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland NE England 701 1.0% Clacton England 645 0.9% Great Grimsby Yorks & Humb 570 0.9% Great Yarmouth E England 643 0.9% Bosworth E Midlands 737 0.9% Castle Point E England 625 0.9% Blackpool North and Cleveleys NW England 565 0.9% Thurrock E England 703 0.9% Rayleigh and Wickford E England 706 0.9% Rochester and Strood SE England 725 0.9% Weston-super-Mare SW England 726 0.9% North Warwickshire W Midlands 620 0.9% Cannock Chase W Midlands 660 0.9% Portsmouth North SE England 619 0.9% North Thanet SE England 625 0.9% Bognor Regis and Littlehampton SE England 660 0.9% Havant SE England 622 0.9% Sleaford and North Hykeham E Midlands 795 0.9% Plymouth, Moor View SW England 588 0.9% Doncaster North Yorks & Humb 615 0.9% Source: Petition ‘Leave the EU without a deal on April 12th’ and ONS Electoral Statistics, UK 2018

24 Petitions in the UK

3. Parliament must honour the referendum result. Leave deal or no deal 29/03/19 This petition was begun in March 2019 and gained 181,284 signatures. It was debated in Westminster Hall on 1 April 2019. Of the 30 constituencies with the highest proportion of the UK Parliamentary electorate signing this petition, 7 were in Yorkshire and Humber, 7 in the East Midlands, and 6 in the East of England. TOP 30 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES

As proportion of UK Parliament electorate Number of % 2018 Constituency Region Signatures Electorate Castle Point E England 616 0.9% Gosport SE England 634 0.9% Bassetlaw E Midlands 667 0.9% Sittingbourne and Sheppey SE England 691 0.8% Don Valley Yorks & Humb 615 0.8% Clacton E England 560 0.8% South West Norfolk E England 618 0.8% Dover SE England 592 0.8% Wentworth and Dearne Yorks & Humb 574 0.8% Thurrock E England 605 0.8% Rayleigh and Wickford E England 607 0.8% Boston and Skegness E Midlands 523 0.8% Barnsley East Yorks & Humb 508 0.7% Carlisle NW England 483 0.7% Hornchurch and Upminster London 589 0.7% Bolsover E Midlands 521 0.7% North Warwickshire W Midlands 497 0.7% Doncaster North Yorks & Humb 510 0.7% Louth and Horncastle E Midlands 558 0.7% Barnsley Central Yorks & Humb 452 0.7% Gainsborough E Midlands 529 0.7% South Thanet SE England 498 0.7% Rochford and Southend East E England 512 0.7% Sleaford and North Hykeham E Midlands 637 0.7% Mansfield E Midlands 531 0.7% Normanton, Pontefract and CastlefordYorks & Humb 559 0.7% Brigg and Goole Yorks & Humb 461 0.7% Portsmouth North SE England 481 0.7% Source: Petition ‘Parliament must honour the Referendum Result. Leave with no deal 29/03/19’ and ONS Electoral Statistics, UK 2018

25 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

4. Violet-Grace’s Law - Life sentences for death by dangerous driving This petition was begun in February 2019 and gained 165,681 signatures. It was debated in Westminster Hall on the 8 July 2019. All the 30 constituencies with the highest proportion of the UK Parliament electorate signing were in North West England. The petition was launched in memory of Violet-Grace Youens, who was struck by a driver in St Helens in 2017.

