The number 10 petition initiative is useless. It is just another Blairite platitude, a sop to make voters feel that they did something pro-active towards a certain issue.

Have any of these petitions ever had an effect on anything since they were introduced? All they seem to generate is a vapid response from a put upon civil servant, looking up the official policy and then parroting it back to us with a general opening statement to imply that they have read it.

I've seen a more pro-active response from supermarket complaint departments, but I suppose that's because they stand an actual risk of losing your money.

I repeat, the number ten petition site is there for their convenience and not ours. It's a nice little tactic for delaying and dissuading real affirmative action.