Do you find that you get asked to sign lots of e-petitions? And do you bother?
Well, here are a few rules to help you on your way.
- Don’t sign an e-petition unless you’ve read it
- Don’t sign an e-petition unless you agree with it
- Don’t sign more than two e-petitions a day
- Don’t sign more than five e-petitions a week
- Don’t sign more than 50 e-petitions a year
- Don’t be put off by badly worded e-petitions if you agree with the gist of them
- Don’t find one small thing with which you disagree and decide not to sign the e-petition on those grounds – again, see if you agree with the gist
- Don’t forget to spread the word to friends and colleagues if you have signed an e-petition
- Don’t expect the world either to fall in on your head or to be made of milk and honey just because you have signed an e-petition – it may be the beginning of a long campaign
- Do sign this one to ban driven grouse shooting please.
Maybe you have some suggested rules too?
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As it happens I’ve just been asked to sign another petition, to “Save Our National Parks”. Here’s my reply;
****I have to confess I’ve become increasingly concerned at the way that
38 Degrees and other petition sites are contributing to PR driven
budget decisions. What’s most emotive often isn’t the best guide to
what’s best value or most important.
In this case the vast majority of land in UK National Parks is
privately owned and always has been, so I don’t see any point of
principle here. Most of the Lake District NP for instance has never
been owned by the National Park Authority, and I don’t think that the
South Downs NP owns any land at all to speak of. Ask yourself how
this lack of public ownership has impacted your enjoyment of these
areas? Have you even noticed?
Actually National Parks have got off quite lightly compared to other,
arguably better value, environmental spending – if there’s to be more
cash for the environment, which it badly needs, NPs are not the place
I’d spend it. But they are a suitable emotive topic for a petition.
More generally National Parks, and environmental spending generally,
have been hugely impacted by disproportionate spending cuts. Natural
England for instance has had a 33% cut. If you ring fence spending on
all the large emotive budgets – NHS, education, defence – then by
default the spending cuts have to fall very heavily on the much
smaller non ring fenced items. NE’s 33% (£50m) cut is 0.05% of the
NHS budget. That’s, say, 1 less nurse in a hospital that employs 2000
nurses.
Bear in mind that on the Government’s own figures the environment is
worth £30 billion in health and wellbeing benefits alone. Yet I’ve
lost count of the number of 38 degree petitions to persuade the NHS to
spend even more on this and that – money that has to come from
somewhere.
They’re really not joining the dots. I won’t be signing.****
I wrote this in response to an increasing number of petition requests I’ve been getting, many of which have been increasingly badly thought out or apparently ill informed.
So I’d add #11
Make sure make an informed choice when you sign, and don’t just respond to the immediate emotional appeal without checking it out.
I fear that all these petitions are devaluing the currency, which directly affects the credibility of well thought our cost effective proposals like this one: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/65627
Sign wisely!
Sorry, for clarity, the Save Our National Parks petition is, it turns out on reading the small print, a protest against selling some NP owned land in some Parks. Hence my comment about no point of principle being at stake in having land in an NP under private ownership.
I also have reservations about the value of National Parks (some tend to be more keen on promoting tourism than protecting the environment) but I do think that public land ownership is one of the best ways of protecting it. If land is publicly owned then it generally reduces the amount of time and money that agencies such as Natural England have to spend on it to stop it being trashed. I resent the fact that the land that we own is being sold off – so I have signed this particular petition.
It was “Save Our National Parks” I had in mind when I scrolled down to see comments. I will not be signing that petition despite numerous invitations to do so. Which is not to say that I don’t have concerns about National Parks selling land. But if we start from the position of a national park having de facto a reduced budget, I don’t want unthinking populist pressure preventing them from selling land and as a result requiring decisions that are worse for nature. Of course 38 Degrees will say that’s not what their petition is about. Who could not agree that we should “stop cutting their funding”? But if 38 Degrees showed more responsibility they would recognise that if the petition has any effect at all it is more likely to discourage national parks from selling land than it is to protect their budgets.
Each case on its merits but I’d far rather that national parks had the money to enforce the law and to require SSSIs to be properly managed than to own them themselves without the means to do so effectively.
I forgot to say, I agree with #11 and maybe would add #12 Consider moral hazard.
As it has now become so simple to start an online petition, perhaps some advice to those starting one may be prudent too Mark.
1) Don’t start an online petition if you have been drinking, sober up!
2) Don’t start an online petition if you are very angry, calm down!
3) Look and see if an existing online petition covers your point of view. Two or more similar petitions split the signatures and divide the impact.
4) If petitioning the UK Government make sure you know what they are responsible for and which powers are devolved. For instance wildlife crime in Scotland is devolved to the Scottish Government so petitioning Westminster will have no effect whatsoever.
5) Be prepared to publicise your petition and spend a considerable amount of time airing it on social media.
6) Don’t start petitions which are the same or very close to another just so that your name is on it. The petition is about righting injustice not personal glory.
7) Think very carefully before starting your petition. Sleep on it. Have you got the time, inclination and energy to publicise it and see it through?
8) Do not start an online petition and assume that other organisations will support you. Speak to them first and make sure they will lend their support to, or publicise your petition. It may even be better if you can persuade them to take on the petition and exercise their pubic and political clout.
9) Make sure that your information is accurate and articulate. If potential signees see it as a rant or doubt its authenticity or accuracy they simply won’t sign.
10) Whatever you do take a moment to sign Mark’s “Stop Driven Grouse Shooting” petition and study it because it is a great example of how to do it!
Great list!
Public ownership of land isn’t always a great thing – remember the Kulaks?
There ought to be an option on all petitions to say you disagree with it. Possibly also a ‘don’t know’ option
Dick – I tend to agree with you. If nothing else, it would raise the profile of issues and raise the stakes.
“There ought to be an option on all petitions to say you disagree with it. ”
That’s not a petition though, that’s a poll.
I sign all the petitions I agree with. Which is most of them. I would advise opening a separate email address though just for petitions – as you can get a lot of emails afterwards that clog up your feed…
Make sure your signature is registered. I signed an epetition recently on the government site and had to re-request my confirmation email 3 times. My friend had to request his 4 times and other friends weren’t getting theirs either. I could see by the number of signatures shown that they weren’t getting registered. Hate to appear cynical but handy for the government when their epetition site doesn’t register signatures objecting to what they’re planning!
Wow, you must know some promiscuous petitioners! I must confess to being a lot more chaste, ascetic even, in this department going by your list, Mark; before the Kew petition (which my Mum sent me) the only ones I have signed in the last few months are the Rampisham one, courtesy of Miles King, and your Hen Harrier one. Surely once a week max should satisfy the most avid petitioner?
This mania for clicktivism is an interesting social phenomenon. It reflects many aspects of society, not least the vast democratic deficit, the painful disconnect between ordinary people and the ruling political classes (vide Peter Oborne), the public feel – no, we know – that our priorities are neglected and over-ridden, and also how reliant we are all becoming on the isolating machinery of the cyber-giants and their backers; Google, Facebook, and the rest.
A great list and great comments, really helpful, thought provoking and clear. Thank you!