TOP 30 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES As proportion of UK Parliament electorate Number of % 2018 Constituency Region Signatures Electorate St Helens South and Whiston NW England 11,194 14.4% St Helens North NW England 8,394 11.2% Knowsley NW England 2,903 3.5% Halton NW England 2,094 3.0% Liverpool, West Derby NW England 1,803 2.8% Makerfield NW England 2,053 2.8% Liverpool, Walton NW England 1,397 2.3% Garston and Halewood NW England 1,620 2.2% Warrington North NW England 1,475 2.1% Bootle NW England 1,451 2.0% Leigh NW England 1,427 1.9% Wigan NW England 1,339 1.8% Wallasey NW England 1,152 1.8% Warrington South NW England 1,510 1.8% Birkenhead NW England 1,087 1.8% West Lancashire NW England 1,165 1.7% Liverpool, Wavertree NW England 972 1.6% Wirral South NW England 829 1.5% Sefton Central NW England 1,006 1.5% Wirral West NW England 696 1.3% Ashton-under-Lyne NW England 850 1.3% Southport NW England 838 1.2% Liverpool, Riverside NW England 796 1.2% Worsley and Eccles South NW England 752 1.0% Oldham West and Royton NW England 713 1.0% Heywood and Middleton NW England 779 1.0% Denton and Reddish NW England 631 1.0% Weaver Vale NW England 668 1.0% Ellesmere Port and Neston NW England 631 0.9%

Sources: Petition ‘Violet-Grace’s Law-Life Sentences for Death by Dangerous Driving’ and ONS Electoral

Statistics, UK 2018

26 Petitions in the UK

5. Revoke Article 50 if there is no Brexit plan by the 25 of February This petition was created in February 2019 and gained 150,481 signatures. It was debated in Westminster Hall on 11 March 2019. Of the 30 constituencies with the highest proportion of the UK Parliamentary electorate signing, 13 were in London, 6 in South East England, and 4 in the East of England.

TOP 30 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES As proportion of UK Parliament electorate Number of % 2018 Constituency Region Signatures Electorate Cambridge E England 1,182 1.6% Brighton, Pavilion SE England 893 1.3% Bristol West SW England 947 1.1% Edinburgh North and Leith Scotland 828 1.1% Oxford East SE England 753 1.1% Oxford West and Abingdon SE England 762 1.0% Hornsey and Wood Green London 797 1.0% Edinburgh East Scotland 620 1.0% Edinburgh South Scotland 584 1.0% Hove SE England 660 0.9% South Cambridgeshire E England 771 0.9% Bath SW England 523 0.9% Islington North London 599 0.9% Holborn and St Pancras London 670 0.8% Richmond Park London 639 0.8% Ealing Central and Acton London 557 0.8% Hampstead and Kilburn London 618 0.8% Lewisham, Deptford London 581 0.8% Islington South and Finsbury London 514 0.8% Dulwich and West Norwood London 584 0.8% South East Cambridgeshire E England 661 0.8% Wimbledon London 494 0.8% Brighton, Kemptown SW England 485 0.8% Norwich South E England 516 0.8% Twickenham London 600 0.7% Hackney North and Stoke Newington London 590 0.7% Reading East SE England 528 0.7% Winchester SE England 521 0.7% Hackney South and Shoreditch London 552 0.7%

Sources: Petition ‘Revoke Article 50 if there is no Brexit plan by the 25 of February’ and ONS Electoral Statistics, UK 2018

27 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

6. Immunity for soldiers who worked in Northern Ireland. This petition was created in March 2019 and gathered 148,966 signatures. It was debated in Westminster Hall on 20 May 2019. Of the 30 constituencies with the highest proportion of the UK Parliamentary electorate signing, 10 were in Northern Ireland and 8 in North East England.

TOP 30 CONSTITUENCIES FOR SIGNATURES As proportion of UK Parliament electorate Number of % 2018 Constituency Region Signatures Electorate East Antrim Northern Ireland 768 1.2% Lagan Valley Northern Ireland 854 1.2% Belfast East Northern Ireland 741 1.2% Strangford Northern Ireland 741 1.1% North Down Northern Ireland 692 1.1% Upper Bann Northern Ireland 857 1.1% Belfast North Northern Ireland 689 1.0% Gosport SE England 640 0.9% North Antrim Northern Ireland 657 0.9% South Antrim Northern Ireland 587 0.9% Plymouth, Moor View SW England 524 0.8% Aldershot SE England 529 0.7% South West Devon SE England 513 0.7% Sleaford and North Hykeham E Midlands 663 0.7% Richmond (Yorks) Yorks & Humb 586 0.7% Easington NE England 435 0.7% Moray Scotland 490 0.7% Redcar NE England 443 0.7% East Londonderry Northern Ireland 453 0.7% Jarrow NE England 429 0.7% Devizes SW England 462 0.7% Houghton and Sunderland South NE England 445 0.7% Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport SW England 458 0.6% Blyth Valley NE England 385 0.6% Washington and Sunderland West NE England 401 0.6% Hereford and South Herefordshire W Midlands 425 0.6% Sedgefield NE England 382 0.6% Hartlepool NE England 420 0.6% South Dorset SW England 426 0.6% Source: Petition ‘Immunity for soldiers who worked in northern Ireland’ and ONS Electoral Statistics, UK 2018

