Petition · past parliament
Reform the rules on filibustering - talking excessively to force a bill out
Closed
6,209 signatures
What the petition asks
On several occasions in the past five years, several MPs have spoken for an excessive time during Parliamentary debates. This behaviour prevents reasonable discussion, placing themselves above all other MPs.
This tactic is disgraceful, anti-democratic and has no place in a modern Parliament.
This tactic is disgraceful, anti-democratic and has no place in a modern Parliament.
On multiple occasions, several MPs (most infamously Philip Davies), have resorted to reading out long lists of topics irrelevant to discussion until presented bills exceeded their allocated discussion time. Details of all instances are present in the Official Report of Parliamentary debates ("Hansard").
This behaviour has prevented several bills, many of which deserved a fair hearing, from being reasonably discussed in Parliament, and places the position of one MP above that of all others.
This behaviour has prevented several bills, many of which deserved a fair hearing, from being reasonably discussed in Parliament, and places the position of one MP above that of all others.
Timeline
| 30 Oct 2017 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 30 Apr 2018 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
6,209
Status
Closed
Opened
30 Oct 2017
Closed
30 Apr 2018
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.