All good things must come to an end and Gavin Gamble’s e-petition is a good thing which ends at midnight today. On this rainy Bank Holiday Monday you could just spend a few moments emailing a few friends and asking them to sign up using this link https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/201443
Yesterday was a brilliant day for Gavin’s e-petition – delivering 1700+ signatures and taking the total past 45,000 and 46,000 to 46,186 signatures. Seventeen constituencies joined the ‘100 signatures’ club bringing that total to 119 constituencies (close to one in five of the total). Thank you to everyone who has signed the e-petition and to those who have gone further and promoted it in some way. Thank you! Every signature sends a message; every signature helps send a stronger message.
A special word for Shipley in West Yorkshire. As I produce these posts of lists of constituencies I am fairly accustomed to what it feels like to update them. One goes down the list and adds a few signatures on to most lines and juggles the order and it takes quite a while. Today when I got to Shipley I had to add 43 signatures to its total since Saturday, and move it from 71st in the list to 20th. That’s a big jump in two days when neighbouring Keighley added a perfectly respectable six signatures and moved from 92nd to 84th in the list. I know practically nothing about the constituency of Shipley and I don’t know what happened in Shipley, but something did. And if it was you, thank you!
Here are the constituencies which have at least 100 signatures with those 17 additions not emboldened and at the end of the list. There then follows a list of constituencies in the high 90s, some of which will surely be in tomorrow’s final update.
Will Calder Valley reach 200 signatures? Will Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey? Will Shipley have another strong day? Will the ‘100 signatures’ club number 125 cosntituencies tomorrow morning?
It’s the last day when you can make a difference – please find a way to ask someone to consider signing Gavin Gamble’s e-petition calling on governments to ban driven grouse shooting.
- High Peak, Ruth George MP, 245 signatures
- Sheffield Hallam, Jared O’Mara, 215 signatures
- Calder Valley, Craig Whittaker, 198 signatures
- Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, Drew Hendry MP, 196 signatures
- Derbyshire Dales, Patrick McCloughlin MP, 192 signatures
- Sheffield Central, Paul Blomfield MP, 188 signatures
- Thirsk and Malton, Kevin Hollinrake MP, 186 signatures
- Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron MP, 184 signatures
- Skipton and Ripon, Julian Smith MP, 180 signatures
- Ross, Skye and Lochaber, Ian Blackford MP, 175 signatures
- Isle of Wight, Bob Seeley MP, 173 signatures
- Suffolk Coastal, Therese Coffey MP, 167 signatures
- North Norfolk, Norman Lamb MP, 164 signatures
- Richmond (Yorks), Rishi Sunar MP, 164 signatures
- Stroud, David Drew MP, 164 signatures
- Argyll and Bute, Brendan O’Hara MP, 158 signatures
- Central Devon, Mel Stride MP, 157 signatures
- Wells, James Heappey MP, 155 signatures
- Edinburgh North and Leith, Deidre Brock MP, 152 signatures
- Shipley, Philip Davies MP, 151 signatures
- Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas MP, 151 signatures
- Torridge and West Devon, Geoffrey Cox MP, 150 signatures
- South Norfolk, Richard Bacon MP, 149 signatures
- Bristol West, Thangam Debbonaire MP, 149 signatures
- Somerton and Frome, David Warburton MP, 147 signatures
- East Lothian, Martin Whitfield MP, 145 signatures
- South Cambridgeshire, Heidi Allen MP, 145 signatures
