UPDATE: Thanks to your help, the petition has received enough signatures to be checked for publication, and no more signatures can be accepted while that is happening, so I’ve removed the links below. I’ll let you know what happens.
So, as you’ll probably remember, I made a second attempt a few days ago at starting a petition on the UK Parliament website calling for all necessary steps to be taken to bring about a Scottish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest. I completely changed the wording to address the stated reasons for the rejection of the first one, and I identified specific steps that could be taken that are fully within the Westminster parliament’s powers. I suggested on this blog that a second rejection would leave little room for doubt that the people in charge of the petitions process weren’t acting in good faith – and that’s exactly what has happened. Ludicrously, the wording of the rejection email this time was identical to the first one, even though the reasons in it quite plainly didn’t apply to the new petition.
What seems to be going on is that they have a stock rejection wording for any petition with “Eurovision” in the title, and are just sending that out regardless of what the petition actually calls for. That being the case, there’s clearly no point in trying to adjust the petition any further, and it’s time for a completely new tack. I’m now attempting to start a petition calling for the wholesale transfer of broadcasting powers to the Scottish Parliament, and I’ve merely mentioned a Scottish Eurovision entry in passing as one of several possible benefits.
On paper, this petition meets all the conditions for publication, so it should be accepted, but in practice there are no guarantees – I had a look through a number of rejected petitions relating to devolution, and the reasons for rejection were often entirely bogus (ie. “this is a matter for the people of Scotland and Wales”, when in reality Westminster retains the absolute power to unilaterally change the devolution settlements without consent, and indeed has repeatedly used that power). But all we can do is try. Once again, five signatures will be needed for the petition to be checked (and thank you for your patience in this matter!).
By the way, I know some people will object to this petition on the basis that we shouldn’t be trying to ‘make devolution work’, we should instead be trying to get independence and that way we’ll automatically get broadcasting powers. But the whole point of the exercise is to demonstrate that devolution isn’t working and can’t work, because no UK government will ever respect the wishes of the people on what powers should be devolved. If by any chance the petition is published and reaches 10,000 signatures, the government would be required to respond to it.
Petition title: Devolve legislative powers over broadcasting to the Scottish Parliament
What is being called for: Scotland’s devolution settlement should be strengthened by removing broadcasting from the long list of policy areas that are reserved to Westminster. The elected Scottish Parliament should be given the power to restructure the TV and radio landscape in line with the wishes of the people of Scotland.
More details: Westminster’s retention of essentially all powers over Scottish broadcasting is inconsistent with the claim that the Scottish Parliament is “the most powerful devolved parliament in the world”. The long-overdue transfer of these powers to the Scottish Parliament would enable BBC Scotland and the Scottish ITV franchises to be reformed to meet the needs of Scottish audiences in terms of drama, news, comedy, a Scottish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest, and coverage of Scottish sporting teams.
