One million signatures and counting. That's how many it took to persuade the Government to admit that it should listen to those opposed to road charging, as it reacts to the petition on the 10 Downing Street Web site.
On the BBC's Today programme this morning (12 Feb), transport secretary Douglas Alexander pledged to listen to those who oppose road charging, which is its preferred solution to road congestion. He said it was important to deliberate and discuss, and then take a decision. However, that's all he did say -- there was no promise to take account of people's views.[
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The Government's been saying for years that doing nothing is not an option, but its solution involves finding out when and where people are driving, and charging them accordingly.
The petition opposing road charging was started last November. It hit 400,000 signatures on 15 January and 600,000 just two weeks later. The next 400,000 needed to take it to one million -- the event happened on Saturday -- arrived within two weeks. At the time of writing, it had reached 1,128,345; the second biggest petition calls for the scrapping of inheritance tax, and stands at only 47,602 signatures.
