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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Cameron starts election petition | Cameron starts election petition |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| David Cameron has called for an immediate general election, saying the political system has been "paralysed" by the expenses scandal at Westminster. | |
| The Tory leader urged people to sign a petition calling on Gordon Brown to dissolve Parliament and hold a poll. | |
| He said he would use the Tory campaign for Euro and council elections on 4 June to call for a general election. | He said he would use the Tory campaign for Euro and council elections on 4 June to call for a general election. |
| He said people could not wait another year to "pass judgement" on Parliament, as trust in politics was "in pieces". | He said people could not wait another year to "pass judgement" on Parliament, as trust in politics was "in pieces". |
| 'Collective pressure' | |
| Mr Cameron was speaking just minutes before unprecedented scenes in Parliament where the Speaker faced direct calls from MPs for a parliamentary debate on his future. | |
| The Conservative leader urged party supporters campaigning in next month's European and English council elections to start collecting signatures for a petition calling for an immediate general election. | |
| I don't think the country wants to wait another year to pass judgement on their politicians and this Parliament David Cameron | |
| "I want as many people as possible, whether you support Labour or the Lib Dems or no party at all to join in," Mr Cameron said. | |
| "Write to your local paper, write to a national newspaper - start your own petition. From the power of our collective pressure we can force Gordon Brown to act." | |
| An election should be held at the earliest possible date after 4 June, Mr Cameron said, to enable the public to pass its verdict on the expenses crisis gripping Parliament. | |
| The political system had been left in crisis by the revelations about MPs' expenses, he said, and trust in politics was "frankly, shot to pieces". | |
| "I don't think the country wants to wait another year to pass judgement on their politicians and this Parliament," he said. | |
| Mr Cameron has asked all Tory candidates for the European Parliament to sign a pledge on their conduct, requiring them to publish details of all their office, travel and staffing costs as well as their contacts with lobbyists. | |
| He said this was a "first essential step" to cleaning up politics. |