The Tim Price Petition is going respectably, but - as we expected - sign-ups have slowed-down after the initial novelty wore off. At just over 7,000 signatures, the petition has reached the natural limit of what can be achieved based on low-intensity effort. In particular, we noticed that over the last two days there have been virtually no new sign-ups without our active intervention. We are not aware of any other organised efforts to promote this petition. Taking these points together, any further progress will depend entirely on our own exertions and those of our supporters.
As of this morning, we've stepped-up our sign-up efforts and we're starting to get lots of interest again. Certainly, we want the Petition up to 10,000 signatures at some point in September, if we can. Given the radicalism of the Petition, even just 10,000 signatures overall would be respectable, though we do hope to exceed this.
We're also slowly building-up our campaign in other ways:
1. From tomorrow, we will be sending our a mass mailing to key contacts and influencers in local communities where support for the petition is strongest. This will be an e-mail in which we raise awareness of our campaign and the issues with the BBC, and ask that recipients sign and spread the word about the latest petition.
2. We intend to get our campaign hashtag #AbolishTheBBC trending on Twitter. Over this weekend, we will be bringing together the tweeps who want to help us with this for a 'dry run' and to formally launch this aspect of our campaign.
3. We will also be developing our web and social media presence further and hope to improve the look and professionalism of our 'brand'. Some tentative steps will also be taken towards putting our campaign on a more 'legal' footing.
4. We will also be looking at ways to hone our social media strategy and work with other campaigners on lines of attack.
5. We will be expanding our presence online and looking at avenues to spread our message to a wider range of people as well as improve communication with our existing contacts and supporters.
6. We will be looking at how we can reach out to other pressure groups with similar interests, not just in broadcasting-related matters but across the spectrum of issues. Some of these, we hope, will help spread the word about our campaign and the petition; others may assist our campaign in other ways, and possibly vice versa.
7. If the petition sign-ups continue to climb, we will consider making a surgery appointment with one or more of our activists' constituency MPs in order to begin pressing our case at a more formal level. We know the reception we are likely to receive in some quarters, but we also know that at least a few MPs, especially in the Conservative Party, are (to some degree or other) quietly sympathetic to campaigns such as ours.
8. Another major aspect of our campaign at this stage is related to policy work. We intend to write to every political party and campaign group registered with the Electoral Commission, and any non-registered parties and groups of which we are aware, with a series of questions regarding their policy on broadcasting and the BBC. This is the first stage of our Green Paper process, which we hope will culminate in a consultation to be circulated among our supporters and any other interested parties.
9. Finally, we will be filing a complaint with the House of Commons' Petitions Committee regarding the handling of our original petition application. We are of the view that our own petition, which explicitly called for abolition of the BBC, was wrongly rejected. Nothing can be done about that now, but we want to seek assurances from the Committee about the handling of any such applications in the future. We also believe there are flaws in the petition process, which should be drawn to the attention of the Committee and on which we will be seeking a response and comment.
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