Petition to axe 20mph limit becomes most signed Senedd petition of all time
Emily Price
A petition calling for the new 20mph default speed limit to be axed has been signed by over 140,000 people making it the most signed Senedd petition of all time – but not all the signatures came from Wales.
The petition was started by Mark Baker and when the new speed limit came into force at the weekend the number of signatories sky rocketed.
Nation.Cymru analysed the data from the count and found that not all the signatories live in Wales – some don’t even live in the UK.
As of Tuesday morning (September 20) signatures had been recorded in the data store from as far away as Bangladesh, Switzerland and even the other side of the world in Australia.
Vatican City and Thailand also appeared on the list as well as the United Arab Emirates and the USA.
3132 people signed the petition and recorded their location as England whilst 109 people signed it in Scotland.
Other countries featuring on the list include, Albania, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Guyana, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Jersey, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Thailand and Vanuatu.
As of 10:00am on Tuesday, 138,805 people living in Wales signed the petition.
Vote
The new speed limit change was officially rolled out on Sunday (September 17) and has been met with opposition by the Tories who last week forced a vote in the Senedd in an attempt to block the new road regulation.
The petition been signed by a number of Welsh Conservative MSs including the Shadow Minister for Transport and Technology, Natasha Asghar who has shared it on social media urging others to sign.
If a Senedd petition gets over 10,000 signatures, the Petitions Committee will consider asking for a debate in the Senedd chamber – but this is not guaranteed.
Welsh Government ministers have said the new road regulation will result in fewer deaths and save the NHS around £92m every year.
Natasha Asghar, Member of the Welsh Parliament for South East Wales and Shadow Minister for Transport, said: “The number of people signing this petition calling for Labour’s blanket 20mph speed limit scheme to be scrapped has been growing at rapid speed over the last 48 hours.
“Despite Labour ministers in the Senedd claiming the public are onboard with this £33m pet project, this petition paints a very different picture indeed and shows the public’s high level of dissatisfaction.
“Instead of ignoring the people of Wales as they have been, Labour ministers and their coalition pals Plaid Cymru must now sit up and take note of what their constituents are saying.
“It is time for the Labour Government to perform a screeching U-turn on this scheme, which is poised to deliver a huge £9bn blow to the Welsh economy.”
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Yeah, love to see how many M Drakeford are on it. We wont see the granular detail, just the area’s claimed. Do they log ip addresses?
This petition is null and void. With 25 or so other countries listed, this is the worst example of outside interference in an internal affair of a country that I’ve ever known. 50,000 residents of Wales have not signed this petition and you must live in Wales for your signature to count. It’s nobody elses’ business. Shred it and no debate.
Well said – this is all about – Get Wales !
I’m so very relieved to read the grown up comments on this page, as compared with the multiple click bait opportunities given by the BBC news, which seem to have been disproportionate to other news items. I wonder about their editorial decisions. Diolch
I have a daughter and a son who live in England. Both are 100% Welsh and may return one day. In my opinion they have every right to sign the petition
I have some sympathy with this view. I have lived my entire life in Wales and would like to think that if I moved elsewhere that I would still have a vote on Welsh issues but I believe Scots living outside of Scotland could not vote in the Scottish Independence referendum of 2014. That seems to be the way of it and while I do sympathise with ex pats being ruled out, if anything effects potential debate and policy change within a nations’ Parliament, it can and must only be driven by the people living in that nation at the… Read more »
They can’t vote in our Senedd elections, so why should they have a say in what the Senedd discusses. That is wrong for anyone who cannot take part electing an election, to interfer with the Parliaments business. Now if it was an indy vote, be different as thats a far bigger matter for all Welsh beirth cert owners and not just those who reside in Cymru. But its a vote on whingy car drivers sold lies by Tories and right wing english press. Irony is Cornwall controlled by Tories wants 20 mph.
Not if they can’t be arsed to live here and pay their taxes here.
Where are they going to get a job and a place to live ?
When they return, yes. Until then… no.
It happens on all Senedd petitions the one demanding unbridled access to all Welsh rivers for canoeists a few years back had 80% of its signatures from outside Wales.
It was circulated on paddlers forums all around the world.
Indeed. Can you imagine during the 2016 Brexit referendum pro-EU expats living in France or Spain voted to retain manipulating the vote in favour of staying there would be outrage from the Tories. And unless those signatories are resident in Wales this petition isn’t a true reflection of opinion against.
The Save the NLW petition was an international affair as I remember…it goes both ways…
Cywir, cywir !
“…..but not all the signatures came from Wales.” All very welcome in our inclusive welcoming nation, surely.
We do have quite a considerable diaspora…
This is rather a shabby hatchet job. At 10.08 this morning the Senedd petition website indicated that the petition had 142,386 signatures. A check by regions on the map displayed on the website showed that that a total of 136,729 signatures, 96% of the total, were from Wales. Where did Emily Price derive her data from? As a paying Nation Cymru subscriber I expect more balanced journalism than this.
The data was extracted from the petition’s coding and the figures you are quoting were in the story.
You are incorrect. The figures I quoted were not in the story as originally posted, but were posted later (after my comment was sent to you).
Mae ceisio camarwain yn y modd hwn yn anonest iawn. Tybed a allech chi dynnu sylw at y camgymeriad hwn ar eich rhan? Yr oedd yr erthygl wreiddiol yn unochrog iawn ac yn annheilwng o Nation Cymru. Mae gan eich cefnogwyr hawl i well na hyn.
