"Justice delayed is justice denied!" - Gladstone---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello all and welcome to Phase Two: How to keep the momentum going.
Well, we got there with the 100k+ signatures - stunning work by you all to get it over the line, we know that Anne is touched by that, she is delighted with the support that she has received and the campaign is keeping her going. But it's not over. Not by a long shot.
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/13-sept-2012-wms-e-petitions.pdfThe petition reaching 100k in no way guarantees a Parliamentary Debate. What has to happen now is a submission to the Backbench Business Committee to decide one of three fates:
1) A full debate in the Chamber, with a vote at the end (like the one last October, championed by Steve Rotheram)
2) A Westminster Hall debate, with no vote at the end (like the one this February, championed by leader of the House of Commons, the Rt Hon Andrew Lansley - he was also responsible for pushing through the need for departments to respond when petitions hit 10k)
3) Nothing, zip, nada, other than the hope that the AG will deliver
Options 1) and 2) will give our MPs the opportunity to present a case to answer for the removal of delay in the process, providing that debate can happen quickly! Debating the unanswered questions (see template) is critical because the Prime Minister himself has referred to the delays in the past as "indefensible" - delay now, at this crucial stage, would be equally inexcusable.
(Yes, we know that the Attorney General has to "get it right" - it's his job to "get it right" - but he has had all the information he needs in order to do that job right for months now! There is no excuse - make the application!)
But to get a debate going, "someone" needs to kick the ball. As far as we currently know, the submission to the Backbench Business Committee has not been made yet. This is where you come in.
Write to your local MPs, especially the ones in the NW! There's a template to follow, feel free to use or adapt.Write to Andrew Lansley! There is a template for that too.Apply to QT and try and get yourselves into the audience for Dec 6th and potentially ask some of the questions that need answering (see template for guidance). There's an entire thread on that process!
[/color]"Justice delayed is justice denied!"