The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act is essential to holding the government accountable. But it’s being undermined by a major loophole: it doesn’t apply to government contractors. Since the Act was passed, outsourcing has vastly expanded. Government now spends £292bn a year buying goods and services – more than a third of all public expenditure. Private companies like Serco, G4S and Capita receive millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, but because they’re not subject to FOI we can’t properly hold them to account. During the pandemic £10.5bn of government contracts were awarded without competitive tender and hundreds of millions was spent on “potentially unsuitable” PPE according to the National Audit Office, the spending watchdog. It also found that suppliers with political connections were 10 times more likely to receive government contracts. Access to contractor-held information depends on the public authority and contractor agreeing to it in the contract – a totally unacceptable situation that allows vital information to be withheld from the public. We think the FOI Act should be extended to cover all contractor-held information via an FOI request to the public authority. Major contractors should be required to answer requests directly. Support for bringing contractors under FOI has come from: - The Information Commissioner, who enforces the FOI Act. - The House of Commons Public Administration & Constitutional Affairs Committee - The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee - The Committee on Standards in Public Life - The government appointed Independent Commission on Freedom of Information - The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition, which brings together 18 of the UK’s leading anti-corruption organisations - The Open Government Network of civil society organisations Will you sign the petition urging Boris Johnson to extend FOI so we can hold companies with contracts paid for by the taxpayer to account?

Because I and I’m sure others are sick of seeing their offensive headlines every time we go into a shop. Today their “Death Express headline was utterly disgusting.

on the 19th of April, 1989, the people of Liverpool had barely had a chance to bury their dead. Four days after the Hillsborough disaster – the worst sporting disaster in British history, in which 96 people were killed and countless others were left injured and traumatised – the country's biggest newspaper ran a front page claiming, among other accusations, that Liverpool fans had "picked pockets of victims", "urinated on brave cops" and "beat up PCs giving the kiss of life". The allegations, citing comments made by South Yorkshire Police and a Tory MP, were provided by a Sheffield news agency. We don't not accept tabloid newspapers glorifying death especially when it's now Scotland it's time to stand up and get them out.

By the time you finish this sentence, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos will have made £12,000. But despite its massive wealth, Amazon has started wriggling out of paying a new UK digital tax - by passing the extra cost directly onto the small businesses that use its website. At a time when these businesses are struggling to get by, it’s an indefensible decision. The UK Government introduced the new tax in April, to try to make massive digital companies like Amazon pay their fair share. But even though Amazon has made billions during the coronavirus crisis - and only paid 2% tax on it’s UK earnings last year - the company has found a way to get out of paying the new tax by directly hurting small businesses. Let's show them that is not acceptable.

Addictive gambling websites that allow people to potentially bet hundreds of pounds every minute are plunging people into life-changing debt. In 2019 the government introduced a new £2 maximum stake on betting terminals in high street bookmakers but no such limits apply when gambling online. It’s never been easier to gamble online with hundreds of websites and apps available for those who wish to take part but with no maximum bet it means that people with gambling problems are at risk of falling through the cracks During the COVID-19 crisis the amount of money being wagered online has increased at an alarming rate where people have switched from betting shops to online gambling. If the government sees hundreds of thousands of us have signed a petition calling them to crack down on highly addictive online slots and games, it could be enough to persuade them to introduce a £2 maximum bet and change people's lives for the better.

Thousands of people are being left out of pocket after buying tickets for events before the coronavirus crisis, Multiple events including music festivals have either been cancelled due to the pandemic but leading ticket website Viagogo are refusing to refund customers. Viagogo are instead claiming the events have been postponed, even when the organisers confirm they have been cancelled. Viagogo have a history of dodgy dealings with many claiming they are a glorified ticket tout and have been criticised in the past by leading figures in the music industry, MP’s and campaign groups. Sign the petition today to make sure customers are not left out of pocket for events they can no longer attend

Coronavirus has had a disproportionate impact on single parent families. But with lockdown lifting and with the summer holidays just around the corner, parents will be looking to local attractions to keep their kids busy. Right now, UK attractions unfairly discriminate against single parents in their ticket prices. We are calling on Flamingo Land, Drayton Manor and Harry Potter World attractions to stop this immediately and implement a better and fairer pricing system for those with one parent or carer households.

Conspiracy theorists spouting lies are running rampant on social media. From the anti-vaccine movement which is threatening lives, to the anti-5G movement which is burning down telecoms masts - they're having a huge and dangerous impact on society. Yet social media companies are taking no responsibility for publishing these lies. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has called on Facebook and other social media platforms to do more to make sure harmful, fake news is not spread on their platforms. And with the news that a life-saving Coronavirus vaccine could be on it’s way, it’s more important than ever that these harmful lies aren’t being spread. A huge petition calling on Facebook and other social media media platforms to clean up their act will show them that when so much is at stake, they need to take this seriously. It could be enough to force them to clamp down on dangerous lies being spread on their platform once and for all.

