Petition to call a general election passes huge milestone but STILL won’t be debated | Politics | News
Sir Keir Starmer has the power to call an election at a time of his choosing (Image: Getty)
A major milestone has been passed in the petition calling on Parliament to hold an immediate general election. The online document currently has more than 200,000 signatures. At the time of this writing, it had garnered 216,943 supporters.
In preparing it, Robert JF Barnes wrote: “On 4 July 2024, Sir Keir Starmer was elected Prime Minister. Since then his Government has introduced measures that did not appear in Labour’s manifesto. We believe we were misled, and this secrecy has worsened since Starmer came to power.”
“It is time to take action. We believe the Government has failed to protect our borders against small boats. We have no confidence in this Government’s course of action. Pensioners and farmers have been directly affected by policies that were not included in the Labor Party’s manifesto. Our country cannot continue like this. Dissolve Parliament and hold a general election immediately!”
The government is responding to petitions with 10,000 signatures.
Andy Burnham said there would be no early general election if he came in 10th place (Image: Getty)
Those who score 100,000 points are considered by MPs for debate in the House of Commons. However, officials confirmed that no action would be taken on Mr Barnes’ petition.
They said the Petitions Committee “appreciates the support this petition has received”. “However, the issue raised in this petition was recently discussed by MPs in a petition discussion on this subject.”
This debate took place on January 12 and is available to watch Here.
Following his victory in the Makerfield by-election, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham announced that there would be no early general election if he became Prime Minister.
Sir Keir faces calls from former Health Secretary Wes Streeting and other MPs to resign after Labor suffered huge losses in May’s local elections.
In response to Mr Barnes’ petition in January, the Cabinet Office said: “The Government is in office because it has the confidence of the House of Commons, whose members are elected by the people. “There are no plans to change these arrangements.
“The Prime Minister may call a general election at a time of his own choosing, demanding that Parliament be removed from the Sovereignty within the five-year life of Parliament. The government was elected by the British people in the July 2024 general election with a mandate for change.”
“This Government remains focused on delivering the change the country voted for at the last General Election. Since taking office, we have restored stability across government and delivered £340bn of investment into our country.
“Wages under this Government have risen more in our first year in office than in the previous 10 years of the last government. We have reduced NHS waiting lists by 225,000 and opened thousands of free breakfast clubs across the country. We have also increased the National Minimum Wage and our manifesto commitment to introduce an Employment Rights Bill has now become law.
“We know people up and down the country want to see change in their daily lives. As a result of this Government’s decisions, families will cut £150 off their energy bills this year, rail charges will be frozen for the first time in 30 years and NHS prescription charges will be capped at under £10.
“The government will continue to present the manifesto for change for which it was elected.”