28 Petitions in the UK

9. Appendix 2: UK Parliament e- petitions receiving over 100,000 signatures since 2015

PETITIONS WITH OVER 100,000 SIGNATURES

July 2015- July 2019 Rank Petition title No signatures Year 1 Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU. 6,089,806 2019 2 Referendum 4,150,262 2016 Prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to 3 the United Kingdom. 1,863,708 2016 Give the Meningitis B vaccine to ALL children, not 4 just newborn babies. 823,349 2015 5 Leave the EU without a deal in March 2019. 608,152 2018 6 Ban all ISIS members from returning to UK 598,254 2018 7 Block Donald J Trump from UK entry 586,930 2015 Stop all immigration and close the UK borders until 8 ISIS is defeated. 463,501 2015 Accept more asylum seekers and increase support 9 for refugee migrants in the UK. 450,287 2015 Make 'netting' hedgerows to prevent birds from 10 nesting a criminal offence. 361,754 2019 Consider a vote of No Confidence in Jeremy Hunt, 11 Health Secretary 339,925 2016 Donald Trump should make a State Visit to the 12 United Kingdom. 317,542 2017 Ban the sale of fireworks to the public. Displays for 13 licenced venues only. 307,897 2018 Put pressure on Libya to take action to stop 14 enslavement of Black Africans. 269,157 2017 15 Leave the EU Without a deal on April 12th. 247,617 2019 Ban the use of all non-recyclable and unsustainable 16 food packaging 247,048 2018

17 Abolish the BBC television license. 246,734 2018 18 Stop the privatisation of NHS services 238,769 2017 If England win the world cup, the Monday should be 19 made a bank holiday for 2018 237,396 2018

20 Make the production, sale and use of cannabis legal. 236,995 2015 Stop spending a fixed 0.7 per cent slice of our 21 national wealth on Foreign Aid 235,979 2016 To debate a vote of no confidence in Health 22 Secretary the Right Hon Jeremy Hunt 231,136 2015 Vote no on military action in Syria against IS in 23 response to the Paris attacks 227,745 2015 Make online abuse a specific criminal offence and 24 create a register of offenders 221,914 2017 25 Pro-EU Referendum leaflets 221,866 2015 Another Scottish independence referendum should 26 not be allowed to happen 221,514 2017 27 Stop allowing immigrants into the UK. 216,949 2015 We want a Public Inquiry into the James Bulger 28 murder case. 213,624 2017 Repeal the new Surveillance laws (Investigatory 29 Powers Act) 212,743 2016 Lower the age for smear tests from 25 to 18 to 30 prevent cervical cancer. 205,359 2018

29 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

PETITIONS WITH OVER 100,000 SIGNATURES July 2015- July 2019 Rank Petition title No signatures Year No more school penalty fines and bring back the 10 31 day authorised absence 204,790 2016 Rescind Art.50 if Vote Leave has broken Electoral 32 Laws regarding 2016 referendum 203,236 2018 33 Vote no confidence in David Cameron 199,391 2015 34 Hold a second referendum on EU membership. 194,231 2018 Make fair transitional state pension arrangements 35 for 1950's women 193,185 2015 36 No UK airstrikes on Syria. 190,223 2015 School should start at 10am as teenagers are too 37 tired 187,902 2018 38 Dangerous Dogs Act 186,226 2018 Put a max of £1200 on car insurance for 18-25 year 39 olds 185,175 2016 Parliament must honour the Referendum result. 40 Leave deal or no deal 29/03/19 181,304 2019 Amnesty for anyone who was a minor that arrived In 41 Britain between 1948 to 1971 180,482 2018

