Way back in the dim and distant I signed one of these on-line Government Petition thingies. It was to debate a Vote of No Confidence in Jeremy Hunt (NOT Rhyming Slang)? You can imagine how I excited I felt when I heard that the government was actually going to debate this, and then I received an email informing me that IT HAD BEEN DEBATED.
Almost a quarter of a million people had signed this petition, no small number by anybody’s standards.
So I followed the link to the transcript of the debate, went straight to the bottom to discover what had been resolved.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered the e-petition relating to contracts and conditions in the NHS.
6.55 pm
Sitting adjourned.
WTF? thought I. That’s not what they were supposed to be debating, so I went back to the very beginning, a very good place to start.
4.31 pm
Valerie Vaz (in the Chair): A digital debate took place on Twitter, ahead of today’s debate. Mr Speaker has agreed that for this debate members of the public can use handheld electronic devices in the Public Gallery, provided that they are silent. Photos, however, must not be taken.
Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab): I beg to move,
That this House has considered the e-petition relating to contracts and conditions in the NHS
So, correct me if I’m wrong but the Committee have debated something completely different to the petition and then had the gall to send out an email telling hundreds of thousands of people who had signed the petition that it had been debated, when the reality was something completely different.
One more example, if any more were needed for this government’s total contempt for the Electorate. Man Electorate that for some reason voted for them in May, as this how they are treated.
Totally beyond DESPICABLE.
