This is a government that doesnt understand emails – it just this week suggested that sex offenders should be required to register an email with them so as to prevent them from participating in online social network for nefarious purposes. They seemed totally bemused when this was rightly ridiculed and I would infer that the quoted politician is assuming that nobody has multiply signed any e-petition under different IDs and that the 7 million emails represent 7 million different people and thus over 10% of ciitzens.

As for the 10% of citizens having emailed the PM on an issue – I would be amazed if that were close to true (unlaess it was a number that was achieved and thus skewed by the single issue cmpaign around Iraq). Making particpation digitally possible is very different from (and much easier than) making the mass of people interested and or informed.