Puberty blocker trial - petition

Good, it serves them right. Not that they'll probably learn anything, though.

Regardless of the response, it's fucking embarrassing for government and it's unwanted publicity.

110,724 signatures

Still increasing steadily.

Flagging this thread as probably of interest to many on here:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5474467-an-urgent-message-from-athena-forum

I signed last night, as did DH, who is now well on the peaking journey.

I am currently reading Time to Think. I am so very sad and angry at how many opportunities to improve the service at GIDS were lost and that rather than prioritising a research piece on those children who have already been through this experimental treatment, the government wants to just go ahead and experiment on some more.

Given this government's now established history of U-turns I sincerely hope this is not the policy hill they decide to die on. It would be unforgiveable and history would not judge them kindly.

Can we continue to encourage the petition to be signed although it is now over 100k. The bigger the better to help demonstrate support for a ban

As it will be debated, as many believers in biology as possible should apply to attend

This is a good procedural guide. I’d like to attend the debate if possible.

I do hope Rosie Duffield will lead on it.

https://ukparliament.shorthandstories.com/pet-petition-debates-explainer/index.html#

What you do get is a minister who'll have to show up and explain government thinking on your issue

Don't expect them to have good news for you, however.

There's a reason you've had to fight for the support of 100,000 of your fellow citizens - and get past the Petitions Committee - to get this far. At best, a minister will politely tell you that the government notes your concerns, and then give a justification of current government policy. - [my underlined emphasis]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-parliaments-37685894.amp - BBC article

IMO it’ll be a reckoning on record to put in the bank for the future for these children.

Thanks, I'd forgotten the summing up bits at the end. Still very far from being 'on the hook' though. It makes sense for it to be health ministers on each side, but it could be anyone; and they tend to be astoundingly bland statements of the existing party position - they don't get questioned or have to make their case.

Wonder how high we can get it?

A minister does respond to the debate, according to Parliament.UK.

Debates on petitions in Westminster Hall are general debates about the issues raised by the petition. The debates take place on the motion: “That this House has considered” the relevant petition. This allows you to discuss the petition and related concerns, ask questions about the Government’s position, or press the Government to take action.
**
A member of the Petitions Committee opens the debate, and can speak for or against the petition. After the contributions from backbenchers, there are contributions from the two main Opposition parties and a response from a minister. The MP who has opened the debate will often have a few minutes at the end to sum up.
**
Petition debates are shown live on parliamentlive.tv, and the Hansard report is published online within four hours.

guidetoprocedure.parliament.uk/articles/fNWtcSks/format-of-petitions-debates

They’re stuffed either way. A debate? More sunlight. No debate? General indignation and more sunlight.

Don’t mind getting paler if that’s because other areas are doing their stuff, will take it on the chin!

this is an interesting article. Some petitions have had millions of votes without any “action”… so we will need a few more votes for the government to take this seriously I think.

https://consoc.org.uk/blog-are-online-petitions-useful/

Amendment- technically there is a vote at the end of the debate. But the motion is just 'We have discussed this petition', not a for-or-against question.

They also make veeeeeerrrrry good talking points when candidates come door knocking before upcoming elections.

Or in letters to MPs prior to that.

All decisions on the debate will be made by the Petitions Committee. Wes has nothing to do with it.

It will be an unwhipped, non-binding debate in Westminster Hall, not an actual parliamentary one. He doesn't need to send even a junior minister. Nor could he. MPs attend as individuals, not in a ministerial capacity or as a party representative.

These petitions are very useful as a tool to indicate public opinion, and to allow MPs to air views they wouldn't normally have an opportunity to raise in the House. But we mustn't get carried away. There's no legislative power in these debates, no compulsion for any minister to attend or action to be taken, no vote.

The colours are so interesting. In the London boroughs the paler constituencies seem to be the communities which are traditionally more Asian. I heard it said they are frequently slow to the table on consultations so I wonder if it’s that, or because it’s mainly affecting (affluent?) white people so less on their radar? I wish we knew more about which demographics are caught up in the trans belief system

Unfortunately the colours only indicate comparative strength of feeling by constituency. Yours could get paler again, as the thresholds for each colour change over time too.

Edited to add: Though if ant constituency remains an outlier at a very low level of support, the darkness of the map as a whole shows how much of an outlier it is. And of course the impression is biased towards sparsely populated area.

I just signed it - it was already over 100,000 and heading for 103,000, looked like the numbers were rising quickly just in the time I took to sign. Congratulations to Great Yarmouth!

I’m proud that I’m now in a red constituency, we may be country hicks but thank the Lord we have the internet

Yes, it’s British people waking up and seeing their inboxes (the ‘click the link’ part of the petition) and their SM, over a cup of tea or a mug of coffee before work / kids / the day ahead.

Talking of which …

Something tells me the government weren't anticipating this would go like this.

Also there's something reassuring in the speed that went up last night, then stopped at about midnight and has then started going up again this morning.

It's British people saying this and signing it.

Not some bot or some yank fiddling it.

That was so good, seeing it tick over from 99,999 to 100,003 in front of my eyes!

Now Wes Streeting has a bit of actual thinking to do. Does he quickly allow the debate; or does he try to bin off the debate and then do the inevitable u-turn when shamed into it by people like James Esses, Maya Forstater, JKR, and Nick Wallis, with others across the political and creative spectrum like Brendan Frazer, Frances Barber and Roisin Murphy asking ‘what’s the problem, Wes? You need to tell us how this will be ‘safe’ like you said, and take some personal responsibility.’

For me, this is about getting these bastards wriggling on a hook now - a hook of proven, Hansard-recorded, personal responsibility and accountability, for future legal actions by these poor kids who can’t meaningfully consent to or comprehend the potential outcomes of this ‘Streeting trial’.

Fielding a junior minister on the day won’t get you off the hook, Wes. This is on you. You.