When the Agriculture Bill was debated in the House of Commons in May, MPs rejected an amendment aimed at allowing the importation of only those agricultural goods that meet standards as high or higher than current UK standards for animal welfare, environmental protection, food safety, hygiene and traceability. This is despite the assurance from Tory MPs who campaigned for Brexit that there would be no lowering of animal welfare or food safety standards after the UK left the EU. E.g. Michael Gove stated in July 2017: “We are not going to dilute our high animal welfare standards, or our high environmental standards, in pursuit of any trade deal.” (1) MPs know that there are good reasons for public concern. Incidences of food poisoning in the US affect 14% of the population annually, contrasting with 1% in the UK (2). US restrictions on various aspects of food production are much less stringent than those of the UK and EU, meaning that imports will pose potential risks to the health of humans and animals in the UK. These include the overuse of antibiotics on farmed animals, pesticides, food colourings and genetically modified crops that are currently banned in the UK (3, 4). Trade negotiations currently underway appear to give the lie to previous assurances. Cabinet Office minister Penny Mordaunt has refused to say that a ban would remain on chlorinated chicken, hormone-fed beef and other US imports after an upcoming trade deal with Donald Trump (5). In place of regulation, she said she believed “we should be trusting the consumer,” echoing Sonny Perdue, the US secretary of agriculture, who has said: “If the consumer doesn’t want [such food products], they won’t buy them and that will change production, both in the United States and the UK.”(6) But our choices are only real choices if we have proper information, and yet the US considers nutrition labelling a ‘barrier to trade’ (7). As individuals, we have little influence over international trade deals, but retailers have the power to protect their customers’ right to high quality produce. They need to know that we will continue to shop with them only if the food they sell is explicitly and unequivocally guaranteed to meet pre-Brexit standards for animal welfare, environmental protection, food safety, hygiene and traceability. (1) https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-05-13/debates/D4889925-5B63-498E-BC68-BFCF91691C66/AgricultureBill (2) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-40725738/michael-gove-says-no-to-chlorinated-chicken https://www.sustainweb.org/news/feb18_US_foodpoisoning/ (3, 4) Centre for International Environmental Law Lowest Common Denominator 2015; https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/19/crucial-antibiotics-still-used-on-us-farms-despite-public-health-fears (5) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chlorinated-chicken-us-trade-deal-brexit-penny-mordaunt-a9556591.html (6) https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/inside-the-tory-row-over-food-standards-in-uk-trade-policy (7) Office of the United States Trade Representative Report on Foreign Trade Barriers 2019

We are living in a time when coming together as local community is more important than ever before and Spire FM has been at the heart of our local community. Bauer Media will be combining Spire FM with stations from Blackpool to Norwich and Swansea as Greatest Hits Radio. Although there might still be some local news, that means no more local voices or businesses on War of the Works or Ring-a-ding-a-donut, no more local schools singing on the Countdown to Christmas and no local presenters living in our communities and understanding issues from Novichok to gridlock getting out of Tescos in Southampton Road. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/may/27/local-radio-regional-stations-england-bauer-rebranding-national-network

BA has announced plans to lay off up to 12,000 employees, despite already having suspended more than 22,000 under the UK Government's furlough scheme. This affects a huge number of long term staff. Trade unions have described the redundancies as "an act of smash and grab opportunism", "a huge blow" and "irresponsible, dangerous and destructive". If everyone reading this signs the petition then we can show BA that now is not the time to lay off loyal staff or make the remaining ones sign inferior contracts

The UK Government is providing a necessary and welcome package of financial measures to workers and business through the Covid-19 crisis – not least via the furlough job retention scheme. However, should financial bailouts be agreed for distinct business sectors, we believe that this should be conditional on a series of responsible tax conduct commitments. Such conditions would further embed responsible tax practices and help maintain a level playing field for business. Across the world, some £400 billion of global corporate profits are shifted annually to tax havens. In the UK, this manifests itself as an annual corporation tax shortfall of some £7 billion. We, the public, call on the UK Government to insist that businesses requesting a tax-payer funded bailout commit to a set of fair tax conditions, as put forward by the Fair Tax Mark in their ‘Fair Tax Lockdown’: 1. Publish a binding tax policy that explicitly shuns tax avoidance and the artificial use of tax havens, and commits to the declaration of profits in the place where their economic substance arises (i.e., no profit-shifting). This policy should be the subject of an annual compliance audit, and be “owned” by a designated board director.  2. Ensure that the consolidated annual profit & loss of the parent company is publicly available, together with details of associated corporation tax payments (total, current and deferred tax). Multinational enterprise should disclose this on a Country-by-Country basis. A current tax reconciliation should be provided, together with a narrative to explain any deviations from the headline tax rate(s). 3. Make clear who the ultimate beneficial owners of the business are, and those with significant control. We believe that these measures are fair, material and proportionate. If a business is not actively involved in tax avoidance, these conditions can quickly and easily be committed to. To find out more about the Fair Tax Lockdown call to action you could visit the Fair Tax Mark website https://fairtaxmark.net/ or follow them at https://twitter.com/FairTaxMark and https://www.facebook.com/FairTaxMark/