Ah yes, online petitions: doing absolutely nothing for 30 years.

These UK government petitions require a response after 10k signatures and are considered for a debate in parliament after 100k. While you are still right in the sense that the government often tries to slip out of that, it's worth noting for context for non-UK people.

https://petition.parliament.uk/

▲

crinkly 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Online petitions give voice to people who can felt heard but ignored.

	▲	EarlKing 4 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		And do as much as a sternly worded letter to the editor.
	▲	luke727 4 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Ok, but the online petitions will just be ignored anyway.

▲

crtasm 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I suggest reading how this official government website works.