- Mid Norfolk, George Freeman MP, 144 signatures
- Penrith and The Border, Rory Stewart MP, 143 signatures
- Dumfries and Galloway, Alister Jack MP, 141 signatures
- St Ives, Derek Thomas MP, 138 signatures
- Lewes, Maria Caulfield MP, 138 signatures
- Norwich South, Clive Lewis MP, 138 signatures
- Harrogate and Knaresborough, Andrew Jones MP, 135 signatures
- Totnes, Sarah Woollaston MP, 135 signatures
- Colne Valley, Thelma Walker MP, 135 signatures
- Ceredigion, Ben Lake MP, 134 signatures
- Witney, Robert Courts MP, 133 signatures
- West Dorset, Oliver Letwin MP, 132 signatures
- North Somerset, Liam Fox MP, 132 signatures
- Ludlow, Philip Dunne MP, 132 signatures
- Sheffield Heeley, Louise Haigh MP, 132 signatures
- Edinburgh East, Tommy Sheppard MP, 131 signatures
- York Central, Rachael Maskell MP, 128 signatures
- Ribble Valley, Nigel Evans MP, 128 signatures
- Tiverton and Honiton, Neil Parish MP, 128 signatures
- Broadland, Keith Simpson MP, 128 signatures
- Waveney, Peter Aldous MP, 126 signatures
- Ochil and South Perthshire, Luke Graham MP, 123 signatures
- Penistone and Stocksbridge, Angela Smith MP, 123 signatures
- Taunton Deane, Rebecca Pow MP, 123 signatures
- East Devon, Hugo Swire MP, 122 signatures
- Bridgwater and West Somerset, Ian Liddell-Grainger MP, 121 signatures
- Edinburgh South, Ian Murray MP, 121 signatures
- Oxford West and Abingdon, Layla Moran MP, 120 signatures
- South West Wiltshire, Andrew Murrison MP, 120 signatures
- Berwick on Tweed, Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, 120 signatures
- Macclesfield, David Rutley MP, 120 signatures
- South West Surrey, Jeremy Hunt MP, 119 signatures
- Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweedsmuir, Ian Mundell MP, 119 signatures
- Chippenham, Michelle Donelan MP, 119 signatures
- Yeovil, Marcus Fysh MP, 118 signatures
- Cambridge, Daniel Zeichner MP, 118 signatures
- York Outer, Julian Sturdy MP, 117 signatures
- Edinburgh South West, Joanna Cherry MP, 117 signatures
- South East Cambridgeshire, Lucy Frazer MP, 117 signatures
- Hexham, Guy Opperman MP, 116 signatures
- Perth and North Perthshire, Pete Wishart MP, 115 signatures
- Rutland and Melton, Alan Duncan MP, 115 signatures
- Stirling, Stephen Kerr MP, 114 signatures
- Hove, Peter Kyle MP, 114 signatures
- North East Bedfordshire, Alistair Burt MP, 113 signatures
- The Cotswolds, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, 110 signatures
- Salisbury, John Glen MP, 111 signatures
- West Worcestershire, Harriett Baldwin MP, 111 signatures
- Montgomeryshire, Glyn Davies MP, 111 signatures
- North West Hampshire, Kit Malthouse MP, 110 signatures
- Wantage, Edward Vaizey MP, 110 signatures
- North Herefordshire, Bill Wiggin MP, 109 signatures
- Henley, John Howell MP, 109 signatures
- East Yorkshire, Greg Knight MP, 109 signatures
- Truro and Falmouth, Sarah Newton MP, 109 signatures
- Lancaster and Fleetwood, Cat Smith MP, 109 signatures
- Keighley, John Grogan MP, 109 signatures
- North East Derbyshire, Lee Rowley MP, 108 signatures
- North Dorset, Simon Hoare MP, 108 signatures
- Newbury, Richard Benyon MP, 108 signatures
- Scarborough and Whitby, Robert Goodwill MP, 108 signatures
- New Forest East, Julian Lewis MP, 107 signatures
- Twickenham, Vince Cable MP, 107 signatures
- Arundel and South Downs, Nick Herbert MP, 107 signatures
- West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Andrew Bowie MP, 107 signatures
- Banbury, Victoria Prentis MP, 107 signatures
- Ipswich, Sandy Martin MP, 106 signatures
- Leeds North West, Alex Sobel MP, 106 signatures
- Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Dan Poulter MP, 105 signatures
- Beverley and Holderness, Graham Stuart MP, 104 signatures
- North East Fife, Stephen Gethins MP, 104 signatures
- North Wiltshire, James Gray MP, 104 signatures
- Exeter, Ben Bradshaw MP, 104 signatures
- North West Cambridgeshire, Shailesh Vara MP, 104 signatures
- Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, John Lamont MP, 102 signatures
- Sleaford and North Hykeham, Caroline Johnson MP, 107 signatures
- Congleton, Fiona Bruce MP, 107 signatures
- Shrewsbury and Atcham, Daniel Kawczynski MP, 105 signatures
- Leeds North East, Fabian Hamilton MP, 104 signatures
- Reading East, Matt Rodda MP, 104 signatures
- North Shropshire, Owen Paterson MP, 103 signatures
- Bury St Edmunds, Jo Churchill MP, 103 signatures
- South Dorset, Richard Drax, 102 signatures
- Selby and Ainsty, Nigel Adams MP, 102 signatures
- Manchester, Withington, Jeff Smith MP, 101 signatures
- Newton Abbot, Ann Marie Morris MP, 104 signatures
- South West Norfolk, Liz Truss MP, 100 signatures
- North Devon, Heaton-Jones MP, 100 signatures
- Forest of Dean, Mark Harper MP, 100 signatures
- Mid Dorset and North Poole, Michael Tomlinson MP, 100 signatures
- Monmouth, David C Davies MP, 100 signatures
- South Suffolk, James Cartlidge MP, 100 signatures
- Amber Valley, Nigel Mills MP, 99 signatures
- North West Norfolk, Henry Bellingham MP, 99 signatures
- Meon Valley, George Hollingbery MP, 99 signatures
- East Hampshire, Damian Hinds MP, 99 signatures
- Romsey and Southampton North, Caroline Nokes MP, 99 signatures
- Hornsey and Wood Green, Catherine West MP, 98 signatures
- Brecon and Radnorshire, Chris Davies MP, 98 signatures
- Chorley, Lindsay Hoyle MP, 98 signatures
- Tatton, Esther McVey MP, 98 signatures
- New Forest West, Desmond Swayne MP, 97 signatures
- Moray, Douglas Ross 97 signatures
- South Northamptonshire, Andrea Leadsom MP, 97 signatures
- Chesterfield, Toby Perkins MP, 97 signatures
- East Worthing and Shoreham, Tim Loughton MP, 97 signatures
And the standings of your estimates of the signature total were:
| Name | Estimate | |
|---|---|---|
| Keith | 71604 | |
| Steven | 61255 | |
| Colin | 55155 | |
| Mike | 51345 | |
| Paul F | 47574 | |
| Jonathan | 45217 | |
| Adrian | 43527 | |
| Gerard | 42962 | |
| Ben | 42876 | |
| Paul | 42573 | |
| Owen | 42334 | |
| Alister | 42073 | |
| Hugh | 42042 | |
| Simon | 40107 | |
| Philip | 40040 | |
| Nick | 39987 | |
| Louise | 38012 | |
Although Jonathan has a chance of winning this little contest, Paul F now is in pole position and it would take a day even better than yesterday (which was stupendous) for Mike to win. Paul’s guess (or carefully considered estimate) commands the region of 46395-49,465 signatures and that looks like it will be where the total will end up. We’ll see!
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Just another 80,000 to go. If it doesn’t make it, then it proves that interest is waning.
If you are upset by me saying that here then you better work out a counter argument that can work on someone who is pro-banning driven grouse shooting PDQ, because if you can’t then we’ll be in real trouble when you start hearing that coming from the pro-shooting lobby. Gavin has handed them the single biggest victory in their campaign to keep driven grouse shooting, by delivering a petition with a lesser signature count than the last one he has done more for the pro-shooting lobby than Ian Botham ever did. It is going to be difficult to go on the offensive with such a critical hit taken to the numbers.
