Petitions are the perfect example, it gives people the illusion that they’re having an effect. But in reality, when those 10k petitions are hit, it’s up to the houses discretion whether they even want to talk about it.

Yes, the way the UK Parliament handles petitions is absolutely terrible. Even though they are required to hear any petition that gets 100k, a House committee basically decides whether it gets treated seriously or not. What's really needed is a national equivalent of public questions to local government. I can understand that there would have to be some sort of signature or support-gathering requirement or ranking because first-come-first-served-with-a-time-limit (which is what happens at local government) would become an unfair fastest-finger-first contest each time the questions queue opened, but it could be better than the petitions.