At the last election the two main parties committed to Net Zero by 2050 with the Lib Dems setting out to get there more quickly but no party gave any details, except for the odd line in their manifestos. Whoever you voted for Net Zero was a given.
In October’s budget Rishi Sunak increased total spending and taxes, neither being good for economic recovery, but made no mention of the potential £3 trillion bill for meeting the government’s Net Zero target. Interestingly, in the Telegraph recently, a poll showed that 42% of adults supported a vote on Net Zero.
This is the reason I launched this official government petition on the 27th October last year to give the ‘People’ a say. The petition title is ‘Hold a referendum on whether to keep the 2050 Net zero target.’
This is the link to it – https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/599602
The petition goes on to state:-
“I believe the Net Zero lacks legitimacy and without a referendum the current Climate change policy lacks the explicit consent of the people, as argued by The Harrogate Agenda. This exposes a massive democratic deficit in our system of government.”
The petition will be up for six months, until April 27th. We achieved 10,000 signatures in the first two weeks and received an official response from the government. After a rapid start we have slowed and now stand at just under 22,000 votes, and now seem unlikely to get to 100,000 votes which is the requires number to make the government consider whether to schedule a debate in parliament on the subject.
While I believe there is pressure building on the government backbenches to challenge this policy, the ‘People’ should also have their say. If we can reach 100,000 votes it will give the government cause to consider whether proceeding without the consent is electorally wise. With THA’s six demand in place, and particular demand four ‘The People’s Consent’ the people would have the mechanisms to call for a referendum on the policy but in the meantime this petition, is the only tool available to ‘us’ and we should not waste it.
In the next few weeks, I will be stepping up my campaign of e-mailing the MSM to try and get them to give airtime to this petition to build on the limited success I’ve had so far with The Freedom Association, Bruges Group, Free Speech Union and GWPF who have all helped to promoted it.
If you believe in democracy, whether you support or oppose this government’s Net Zero policy, you should sign this petition and more importantly pass it on to your friends and contacts. The decision to proceed on this hugely costly, important and divisive issue should not be for the government alone to make but should involve the ‘People’ in a referendum.
While petitions such as: "Make it a legal requirement for nightclubs to thoroughly search guests on entry" get 174,353 signatures and "Give the UK a Bank Holiday on Monday July 12th if England win Euro 2020" get 364,832 signatures, an important petiton such as yours stands little chance until the pain of the devastation caused by Net Zero begins to really hurt. That's the reality.
ReplyDeleteI do hope that your campaign brings about results but in reality, the man who occupies No 10, will just ignore it just like he ignores everything else that might embarass him.
Could well be true but IF we got some national coverage it is just possible.
ReplyDeleteyes. The pressure against Net Zero is beginning to mount, but it has a long way to go yet.
DeleteOur petition followed an article in the Telegraph by Alister Heath saying we needed a referendum on Net Zero but since then the MSM have ignored the petition.
DeleteThe trouble for us is that if we don't get 100,000 votes the government can conclude the 'People' aren't that bothered.
As a result I'm going to check out with the Petition Department what is needed to run on the petition for another six months. I would think we would need to adapt the question and obviously go back and start again with Nil points.
To keep it going would allow the 'People' and indeed the MSM a second chance to wake up and vote for it.
"If we can reach 100,000 votes it will give the government cause to consider whether proceeding without the consent [of the public] is electorally wise." It must depend on whether there are candidates for election who oppose Net Zero and have a perceptible chance of winning. This seems unlikely. Also, what is the history of petitions of this kind? Has any one of them led to a change in government policy?
ReplyDeleteThe Conservatives have a new grouping called the Net Zero Group who are opposed to their own government's policy.
DeleteAs to the history of successful petitons have a look at this - https://www.itv.com/news/2017-01-31/petitions-what-are-the-10-most-signed-and-what-have-they-achieved