The e-petition web site containing the proposition that rioters should be stripped of any benefits they claim has crashed after the demand gained the 100,000 signatures required to secure debating time in Parliament.
Earlier David Cameron said in the Commons that if the proposal passed the threshold, MPs would have to discuss it.
He told MPs that the law contains provisions the courts can use to require recompense from lawbreakers.
The web site contained a notice warning that the site "is having problems at the moment", believed to be caused by the number of people trying to access it to support the proposition "Convicted London rioters should loose [sic] all benefits".
It stated the petition had passed the 100,000 threshold and has been passed to the Commons Backbench Business Committee to consider for debate, adding: "It will continue to be available for signature once the site is re-opened."
It said the aim is to re-open the site today [Friday] with the proposition open to further support.
The motion states: "Any persons convicted of criminal acts during the current London riots should have all financial benefits removed. No tax payer should have to contribute to those who have destroyed property, stolen from their community and shown a disregard for the country that provides for them."
I've seen that most of the comments above bear little or no relevance to 'Computing' magazine and would be more in keeping with the Daily Mail or Telegraph.
Unless I'm mistaken, the article they're commenting on relates to the resilience or otherwise of the government e-petition site. How many of the readers realise this without getting caught up in the 'heat of the moment' and commenting on the non-technical aspects of the criminal behaviour!
Posted by: Tone 16 Aug 2011
Those rioters do not deserve handouts if they decide to trash their own communities. This society is pathetic if these yobs had had a good slap when they were younger they would not be doing this.... but oh wait you can't even smack your own child now! Hope the government do the right thing for once and actually punish these hooligans!
Posted by: Sophie 12 Aug 2011
I totally agree, cut their benefits! Then they would actually have to get a job like the rest of us. They get benefits too easily and are on more than some people who do work. I've always worked and don't agree that my tax should go towards these thugs who are messing up their own communities for no reason!
Posted by: Nathan 12 Aug 2011
I totally agree, cut their benefits! Then they would actually have to get a job like the rest of us. They get benefits too easily and are on more than some people who do work. I've always worked and don't agree that my tax should go towards these thugs who are messing up their own communities for no reason!
Posted by: Nathan 12 Aug 2011
Unfortunately the teens of today have been brought up in a society where values,respect and boundaries for those around them cannot be enforced. So called human rights prevents society and parents from adequately challenging and dealing with unruly behaviour.What chance do some parents have with difficult teens if the education and justice system are forced to treat them with kid gloves.
Posted by: john 12 Aug 2011
although I signed the Petition, in hindsight removing benefits from mindless rioters may encourage more unacceptable behaviour.Maybe just their rights to use the NHS and any other government funded schemes may help them reconsider their actions before next wasting the time and resources of already stretched resources available to help the country.Considering the chaos and expense caused so far any sentencing has been farcical and lenient.
its not the police at fault but the mindless thugs and justice system.
Posted by: bella 12 Aug 2011
Benefits pay plenty enough to survive on considering you do nothing to earn them. The riots are not really to do with not having enough money, it’s more to do with the fact that they do it because they can, they lack discipline, have no values, and maybe the start of it was related to the shooting of Mark Duggan (90% of which probably don’t even know who the guy was, if you are stupid enough to carry a gun then yes, you might get shot by armed police). Greed plays a very large role in what is going on, nothing much more than that. What this country needs is a hard hitting tougher police force, and justice system (since one hardly exists at all really), and if the riots get further out of control then the military should be used. I applaud the availability of the water cannon as one of the early options to combat this problem.
Of course I don’t believe the military should be used to turn on our own people, and that should be used as a last resort, but I certainly wouldn’t rule it out if the situation continues – the military is there to protect the infrastructure of our country, bit of which are currently being destroyed by rioting.
I’ve signed the petition, I hope many more continue to do so. Why should someone like me who works my fingers to the bone and has hardly anything to show for it have to have their taxes spent on repairing the damage caused by wasters like the rioters?
Posted by: steve 12 Aug 2011
Hang on, what excuse do you have for the teaching assistant who took part in the riots? Are saying someone who is in paid work and acts as a role model for students is also claiming benefits and is disconnected from society? I don’t think so. Teaching jobs are incredibly good value what they do for the money, 6 weeks off in the summer, 2 weeks off at Christmas, another 2 weeks off at Easter and the odd week off here and there. It is plain greed.
Concerned about the children involved? Better parenting! There are plenty of kids who have nothing in the world, yet do you see those causing riots and behaving violent? No. The parents are partly to blame, along with stupid human rights laws not allowing you to smack your own kids (something has been done for hundreds if not thousands of years to teach the young ones to conform to adult society and values), and the removal of the use of the cane in schools. Too much choice, too many toys, careless parents, broken marriages and irresponsible parenting are all causes. I didn’t grow up with much, my parents were not rich, my dad worked hard, never made much money, and my mum looked after us kids. We were smacked as children when we stepped out of line, we were grounded, had toys taken away from us when we misbehaved – but we learnt their values, we watched their behaviours and we learnt from them. None of my three siblings have gone out rioting and looting, neither have I.
If rioters need jobs, then there is no excuse for the assistant teacher, or the charity worker who got arrested. Why doesn’t the government get them cleaning the streets or doing something beneficial and pay them the benefit wage or slightly more. If everyone in this country picked up one piece of litter the work would be much easier for the road sweepers. If everyone unemployed was given cleaning materials and cleaned up spray paint off the walls then maybe we would attract more tourism. If people on benefits made something, a craft or hobby they may already have maybe we could… oh I don’t know… sell something….
The rioting is not just about a lack of jobs, it’s a combination and multitude of many factors. But why are we in this state in the first place? If you voted in labour then you have the answer, the conservatives always have to pick up the pieces from labours plastic flexible friend the credit card.
Posted by: steve 12 Aug 2011
I understand that people are angry about the looting and want people to be punished, however if you are already disconnected from society, what impact will removing benefits have on your life? It seems people are more interested in punishing looters than on preventing crime. If your benefits are cut & you have no means to provide for yourself, what would you do? Turn to crime, probably.
Posted by: helenn 12 Aug 2011
spot on path worker. They already steal for money to survive because benefits do NOT pay enough to live on. They have already proved they are prepared to riot and loot so how does removing their income make this less likely??
At what point does punishment meet persecution??
When did it become OK to punish people twice for one crime??
Posted by: snooze 12 Aug 2011
while the idea of having benefits withdrawn from those found guilty of criminal damage is laudable, there is one problem, if you have a widely concentrated group thus affected, the danger exists that these people will , by whatever means, unite and hit back HARD!! I think the government will have to consider this very carefully before taking action and should not fall for the knee-jerk response which often occurs, which as a consequence lends itself to the creation of poorly drafted legislation.
Posted by: pathworker 12 Aug 2011
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