The e-petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting is ticking along slowly (probably because nobody has put much effort into promoting it since it sailed past 100,000 signatures).
Tomorrow at about 4:25pm will represent four full weeks since this e-petition was launched (after a five and a half week delay) and I’ll update the list of constituencies then.
However there is a race on for the constituency with the highest number of signatures between Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey and Calder Valley. The form suggests that Calder Valley will eventually get to the top of this list and probably stay there – Calder Valley has been creeping up the list over the past weeks whereas Inverness et al. got off to a very quick start (it always does).
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, Drew Hendry MP (SNP), 486 signatures (majority at last general election, over Conservative, 4924 votes)
Calder Valley, Craig Whittaker MP (Con), 485 signatures (majority at last general election, over Labour, 603 votes)
Notably, both of these leading constituencies (and many of the others) are upland areas with driven grouse shooting in their boundaries.
Where do you think is the constituency with the lowest number of signatures at the moment? I’ve had a quick run around the map and, as usual, the contenders are in Northern Irleand (where there is almost no driven grouse shooting at all) and in London, Birmingham and a few other large cities. At the moment, Birmingham Hodge Hill (Liam Byrne MP (Lab)) is at the bottom of the list with just 17 signatures but those 17 are very welcome.
Seventeen signatures may not sound very many, but the so-called rival e-petition in favour of grouse shooting would be glad of them as if every constituency in the country had delivered 17 signatures to its call then it would now be sitting on a tiotal of 11,050 signatures whereas it is languishing on a total below 7,000 signatures (none of which come from Birmingham Hodge Hill and with no constituencies having reached 400, 300 or 200 signatures and only a couple just over 100 signatures). Still there appears to be plenty of time to go although probably not as much time as until February, as a general election campaign, starting in October (?), will curtail all e-petitions.
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I do think it a shame that the petition has stalled somewhat. It would be good to say that it had gained more signatures than the last and in a lot less time. Is another 22,000 being greedy?
We need another LACS.