42 Hold a General Election in 2016 177,014 2016 Continue to fund free TV licences for the over 75 in 43 the future. 171,980 2018 Give the electorate a referendum on the abolition of 44 the House of Lords 170,981 2018 Ban the sale of fireworks to the public and only 45 approve organised displays. 168,160 2016 46 Don't put our NHS up for negotiation 166,747 2019 Violet-Grace's Law - Life sentences for Death by 47 Dangerous Driving 166,271 2019 Change the GCSE English Literature exam from 48 closed book to open book. 165,932 2017 Change the University fees from £9250 back to the 49 £3000 fee for the UK. 164,166 2017

50 Keep the NHS Bursary 162,568 2015 Call on PM to take action to build public trust in the 51 Grenfell Tower Inquiry 156,835 2017 Hold a public inquiry and a referendum over turning 52 all schools into academies 156,599 2016 Introduce a tax on sugary drinks in the UK to 53 improve our children's health. 155,516 2015 Call on David Cameron to act to protect our steel 54 industry & recall Parliament 153,679 2016 55 Make online homophobia a specific criminal offence 153,249 2019 Make it illegal for a company to require women to 56 wear high heels at work 152,420 2016 Scrap plans to force state schools to become 57 academies. 151,403 2016 Revoke Art.50 if there is no Brexit plan by the 25 of 58 February 150,482 2019 Pay Up Now! Scrap the pay cap and give public 59 servants a meaningful pay rise 149,138 2017 30 Petitions in the UK

PETITIONS WITH OVER 100,000 SIGNATURES July 2015- July 2019 Rank Petition title No signatures Year Immunity for soldiers who worked in Northern 60 Ireland. 148,982 2019 Close all retail on boxing day, retail isn't needed on 61 boxing day! 148,327 2016 Ban the sale of puppies by pet shops & all 62 commercial 3rd party dealers. 148,248 2018 Make paying rent enough proof that you are able 63 meet mortgage repayments 147,307 2017 Air-drop life saving aid into the starving cities in 64 Syria. 146,452 2016 65 Hold a referendum on the final Brexit deal 145,119 2017 Provide 15 hours free childcare to working parents 66 for children over 9 months. 144,574 2019 Grant a People's Vote if Parliament rejects the EU 67 Withdrawal Agreement 144,523 2018 Make TV election debates happen - establish an 68 Independent Debates Commission 143,219 2018 69 Leave the EU immediately 141,835 2017

70 Reverse the ESA disability benefit cut 136,890 2016

Stop possible second referendum on E.U. 71 membership 135,936 2018 Stop retrospective changes to the student loans 72 agreement 134,194 2016 Free childcare when both parents are working. Not 73 just those who are on benefits 133,921 2016 74 Prevent the scrapping of the maintenance grant. 133,069 2015 The UK should not agree the UN's Global Compact 75 for Migration 131,617 2018 76 Invoke Article 50 of The Lisbon Treaty immediately. 128,238 2016 Replace the unelected House of Lords with a 77 publicly elected body 128,210 2016 Require supermarkets to offer a plastic-free option 78 for all their fruit & veg. 128,001 2018 79 The Air Ambulances to be government funded 127,963 2019 Give status to Police Dogs and Horses as 'Police 80 Officers' 127,729 2016 81 April's Law 127,296 2016 Make an allowance for up to 2 weeks term time 82 leave from school for holiday. 127,199 2015 Abolish the tv licence, it shouldn't be a legal 83 requirement. 125,958 2016 84 Ban driven grouse shooting 123,077 2016 Jeremy Hunt to resume meaningful contract 85 negotiations with the BMA. 120,680 2016 Fund more research into brain tumours, the biggest 86 cancer killer of under-40s 120,129 2015 87 Keep Childcare Vouchers open beyond April 2018 119,587 2017 Make it a specific criminal offence to attack any 88 member of NHS Medical Staff. 118,056 2016 Give parents the right to opt their child out of 89 Relationship and Sex Education 118,050 2018 31 Commons Library Briefing, 11 July 2019

