Do not sign any WHO Pandemic Treaty unless it is approved via public referendum
This petition gathered 156,086 signatures between 3 May 2022 and 17 November 2022, according to the Parliament petitions site. The Government responded on 27 May 2022. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 17 April 2023.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Do not sign any WHO Pandemic Treaty unless it is approved via public referendum
We want the Government to commit to not signing any international treaty on pandemic prevention and preparedness established by the World Health Organization (WHO), unless this is approved through a public referendum.
The WHO is currently preparing an international agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
We believe the public must be furnished with the full ramifications of what and how any pandemic treaty could affect them, and be given a public vote on whether the UK should sign up, before the UK Government signs up to this.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 27 May 2022; the petitions site lists the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office as responsible. Its summary:
To protect lives, the economy and future generations from future pandemics, the UK government supports a new legally-binding instrument to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
The opening 391 words of the 555-word response:
COVID-19 has demonstrated that no-one is safe until we are all safe, and that effective global cooperation is needed to better protect the UK and other countries around the world from the detrimental health, social and economic impacts of pandemics and other health threats. The UK supports a new international legally-binding instrument as part of a cooperative and comprehensive approach to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
At a World Health Assembly Special Session in late 2021, the 194 countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) agreed to launch a process to draft and negotiate a new instrument, through the auspices of WHO, to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. The negotiating process will be led by member states, including the UK.
The instrument aims to improve how the world prevents, better prepares for, and responds to future disease outbreaks of pandemic potential at national, regional and global level. It would complement the existing international instruments which the UK has already agreed, such as the International Health Regulations. It would promote greater collective action and accountability.
A treaty is an international agreement concluded between States or with international organisations in written form and governed by international law. The UK is party to a large number of multilateral treaties, including many through the United Nations (UN) and its specialised agencies such as the WHO. These instruments reflect obligations states have agreed to enter into to further common goals.
The current target date for agreeing the text of the new instrument is at the World Health Assembly in May 2024. Over the next two years the UK aims to work towards building a consensus on how the global community can better prevent, prepare for, and respond to future pandemics and will actively shape, develop and negotiate the text. The new instrument would only be adopted by the World Health Assembly if the text achieves a two-thirds vote of the Health Assembly (Article 19 of the WHO Constitution). The Health Assembly is made up of representatives of WHO Member States.
Once adopted, the instrument would only become binding on the UK if and when the UK accepts (ratifies) it in accordance with its constitutional process. In the UK this requires the treaty to be laid before Parliament for a period of 21 sitting days before the Government can ratify it on behalf of the UK.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 492, came from Wells.
152,943 of the signatures were from the UK and 3,143 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Wells | 492 |
| Wealden | 450 |
| Hastings and Rye | 441 |
| Isle of Wight | 421 |
| Somerton and Frome | 409 |
| Bournemouth East | 406 |
| Stroud | 401 |
| Bexhill and Battle | 400 |
| Richmond Park | 383 |
| Totnes | 376 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 23,965 |
| North West | 17,600 |
| London | 16,582 |
| South West | 16,264 |
| East of England | 15,003 |
| West Midlands | 11,601 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 11,432 |
| Scotland | 11,361 |
| East Midlands | 10,262 |
| Wales | 7,332 |
| North East | 6,256 |
| Northern Ireland | 3,881 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 17 April 2023. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/614335.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
9f2aa32246b5660d… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.