- 06/07/2018
- Posted by: Hillingdon Labour
- Category: News
Hillingdon Labour Group have accused the Conservatives of increasing barriers to democracy as the Council increases the required number of electronic signatures on petitions from 20 to 100.
Speaking on behalf of the Labour Group at Full Council that took place last night, Cllr Tony Eginton said:
“Once again, the Tory administration has made lodging a petition more difficult. Despite their claim that lodging a petition should be simple, the five-fold
increase in the minimum number for an online petition means that each online petitioner is worth only 20% of a paper signature.
“This demonstrates two Tory views. They discriminate against younger people who are more likely to use online petitions and they just don’t like petitions reminding them of their failings.”
The Council have argued that the move is due to the ease of signing ‘e-petitions’, but paper petitions will still be valid with just 20 signatures.