PETITIONS WITH OVER 100,000 SIGNATURES July 2015- July 2019 Rank Petition title No signatures Year Make Orkambi available on the NHS for people with 90 Cystic Fibrosis 118,034 2018 Make fair transitional state pension arrangements 91 for 1950's women 117,716 2017 Force child cancer to the forefront of the NHS and 92 government funding schemes. 117,183 2016 Brexit re article 50 it must not be 93 suspended/stopped under any circumstances 116,485 2018 Laws to be introduced on social networks on hate 94 preaching against religion(s) 116,040 2019 People found with a knife to get 10 years and using 95 a knife 25 years in prison. 115,723 2018 Scrap the £35k threshold for non-EU citizens settling 96 in the UK 114,636 2016 Pet Theft Reform: Amend animal welfare law to 97 make pet theft a specific offence. 114,553 2019 Scrap plans forcing self employed & small business 98 to do 4 tax returns yearly 114,504 2015 Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes 99 when he arrives in London 114,122 2015 100 Increase funding for schools 113,825 2018 Parliament's vote on the Brexit deal must include an 101 option to remain in the EU. 113,612 2017 Change the laws governing the use of fireworks to 102 include a ban on public use 113,284 2017 103 Stop Brexit 112,578 2018 Allow Premier League and Championship football 104 clubs to introduce safe standing 112,025 2017 Authorise open book examinations for GCSE English 105 Literature 2017 110,876 2016 If there is no agreement to leave the EU then brexit 106 must be stopped 110,136 2018 The DDRB's proposals to change Junior Doctor's 107 contracts cannot go ahead. 110,065 2015 108 Ban the sale of animal fur in the UK. 109,553 2017 109 Halt Brexit For A Public Inquiry 108,752 2019

110 Shut down the domestic ivory market in the UK. 108,530 2016 End the badger cull instead of expanding to new 111 areas 108,320 2016 NHS supply new lifesaving drugs for Cystic Fibrosis 112 like 11 other EU countries 108,144 2018 Reclassify the theft of a pet to a specific crime in its 113 own right. 107,352 2018 Abolish the subsidy on food and drink in the Palace 114 of Westminster restaurants. 107,176 2018 New law that cats killed/injured by a vehicle are 115 checked for a chip: round three 107,062 2018 Demand an end to the pay restraint imposed on 116 agenda for change NHS staff. 106,409 2016 Debate in the House the Local Government Pension 117 Scheme Investment Regulations 105,772 2016 118 Public inquiry into the bias in the BBC 105,422 2018 Create a new independent welfare body to protect 119 racehorses from abuse and death 105,362 2018 32 Petitions in the UK

PETITIONS WITH OVER 100,000 SIGNATURES July 2015- July 2019 Rank Petition title No signatures Year Restore nature on a massive scale to help stop 120 climate breakdown 105,344 2019 121 End the Cage Age: ban cages for all farmed animals. 105,203 2019 Restrict the use of fireworks to reduce stress and 122 fear in animals and pets 104,038 2015 Make mental health education compulsory in 123 primary and secondary schools. 103,554 2017 To make votes matter, adopt Proportional 124 Representation for UK General Elections 103,495 2016 Recognise animal sentience & require that animal 125 welfare has full regard in law 102,535 2019 126 Include expressive arts subjects in the Ebacc 102,499 2015 Urge the South Korean Government to end the 127 brutal dog meat trade 102,131 2016 Call on the Government to urge Whirlpool UK to 128 recall all faulty tumble dryers 101,980 2016 Ban all non-recyclable/non-compostable packaging 129 in the UK 101,941 2016 130 End the export of live farm animals after Brexit. 100,752 2017 Parliament to sit on Saturdays which should be a 131 "normal working day" for MPs. 100,353 2016 The Prime Minister should advise Her Majesty the 132 Queen to prorogue Parliament. 100,330 2019

Note: Data to July 2019. Petitions close 6 months after they are opened, so the total number of subscribers for

2019 petitions is liable to increase further.

Source: House of Commons Petitions Committee.

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