First e-petitions list published

4 August 2011 Last updated at 07:07 ET

The plans for e-petitions were first spelled out in the Conservative election manifesto

The first “e-petitions” – which allow the public to prompt parliamentary debates if they get enough support – have been published by the government.

Among the ideas proposed are the return of hanging, anonymity for rape defendants, banning smoking in prisons and leaving the EU.

Petitions gaining more than 100,000 signatures could lead to a full debate in the House of Commons.

The government has warned MPs not to “ignore” the public’s suggestions.

Many of the first petitions published call for the return of capital punishment and several to leave the European Union or withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.

Another calls for the televising of court proceedings, while one petitioner wants the price of alcohol to be increased.

One demands that prisoners’ diets be restricted to bread and water, as in the “good old days”.

‘Strong opinions’

Among the list of rejected petitions, most relate to sport on TV, the majority calling for Formula One to be kept on free-to-air terrestrial stations.

Any petition signed by more than 100,000 UK citizens goes to the cross-party Commons Backbench Business Committee, which will decide whether it is worthy of debate.

House of Commons leader Sir George ng wrote in the Daily Mail: “People have strong opinions, and it does not serve democracy well if we ignore them or pretend that their views do not exist.”

Any petition deemed to be libellous, offensive, duplicates of existing open petitions or is not related to government will be rejected.

Moderators will also block any that concern honours and appointments.

But Labour has said the petitions could lead to debates on “crazy ideas”.

The system replaces the previous e-petitions pages on the Downing Street web, set up when Tony Blair was PM.

The most popular of these, with more than 1.8 million people in support, opposed road pricing.

More than 70,000 backed the one-word suggestion that Gordon Brown should “resign”.

And almost 50,000 signed up to the idea that TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson should become prime minister.

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