'David Cameron no confidence' petition rejected by Parliamentary committee

A petition demanding Parliament hold a 'vote of no confidence' in Prime Minister David Cameron has been rejected one day after government officials removed more than 6,000 "fraudulent" signatures.

Despite their removal, the e-petition gathered more than 190,000 supporters. Under government rules, petitions that receive more than 100,000 names in less than six months will automatically be put forward to the Petitions Committee. However, on 19 November it was rejected by the Committee which said it did not have the power to schedule debates on motions of no confidence.

A statement from the Committee read: "The petition does not contain a specific request for action on policy. It is usually more effective to start a petition calling for a specific change to government policy or law, rather than a petition about an individual minister."

The petition was launched shortly after Cameron was re-elected as Prime Minister and noted that the Conservative government had "caused devastation for the poorest in society" over their five-year term. Many also took to the streets following the General Election to protest against his re-election.

The committee said that while a debate was not going to be scheduled on the subject of the petition, MPs were still able to "seek time" to hold a debate if they wished to do so. However, in a note to signatories of the petition, the committee said that "debates on motions of no confidence are fairly rare".

A day earlier, the House of Commons said that more than 6,000 signatures had been removed over concerns of fraud. A spokesperson for the Commons said: "Signatures which matched more than one of the criteria indicating fraud have been removed from the petition calling for a vote of no confidence in David Cameron."

Cameron introduced the e-petition services on the Government website when he was elected as in 2010. The official rules state that any petition that receives 10,000 signatures within six months will get a response from the Government, while those that pass the 100,000 mark will be put up for debate in Parliament.