The petition has been signed by over 144,000 people. Of these, over 140,000 are resident in Wales. Only around 100 are from outside the UK. The majority of the others (around 3,600) are resident in England (but who may of course be Welsh by birth). Every single signature requires a unique verifiable email address. At the very least, we can say that over 140,000 separate email account holders resident in Wales have signed the petition. I’m personally in favour of the new limit, but 140,000 people signing a petition in Wales is a very significant number, which you can’t simply… Read more »
*claiming to be resident in Wales*, for there is no way to confirm that.
Yeah, if I look at a motoring forum I wont find people egging on the petition and sign as much as possible? Message can also pass in other social media circle or back channel chat. I have several email addresses and can get many more quite easily and look up post codes to add in. Really would be interesting to see the actual info but data protection and all that. Who knows, may it is above board.
All the anti’s must be driving their keyboards because calm rules the roads round me…
I just don’t get it? The reduction from 30mph to 20mph in built-up areas is meant to saves lives. But it seems those signing the petition care more about getting faster to the traffic lights than they do preventing possible deaths.
IIt would be interesting to know how many of those signing this petition are from Wales. I know the Welsh Tories in cahoots their masters in London are sending out emails to their supporters including putting links on X (Twitter) and other social media asking those against to sign the petition.
I’m still annoyed by this use of the word ‘blanket’ when only 7000 of the 22000 roads in Wales are changing. It is this sort of lying that lead us to things like Brexit. Please people, do your research before listening to everything a Tory says. Besides, what is more important here – raising the chances of a life being saved or getting home a few minutes earlier?
Also a bit disingenuous there, Steve. Not saying that Tories aren’t flubbing and foiling in their usual droopy manner, but it is most certainly as “blanket” a rule as a modern democratic government can implement. On those 7000 roads – they’re the ones people drive on most (many solely, given our aging population). The use of ‘blanket’ here is apt. There is also a lot of ‘painting the other side’s narrative’ going on here too. Ugly partisan politics and rather cack handed spin (Wales has always been very poor on the spin front, IMO). The data in favour of this… Read more »
I do in general agree with your view but we all know why the Conservatives are howling about this the most and it is not because there may be a hit to the economy or constituents are angry – it is just to get that extra vote. That party has never been there for us and never will be.
I hope you’ll both correct me if I’m mistaken but isn’t it just a new default speed limit? And don’t local authorities (as before the 17th) have the final say in where it is applied? If a LA deems 20 to be acceptable then they won’t do anything more than change the roadsigns. If they feel 30 is more appropriate then they’ll deal with it as they used to for a 40 zone. I understood it to be ‘blanket’ only in the sense that default applies everywhere until an exception is made. I didn’t think the WG is compelling a… Read more »
Thanks for the clarification – seems about right. Pretty acceptable use of the term blanket.
Natasha’s still here is she? Thought she was off to London? Plenty of 20 limits up there
Ai dyma mewn difri cyflwr ein cenedl? Can mil a rhagor yn arwyddo er mwyn gallu mynd fymryn bach ynghynt yn eu ceir, ond fawr neb yn hidio am y gwladychu rhemp sy’n digwydd yn ein gwlad, am ddadfeiliad cymdeithas a darniad bro. A’n gwaredo.
VPNs!
They’ve over egged the pudding!
In the minute I looked at it the petition went up by 129!
It’s over 172,000 now.
Clearly there is a lot of input from outside Cymru involved.
Soon it’s going to clear that the petition has been corrupted by likely suspects Tory supporters and Top Gear fans living in England.
Anyone can pretend they live in Cymru all they need is to enter a Welsh post code in the appropriate box on the petition.
Over 173 000 now. lol.
Over 178 000 now.
151 extra in the last minute
Maybe Putin’s bots are getting involved.
At this rate by the end of the week more people will have signed the petition than there are Elvis impersonators.
Where is your evidence that “there is a lot of input from outside Cymru involved”.
Keep checking the ‘score board’.
Latest – 179 027
and 173,590 are from Wales.
Or are you cooking up some nice conspiracy theory?
Over 184 000 now.
Do you really believe this petition is an accurate reflection of the feelings of the people of Cymru.
Well just about everyone I work with have signed it and they’re almost all Labour voters.
Over 185 000 now.
How long d’you think it will take to exceed the population of Wales?
Should mention the vast majority are signed from outside Wales and you can sign more than once
Some folks live in Pant and some live in Llanymynech…
A journey from Welshpool to Hay via Churchstoke, Chirbury, Clun, Bishops Castle, Knighton and Prestigne involves a lot of border crossing…go figure…
Over 191 000 now.
Will our eastern neighbour’s Tory/Top Gear alliance help push the petition to 200 000 before tea time.
Riveting stuff this petition.
200 024
They did it.
I can have my tea now
I was honstly overtaken by push bikes 3 times in blin gwynvy valley in 20 zones
It’s interesting that the majority of Welsh Nationalists support this insanity, judging by the comments here, despite 350,000 Welsh folk signing the largest ever petition in the Senedd. The only conclusion that can be reached is anti English racism ie the desire to be different trumps common sense. Da iawn! Bendigedig!
People should just learn to slow down a bit and be less stressed. Why do people oppose this so vehemently? Is it because they want to rush home to watch rubbish on the TV? Objections to this are just bunkem in an attempt to politicise road safety..
Jeez, are people still whining over this?
It was weeks ago.
Get Over It.