I was catapulted out of my post Christmas torpor this morning by the news that successful ‘e-petitions’ to No 10 are to be debated in parliament. My first thought was that this was another Government wheeze to ensure Parliament fiddles while the Government gets on with its business untrammelled by serious challenge. But then I realised it’s just the usual spin that recent Governments have indulged in to convince the Great British Public that they can be involved in the political process by cutting through the democratic process by shouting very loudly. Government by laziness. Followers of this blog will know that the blogosphere is populated by the sad, the obsessed, the eccentric, the fanatic and the ignorant; with a handful of thoughtful users fighting their way through to be heard while the majority of sane folk rarely contribute. Petitions are similar. I recommend anyone who thinks that serious matters will be debated this way should look at the old No.10 petitions website (currently shut down to new petitions). The range of single-interest, off the wall, loopy obsessions, is mingled with naïve requests that a junior civil servant could write a response to in 5 minutes, and indeed did. I note that page 404, where the responses used to be, has been moved or lost deep in Whitehall cyber space.

Engaging the public isn’t so facile as simply inviting opinions. To raise questions worthy of debate the public needs the context, the full facts and figures and a range of options from which to make choices. E-petitions are rubbish, however many millions of people sign them. They are rather like the mass letters we get sent in parliament from special interest groups who reflect minority fanatic opinion. People obviously think that the more the signatories on these petitions and letters the more we’ll be impressed. In fact all the numbers reflect is the organisational efficiency (and the funding sources) of the person leading the shout. I want to know about the opinions of people who never sign petitions just as much as those who do. I don’t underestimate the difficulties of organising processes of consultation on key issues but if we are going to do it we need to do it seriously not in this populist X factor way.