Butterfly flaps his wings in Swansea, storm on the waterways in London

I still don't like the No. 10 Petition system and think the ProtectOurCanals petition is a bad thing (in a broader governmental sense) and I won't support it.

Because this is my blog I get to say that at the start of this post, and you are reduced to fuming and having to reply in comments in the unread bit at the bottom and giving it a one-star rating.

But no one's yet asked where this petition came from. 

The IWA and BW didn't seem to know, and only pitched in because 'someone' posted it and 'someone else' publicised it and they felt railroaded into promoting it in case it didn't get enough support. Who is Ian Rees, the guy who started it? 

Well, I followed it up and spoke to him yesterday, and he was very friendly, with a cheerful sing-song voice right at home in his role as culture/tourism marketing officer at Swansea Council.  He claims he's done this on a very personal basis, nothing official.

If you read his blog (A Simple Welshman) and Twitter stream (@ijrees) you'll notice that when away from the office Ian is a hyperactive political animal, intensely partisan (in a lefty sense) and never short of outrage, but of no particular or official affiliation to the waterways.

He just saw the BBC Politics Show report on 15th November, felt yet another new public wrong to be righted and jumped in because no one else yet had.  He's not a 'serial' No.10 petitioner; this was the first one he's ever done, and when I spoke to him yesterday he was unaware of the stir he's generated. I got the feeling he hadn't even looked at the count of supporters.

If he is involved in a waterway, it's casually, and its the local Neath & Tennant Canals, which he loves walking and cycling by.  Especially around Resolven, he says.

For BW and the IWA that makes him the perfect, guileless person to start a petition.  He's the sort of canal user they are trying to attract, the one who justifies taxpayer's money, the ordinary john smith that BW directors get bonuses for attracting to the waterways.  They couldn't be seen to create a petition themselves, since that would seem self-serving and likely wouldn't take off. 

In that sense Ian Rees could be a symbol of the chaotic way No. 10 petitions work.  He's the unwitting butterfly who simply flapped tiny but angry wings by the Neath & Tennant and generated ripples on the waterways all the way to London.

Comments

[Martin Clark]

Yes, it was very odd for BW to get involved, especially when they had a lot of people fighting their cause. Some would argue it was not proper, with them being Government owned.

Maybe BW is not as confident of their chances of keeping their property portfolio as Tony Hales would like us to think?

[Andrew Denny]

Martin, I think what stirred me into action was BW jumping on the bandwagon with the IWA. Once they did, I felt obliged to say something.

[Martin Clark]

Andrew - you say "no one's yet asked where this petition came from".

Well, I did, a few days ago, on a popular waterways forum, although I wouldn't expect you to have seen that! :)

Or rather, as I knew that the petition had come from Ian Rees, I asked if anyone knew of Ian Rees, thinking that maybe he was connected with one of the waterway organisations. My query was met with a deafening lack of response.

You have, thankfully, now solved the mystery by delving deeper and contacting Ian.

I get the impression that the IWA weren't happy that the petition was started but felt that they couldn't ignore it now that it had been. However, what was the IWA doing? Ian may have ruffled feathers but he has certainly helped to spread awareness of the issue.

[Martin Clark]

Jerry - the petitioning routine, as you call it, is not at all like that in Britain. A campaign or special interest group uses volunteers to collect signatures on paper petitions which are then presented to whoever they think has some influence on the matter.

A 10 Downing Street Online petition can be started by any individual. It doesn't matter how many signatures a paper or online petition get, the subject will not go "on the ballet" as that is not the way we do things. The prime minister (or whoever the petition is aimed at) can and often does choose to ignore a petition.

However, with a general election coming up next year there is slightly more chance that politicians will be sensitive to what their potential voters might be thinking, so a petition may not be a complete waste of time.

One of the main uses for petitions, in cases like this, are as a means of raising awareness of issues. There is already to be a debate on waterway funding in Parliament on Monday.

[Jerry Coleman]

I wasn't aware of the petitioning routine in England, but it is somewhat related to the initiative process here in California. Someone, almost always a special interest group, puts together a program (e.g. stem cell research with enormous public bond financing), hires signature gatherers, and if they get enough it goes on the ballot. Followed by a mega-buck campaign. Then when it is adopted the state is stuck with the results, such as paying off the bonds out of the general fund. It is not the only reason the state is in such a fiscal mess, but it is a large factor.

[Capt Ahab]

You provoked comment and discussion - and that has to be a good thing.
Andy