Anti-HS2 petition signatures ‘count for nothing’

PROTESTERS against the proposed high-speed rail link from Birmingham to London are furious about a change in Government policy which could mean they have to start collecting names for their petitions all over again.

By The Newsroom

Published 24th Aug 2011, 21:10 BST

Some 100,000 signatures had already been collected in online and print petitions in the expectation of triggering a parliamentary debate.

But a relaunch of the Government’s online petition service means those who signed before August 4 may have to add their names again.

Peter Delow, chairman of the Cubbington Action Group Against HS2, which has 2,500 of the names on paper petitions, said: “My first thought is that the Government seems to be disqualifying many voters from their democratic say.

“How can we explain to people that what we have done counts for nothing?”

• See Friday’s Courier for the full story.