Stone ready to ‘roll up sleeves’ for new position
Jamie Stone, MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, has been announced as the new chair of the Petitions Committee after being elected unopposed.
The Petitions Committee considers public paper petitions presented to the House of Commons, and e-petitions submitted on Parliament’s petitions website.
Commenting, Mr Stone said: “I am very honoured indeed to have been elected unopposed to be the chair of the House of Commons Petitions Select Committee.
“The work of this cross-party committee is important. When citizens add their names to a petition, they need to be confident that it will be properly considered and, if appropriate, raised in debates with the necessary Government Ministers.
“If citizens don’t have this confidence, then I suggest that this undermines trust in the way democracy works in our country.”
The committee is one of the youngest in the Commons, formed in 2015, and is made up of 11 backbench Members of Parliament.
Mr Stone continued: “Having chaired a committee in the Scottish Parliament in the past, I believe that I have the experience to help make the Petitions Committee work in the best possible way.
“I am very much looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work in a field that is intrinsic to the proper functioning of democracy in the UK.”
