Tory MPs have blocked online petitions for Westminster debates until at least September, it emerged today.

Parliament is required to consider all petitions for Westminster debates if they gain 100,000 signatures on the Government's website.

But the website has been blocked since May, when Parliament dissolved for the General Election, and is likely to remain so until it comes back in September.

Since it was launched in 2015, the website has been a powerful way for ordinary people and campaigners alike to influence what goes on in Parliament.

But by the time Parliament returns, that route to the corridors of power will have been blocked for nearly four months.

Why? What's the problem?

When Parliament dissolved, so did the committee of MPs who consider the petitions. And all the other Parliamentary committees for that matter.

And with Parliament rising for its summer break on Thursday, there's a hard time limit to elect the new committees before the end of term.

Why haven't they elected a new committee?

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Labour and the SNP have decided on their candidates for Parliamentary committees, but the Tories haven't.

The reason it's taken so long is that the elections for Tory candidates are organised by the executive of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs. And the executive was only elected this evening.

The '22 insist the delay in the election of a new executive was due to the election being later in the year than usual.

Couldn't someone else have organised the election?

Indeed they could. All the '22 executive really do is provide election observers and 'tellers' - people who count the votes.

In fact, frustration at the delay among MPs of other parties reached such a peak last week, that the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, offered to organise tellers and observers for the '22.

The offer was not taken up.

So what do we do until September?

Nothing much anyone can do. Until Tory MPs get their act together, nobody can make petitions on Parliament.uk.

Might as well get used to this message.