A petition calling for rioters and looters to have their benefits cut has been signed by more than 100,100, meaning it could not be discussed in parliament.
The e-petition (epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions) gained rapid support from those who believe that taxpayers should not have to support anyone involved in the riots or looting of shops.
e-petition calls for looters to have benefits cut
The government website crashed on the day that the petition was set up, unable to handle the volume of traffic as people rushed to demand that rioters have their benefits stripped.
However, today, with the site back up and running, the petition passed the watershed 100,000 signatures mark.
The figure means that the petition is the first to pass the threshold qualifying it for a parliamentary debate, under the new system introduced by the government last week.
The petition calls for convicted London rioters and looters to lose their social security benefit. It has proved by far the most popular filed, with four times more support than one which called for petrol prices to be cut.
"Any persons convicted of criminal acts during the current London riots should have all financial benefits removed,” the e-petition reads.
“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.”
The petition has now been referred to a backbench committee which will decide whether or not the subject is debated in parliament.
A government spokesperson said:
“We can confirm that the Leader of the House of Commons Sir George Young today has formally referred to the Backbench Business Committee the first e-petition on the new Government website to reach the qualifying level of support of 100,000 signatures.”
Ministers are already looking at what extra sanctions they could impose on those involved in the UK’s riots and looting.
