Gordon Brown’s call for a “widespread and informed” debate on plans he issued in July for Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech appears to have been confounded by public apathy.

Only 71 people have responded to a cross-Whitehall online consultation on the draft legislative programme, figures published on Tuesday will show. Many of the 41 comments on the Cabinet Office website have little, if any, relevance to the proposed bills. One posting, for example, states: “I would love to use my bike more but the state of the roads in Warrington are pretty bad.”