uSwitch is accused of systemically hiding the best deals from consumers. Instead, the price comparison giant steers people towards deals that earn the website a kickback from suppliers. The cost of these kickbacks, or commissions, are ultimately passed back to all of us. What makes uSwitch’s shady dealings worse is that they are part-owned by the UK government. We the taxpayers bailed out bankers, bankers backed big business, and now one of these businesses is fleecing the billpayer. That's not right. So openness around this issue is vital as hard-pressed families look to save money. Yet uSwitch refuse to disclose how much cost they are putting onto our bills. uSwitch are one of the biggest price comparison sites in the UK. Over the last few years, they have taken a particular hold on the energy switching market — a service used by millions of trusting British families to save money. --------------------------------- Taxpayers bailed out Lloyds in 2008, and the bankers’ private equity arm, LDC, took a significant shareholding in uSwitch in 2012. In 2012, Lloyds’ investment helped uSwitch to revenues of £24m. By 2013, those revenues had leapt to £34m. The first step to making it stop is openness about commission levels in price comparison. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0VuQFEIIAA3_Bx.jpg:large

Paying a living wage to those supplying the company will make a massive difference to the lives of workers all over the world. For example on average, cocoa farmers earn less than $2 per day, an income below the poverty line. As a result, they often resort to the use of child labour to keep their prices competitive.3 By committing to paying a living wage not only will they drive up the pay of workers it will also mean that suppliers will not have to resort to exploiting child labour. In 2012 Nestlé UK used cocoa farmer Kouame Fasseri, from the Cote d’Ivoire to promote its Fairtrade Kit Kat. He spoke about the difference the Fairtrade premiums had made to his community going towards a new health centre, health insurance and a new school.4 Two years on it is time that Nestle started to pay a living wage to all its workers. 1 http://www.nestle.com/asset-library/documents/library/documents/suppliers/supplier-code-english.pdf 2 http://www.utzcertified-trainingcenter.com/home/images/stories/library_files/EN_UTZ_Core_Code_for_Individual_Certification_2014.pdf 3 http://www.foodispower.org/slavery-chocolate/ 4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/Bvfr7qXS4gmWz3ptXVymT7/does-the-fairtrade-label-on-your-chocolate-bar-mean-100-fairtrade-cocoa-beans

The planning officer originally made a mistake in allowing the amendment through without having the authority. He then over-turned it but was over-ruled by the Chief Executive. This has opened the door to TESCO to open a TESCO Express 100 yards from an existing local CO-OP without any public say on the matter. Over 500 people have signed a petition already and we want to recruit more supporters. Many have said they would like to sign a petition online, hence this campaign. If you have signed the paper copy you don't need to sign this one as both will be presented to the Council in due course. Please spread the word via social media.

Services are being broken up and sold off to private companies for them to make profit from crime. Criminal Justice should be above the profit incentive and motivated by justice, the clues in the name. People are being put at risk by the creation of artificial barriers between staff, depending on who they work for. This is very bad for the sharing of information and risk management. Work is already being skewed towards working with those who will be the best bet to comply, rather than according to risk. A lot of what was previously done to protect the public is becoming impossible because of a ludicrous diversion of resources. Staff in the private companies will not need to be trained as they are in the public sector. They will be dealing with violent domestic abusers and others who pose a real risk to the public. The Probation Service was already a high performing organisation that had exceeded targets set for it by government. This privatisation politically is driven and is not cost effective or in the interests of the public.

I fell off my bike two weeks ago, fracturing my shoulder and giving myself a severe concussion. The NHS treated me amazingly, especially given it was a Friday night in A&E. The bang I received to my head meant I was in no fit state to properly understand everything they told me about my injuries, so the nurses put all the information in my bag to ensure I had everything I needed when I got home to help me deal with my recovery. I woke up the next day and was perplexed when I found a load of literature about injury lawyers and compensation claims in my bag. Currently, adverts for injury lawyers are on the back of information given to patients after treatment. Informative pamphlets are designed to notify patients of their condition and to explain what they need to do and why. These adverts encourage a 'blame' culture, do nothing to assist a patients recovery and propagate the idea that you can put a price on everything. Ironically, the NHS are likely to be one of the main targets of these law firms, thus tax payers' money is spend on litigation and compensation rather than improvements to the health care system. The NHS paid £1.2 billion in legal fees for clinical negligence. I am sure that much of this compensation is justified, however we need an autonomous health service which can operate for the good of the whole society without being blamed and forced to cough up for every worse-than-expected outcome. It is imperative that these adverts are removed from all NHS literature that is distributed to the public.

