We, by which I mean the supporters of a ban on driven grouse shooting, are now 12,000+ signatures ahead of the forces of conservatism who wish this unsustainable hobby of shooting birds for fun and profit to continue.
But it’s not quite as simple as that, as there are three e-petitions including Ed Hutchings’s e-petition, supported by the RSPB which suggests that there is a middle way of licensing grouse shooting.
And, the three petitions all started at different times and so have been running for different lengths of time and have different times remaining until thy close.
Maybe this table makes things a little clearer:
Three e-petitions - how do they compare?
| Position | Signatures | signs/day | signs/day needed for 100,000 signatures | Signs in last week | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gavin Gamble | Ban | 27,000 | 214 | 1300 | c500 |
| Jane Griggs | Pro | 15,000 | 202 | 787 | c100 |
| Ed Hutchings | License | 6,400 | 120 | 725 | c300 |
Clearly, the support for a ban on driven grouse shooting is higher than that for anything else – but Gavin Gamble’s e-petition has been running for longer than the other two.
When we look at signatures/day over the life of the three e-petitions then they come rather closer together in terms of performance but Gavin Gamble’s e-petition is still ahead – and that shows that it isn’t running out of steam – or at least that it has a respectable head of steam when compared with the other two e-petitions because even at this advanced stage (two thirds of the way through its life) it is still ahead on this metric.
None of the e-petitions look like they are going to get anywhere near 100,000 signatures – although that could change in a twinkling of an RSPB email to all its supporters.
Gavin Gamble’s e-petition added more signatures in the last week than did either of the other petitions (or indeed the two of them put together).
Let’s keep it going please – the signature rate is not stupendous but as these figures show, if you wanted to know which form of future for driven grouse shooting had the greatest public support then it clearly is the option of a ban. Please get all your friends and family to consider signing Gavin Gamble’s e-petition calling on politicians to ban driven grouse shooting.
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I think it’s quite telling that after 24 hours or so there has not been a single comment on this piece (until this one).
I guess there’s just not much new or different to be said about these petitions.
Alan – not much, no. But the value of monitoring is that you know when something is on the move.
The stats make interesting reading, although we shouldn’t read too much into them. Mssrs Gamble and Hutchings are known individuals, and their petitions have been shared by those of a similar outlook. “Jane Griggs” remains unknown – certainly I have not seen anyone who says they know who she is, and pro-shooting organisations and individuals have mostly distanced themselves from what is at best a badly written petition.
Interestingly, even if all petitions are added together, fewer than 50,000 people have signed. Should a debate happen as a result of any of these petitions, the content and outcome are likely to be very similar, so I still don’t view it as any kind of race.