A petition demanding a fresh general election will be debated in Parliament in the New Year after numbers signing neared 2.8million.
The Petitions Committee has announced that the call will be considered in the Westminster Hall chamber on January 6.
The chair and Lib Dem MP Jamie Stone will lead the debate. However, under procedural rules it will be on a ‘neutral’ motion – and cannot trigger a national poll.
The petition was posted on the Parliament website by pub owner Michael Westwood and complains that Keir Starmer has ‘gone back on promises’.
It has been shared by acting legend Michael Caine among others, and has also been fuelled by Elon Musk.
Although signatories have to say they are UK citizens or residents and provide an email and postcode, there is not thought to be any other verification – risking the chance some are not British voters.
The petition was posted on the Parliament website by pub owner Michael Westwood and complains that Keir Starmer has ‘ gone back on promises ‘
The petition demanding a fresh general election will be debated in Parliament in the New Year after numbers signing neared 2.8million
House of Commons sources said it was satisfied most are legitimate.
The motion for the debate will simply be: ‘That this House has considered e-petition 700143 relating to a general election.’
Earlier this week Keir Starmer dismissed the demands for a fresh general election.
The PM blamed ‘difficult’ decisions in the Budget for the huge backlash he has been facing as he appeared on ITV’s This Morning.
He insisted the petition just reminded him that ‘very many people didn’t vote Labour’. ‘I’m not surprised many of them want a rerun,’ he said.
‘That isn’t how our system works. There will be plenty of people who didn’t want us in in the first place.
‘So, what my focus is on is the decisions that I have to make every day.’
Sir Keir has endured a torrid first five months since he secured a huge election landslide – but on one of the lowest winning vote shares ever.
Anger has been mounting over the extraordinary £40billion tax raid in Rachel Reeves’ first Budget at the end of last month, with farmers protesting at inheritance duties and pensioners furious about losing winter fuel allowance.
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