This is important for not only the economy, but also when people or companies are doing well (especially big corporations) then everyone should have equal amount of bonus shared between the cleaner, tea makers, to the receptionists, marketeers, chefs, waiters, bar staff , supervisor, manager, CEO. This should be split evenly with everyone. That's why everyone is employed in the first place. To make it run smoothly.

It is important to stop further privatisation of the NHS. Read more here: http://news.sky.com/story/1356686/nhs-sale-plan-controversy-risk-for-ministers

It is important to me because I'm disabled and do my best to be independent. I feel it's difficult enough to plan going out independently without trying to scrape up enough shopping bags in case I should decide to buy something which in itself can eek away my enjoyment and energy for going out.

There is clearly a need for houses to be built, but locations can be more sensitively chosen based on areas that are not in active use. The Government's initiative for backing more houses to be built is completely necessary, but surely it's more appropriate to use brown barren sites than it is to use football pitches for the purpose of building 62 new dwellings. The field known as Oakfield Rec just from Bilton Road exists in an already built-up area and is cherished by a fair amount of people. Logic dictates that it is cherished is for precisely that reason - it's green land in a built up area which a rare commodity in an area that is otherwise concrete. Not only is it green land, but it's actively used green land. Oakfield Rec is regularly in use by dog-walkers, joggers running around the football pitch, families holding picnics, people performing yoga. There's regular local Sunday League football matches played there, and people using the goals for training and Dads kicking a football around with their kids in the only publicly accessible open space around for half a mile. The Government are currently promoting a Change 4 Life program right now. Eat Well, MOVE MORE, Live Longer is the strap-line they are using, but how can that be in keeping with replacing green grass land that is actively in use for sporting and leisure purposes with even more bricks and mortar? There is no other green land within half a mile of the site of the proposed building works. This may not be a problem for many, but for folk who experience mobility difficulties a seemingly simple task such as walking the dog may now become a real problem. Yes, there is a lack of housing, but there's no lack of unoccupied homes in the UK. According to Council Tax statistics, in October 2013, 24445 properties were deemed 'long term empty' in the West Midlands. Building more houses isn't the only answer to the problem! Source: http://www.emptyhomes.com/statistics-2/empty-homes-statistice-201112/ The primary school closest to the proposed site has recently taken 35 children into its reception year, when it's recognised that the maximum should be 30. If we are going to hinder our children with over-populated classrooms then is this not a self-defeating action? Should we not be nurturing and developing our own children to be the best that they can be right from the moment they enter school at reception level? Surely we want our children's classrooms to not be overcrowded, and for them to receive the appropriate level of teacher assisted time? For the record, the primary school employed an extra teacher to handle the extra pupils, but if over-subscription remains a problem in the future (and this new build would increase the chances of that being the case) then they're going to need to be creative with how they handle that. Can they afford a new teacher for every academic year for example? With the cuts being made, it seems highly unlikely. This proposed new build clearly causes more problems than it solves and there are alternative measures that should be explored before turning the limited amount of inner town green space into yet more concrete. I urge the Co-Operative to reconsider this development, and to please lease the land back to the Council as has been the case historically.

The GMB is concerned that despite more than two years of economic growth, working people across the country are still suffering the longest real wage squeeze in over a century. Recently official earnings growth reached its lowest level since records began. GMB is also concerned given the biggest proportion of low-paid, part time workers in Dunnes is women. Official figures shows that earning less than the Living Wage is the norm for women in many parts of the country. With women accounting for almost three-quarters of the country’s six-million part-time workforce, the lack of skilled, decently –paid part-time jobs affects women’s pay and their career prospects far more than it does men. The idea behind the Living Wage is that a person is paid enough to live decently and to adequately provide for their family. Please sign the petition and pass on to others to sign, keep following the facebook page for an update on are attempts to gain recognition for Dunnes workers, in the coming weeks GMB will be launching a Public campaign outside all Dunnes stores for members of the Public to sign all above petition. If you would like some petition sheets sent out to you please contact me on 07808101359. Remember our strength is in our numbers if you have not already join please do so by joining online at www.gmb.org.uk.

stop all these greedy so&so`s ripping off our country I want you 38 degrees to send this out, I know very little about this gadget i enjoy some of your info.

Clearly there is a conflict of interest problem... we are already in thrall to the business lobby. Read more here: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/10/civil-service-boss-john-manzoni-sabmiller-director