Engagement with politics is continuing to decline. Direct democracy is part of the solution.

If a petition gets around 250,000 signatures on the official government petition site (https://petition.parliament.uk), I believe it should trigger an official, binding referendum.

In Switzerland, when around 0.6% of the population signs a petition, it triggers a referendum (https://www.ch.ch/en/referendum/). This system works well in a country of more than eight million people, and there is no reason why it wouldn’t work well in the UK.

A committee or group should be set up to administer these petitions so they do not needlessly consume government time. Note that only a small number of petitions a year would receive the needed signatures.

If you agree, and are a British resident, please sign my petition here:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/157241

© 2016 Bryan A. J. Parry

featured image from https://petition.parliament.uk

[new petition page link updated 22.07.2016]