I’m sure that Hen Harrier Day this year will involve more events and more participants, The League Against Cruel Sports Scotland has created a paid position for a senior campaigner to fight Driven Grouse Shooting – which is a phenomenal step forward and I was speaking to a guy on a RSPB stall on Saturday who said that in the past few years he’s had more and more members of the public come up and ask about bird of prey prosecution – he never had that before. The chorus against DGS is getting louder and louder, it will be a miracle if grouse moors in Scotland manage to avoid licensing. There will be people who’ve signed Gavin’s petition who never signed ANY previous petition to ban DGS, it was most certainly not a retrograde step. No matter what the final tally the other side have absolutely no reason to crow about anything, they are losing and they know it.
See, that is better.
Many may have taken different directions than having any faith in a parliamentary debate after watching the last debacle, if that’s democracy then we are in a dire state in Westminster and little wonder that folk are disillusioned. Reform is seriously needed?
But as for handing DGS a victory, fine let them think that whilst other options are followed such as Les W outlines above. They can keep the Westminster lobbies packed but we will have our day and whilst the argument continues more and more and more are becoming aware of upland mis-management funded through the public purse and illegal raptor persecution and wildlife crime & you’re telling us Random 22 that that’s their victory?
I think there are plenty of explainations to why the petition didn’t reach as high as it did in 2016 but crucially I think very few people would have since changed their minds about supporting a ban. We are going to see waves of support from the public. Commissioning polls like those done in 2016 would be far more useful comparison.
I’m as optimistic as I have ever been. I’m not disappointed we didn’t get enough for a debate because I don’t think at this time it would achieve a lot. If pro DGS want to claim this as a victory let them have it. They haven’t got long!
The supporters of a ban on driven grouse shooting are now 74,991 signatures behind where they were in September 2016. The petition has lost more people than have signed it?
Petition fatigue, apathy or realisation that it’s a complete waste of time. Discuss.
Appealing to the animal rights extremists the LACS had little effect.
Even the housewives favourite Chris Packham joining in it wasn’t enough. Perhaps people are making their own minds up instead of blindly following BBC ‘celebrities ‘
I will be interested to see your positive spin on what a great result this actually is!! Although i do find it strange that people who signed it last time couldn’t be bothered this time. It appears even the keyboard warriors have forsaken their keyboards.
In other news I look forward to your blog post discussing the latest cull figures for the RSPB reserves.
Adrian – which RSPB reserves have been culled?
Tell us Adrian how do people who refer to others as ‘keyboard warriors’ do so on social media without using a keyboard themselves? I am intrigued.
Maybe we should campaign for a ban on Red Grouse sales,probably a sure way to solve the problem.
Brilliant I really like that idea for the next step.
Ha Ha, Unfortunately for bird numbers none have, but a lot of other predators of birds and birds eggs appear to have been on a number of RSPB reserves.
Adrian,the pro epetition is doing even worse.cannot see why you are so cocky.
Gavins petition done really well for a non celeb.
You’ve hit the nail on the head there ‘non celeb’ over 70,000 signatures LESS than last time even with Mr Packhams full support, plus all the ‘celebs’ who backed it via Marks blog. Says something surely?
Clutching at straws Adrian, considering the petition had already been carried out three times before and had got a parliamentary debate (which showed who the friends of DGS were and therefore why we really need to get rid of it) for another petition after that to have achieved what it did is bloody good going. There will have been people who signed this time who never did before, and it will have helped pull them into the debate – yes debate, not people blindly accepting the pap they’ve been getting fed for decades about how glorious for people and wildlife grouse moors are – they aren’t. The ‘disappearing’ raptors, the horrendous mountain hare ‘cull’ together with the responses from official and unofficial reps of DGS which have worsened public perceptions of it must be really worrying you and your ilk – even your pal Fergus Ewing has came out publicly to condemn raptor persecution and has associated it with DGS. There’s a note of shrill desperation and wishful thinking in your comments, you’re fooling nobody. By the way if you are convinced that DGS is vitally important for rural jobs and the economy and it isn’t actually driving away better business opportunities that are better for wildlife and the land then you’ll be glad to know there’ll be another petition later this year where you can sign up to get the govt to commission a full and comprehensive study into the real economic value (and for whom) of DGS. I’m sure you’ll be an enthusiastic supporter of that won’t you?