Posted by Andrew @ March 31st, 2011 10:43 am. Filed under: Nobody Else Deserves Free Money!,There's Only One Form So It Must Be The Right One — Tags: Sally Metcalfe —
So the Government, showing the same approach to running the country as small children do to large projects, have ditched their latest crowd-sourcing initiative — was it ‘your freedom’ or ‘spending challenge’ or some such? — and launched a new one. And, as per their characteristic extravagant form of austerity, they stubbornly refuse to just pick a backend and run with it, so the “Cabinet Office Innovation Launch Pad” is powered by something called ‘spigit’.
Anyway, as with all the other ones since the ePetition site closed, this new one is focussed on only one goal, in this case as a way for companies to pitch business ideas they think will help the government save money. Sort of like a public-sector Dragons’ Den. But as we all know, the British public won’t sit by and let some nanny-state website apparatchik dictate to them what they can and can not submit, so they have simply phrased their petitions in the form of a business pitch and got on with the job of vomiting reactionary nonsense into their computers:
by Sally Metcalfe
31/03/2011 08:36 AM GMTWe all know that the UK has a reputation for being “easy to get benefits” and many Governments would like to change/reform it. I believe that people claiming Jobseekers Allowance should be required to undertake voluntary work in order to qualify to get the benefits. The type of voluntary work projects which could be arranged are limitless, with countless charities and PUBLIC SERVICES that need help. Not only would it give unemployed a sense of self-worth, but they could gain valuable skills and references to enable them to gain meaningful employment.You wouldnt need a heirarchy of Managers to operate the scheme,just the Managers of charities/services to confirm attendance, commit to support the individual. The benefits to public services could be endless, beach cleaners, groundsmen, painters and decorators, assistance for the elderly, social support services, teaching assistants…..the list is endless and could save the public purse hugely.
Just an idea!
Yep, you’re onto a winner when you’ve contradicted yourself two words in. It’s voluntary, except that you have to do it and you get paid. You have invented jobs. Congratulations.
Posted by Ben @ March 19th, 2011 10:34 pm. Filed under: Wait a minute... this isn't a petition! —
Ooh ‘eck, it’s dusty around here. Hem hem. How do the categories work again? I’ve forgotten.
I have news to share with you. The ePetition site has once again tweaked its introductory page to read:
As stated in Parliament by the Leader of the House of Commons, Sir George Young, on 2 December 2010, online petitions to the Coalition Government will be moving to DirectGov in 2011.
DirectGov exists over here, but as yet I can’t find anything suggesting any sort of petitiony section on their site. Still, they have nine months in which to get it up and running, so I’m sure we’ll have some suitably batshit insane petitions to share with you at least before we all get fried by solar flares in 2012.