Although he is wrong about capital punishment, Peter Hitchens writes:
What useless safety valves these new e-petitions are.
They don’t even promise that Parliament will debate the issues raised. And what they certainly will not do is restore the death penalty, sensible though that would be.
MPs are not chosen by us. They are picked by the centralised machines of the state-subsidised, billionaire-backed political parties.
We then vote for them, like the suckers we are.
MPs are not afraid of us, because we obediently vote for the big parties whenever a General Election comes round.
I’ve tried telling you not to do this, but you wouldn’t listen.
Can you also admit that Neil Clark is wrong about the death penalty?
ReplyDeleteHe and I agree to disagree on this one.
ReplyDeletePeople who claim to oppose the death penalty but who support nuclear weapons and the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, now they are the ones whom I cannot begin to understand.
Of course, we do have the death penalty in this country - for those in the womb who are 'not wanted' or simply inconvenient. The most innocent of all, who are not even given the opportunity of taking a breath never mind commit a crime. And this is paid for by successive governments (i,e, us) which have been steadfastly opposed to 'terminating' the most heinous murderers because it is uncivilised. I have always found it bizarre that many who are vehemently opposed to capital punishment are equally vehemently in favour of abortion.
ReplyDeleteAnd there is such a feeling in favour of e-petitions because at the moment it is, perhaps, the only way that many can express their views. Hitchens is absolutely correct in what he says about the selection of our MPs. They are chosen by a favoured few, and, like nodding dogs, do the bidding of the favoured few to whom they are beholden. The views of the electorate are of no interest to them for 5 years; at which point they emerge from their Westminster bunker to promise everyone the earth if they will vote for them.
When a reasonable majority of people have consistently expressed a view on a particular topic, such as membership of the EU, and are consistently ignored year after year then the opportunity of an e-petition is seized upon in desperation. Until a way is found to break the cycle of party machine domination then people will continue to support such 'safety valves' as e-petitions. Now where do I add my name?