• Maria Miller Vote to keep Ban on Fox Hunting.
    As your constituent, I was concerned recently in the local press to hear you state “In the event of such a vote, I would vote to repeal it. In my judgement, and the judgement of others, the Act does nothing to protect wild animals and, in many cases, is actually detrimental to animal welfare when other methods of control are deployed, several of which can be indiscriminate.” what concerns me is not your statement which is based not on any research or based on facts but rather ideology but you seem to think this is a common view held by your constituents. I would also like to highlight there are many within your own political party who do not support the repeal of this law http://www.conservativesagainstfoxhunting.com/ Also I would recommend you read the following report http://www.league.org.uk/~/media/Files/LACS/Publications/Hunting-Act-Report-2014.pdf I’ve seen a video about hunting that I just had to send you. One of the key arguments of those who support hunting is that it is necessary for ‘wildlife management’ – put more simply, they suggest it is good for controlling fox numbers. I really want you to watch this as it is vital to the debate about the potential repeal of the Hunting Act. A League Against Cruel Sports investigation found 16 fox cubs being kept in a barn, 200 metres from a hunt kennels. An employee of the hunt, their terrier man who is registered as living at the hunt kennels, was filmed entering the barn. Why would a hunt be keeping foxes? The only sensible conclusion is that they had been taken and kept simply to be hunted. The video shows other examples which back up this conclusion. This is not ‘wildlife management’, it is animal cruelty. The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/D7PjfphDsc0 If you would like to hear more information about Wildlife management and help dispel some of the myths from the pro hunting lobby. we will love to see our MP for a local debate on the matter. I hope you will consider this information when voting on the repeal of the Hunting Act. If you would still consider voting for repeal in light of this evidence, I’d really appreciate an explanation why? MPs are meant to be local representatives who vote according best interest of their constituents. Basingstoke is mostly a urban seat and this vote will little impact on them but our MP should at lest speak to her constituents as many would have strong views on animal welfare In the ten years since the Act was passed, it has proven to be an effective and popular piece of legislation. Yet, since its introduction, the Hunting Act has been the target of considerable attack from the pro-hunt lobby which has waged an on-going and concerted campaign of disinformation about the Act. Ministry of Justice figures demonstrate that the Hunting Act out-performs all other wild mammal legislation in England and Wales, having both the highest number of convictions since it was introduced (341 from 2005 to 2013) and conviction rate (65% of charges laid under the Act have resulted in convictions). The successful prosecution of registered hunts private prosecutions against illegal hunters. Subsequently, evidence gathered by team of professional investigators has been used to convict 18 people associated with registered hunts, with more cases still proceeding through the courts. While public support for the prohibition of hunting has always been high, it has increased substantially in the past ten years. The latest polling from Ipsos MORI, conducted in 2014 on behalf of the League, shows: 80% of people think fox hunting should remain illegal 86% think stag hunting should remain illegal and 88% think hare hunting and coursing should remain illegal Some of those pushing for repeal of the Act point out that illegal hunting still takes place. Unfortunately this is true, and like everything from drug laws to speed limits - the problem lies not with the Act, but with those who flout the law. So, ten years on, the Act is working well and with a few simple improvements in some specific areas it can be even more effective. If the law is kept it can be improved on in the future Prohibiting the use of dogs below ground - this is arguably where the worst cruelty occurs in hunting, not only to wild mammals pursued underground with limited opportunity to escape (usually foxes and badgers), but also to the dogs sent below ground to find these animals and either flush them out or hold them at bay. Inserting a ‘reckless’ provision to ensure the killing of wild mammals during a trail hunt cannot be passed off as an ‘unfortunate accident’. Increasing the punishments available to the courts so that the Act is brought in line with other animal protection legislation. Thank you for your time. Thank you in advance for your reply.
    668 of 800 Signatures
    Created by Daniel Oloughlin
  • Ban Legal highs in Norhern Ireland
    These are the people who have so much potential yet they throw away their money on nothing but a bag of chemical which at times can lead to death and many other things. At the end of the day this is the society your living in, would you rather live in a dangerous society with people running about of their heads on drugs, or a place without drugs, a safer and happier environment
    7 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Megan Mckeegan
  • Save the Freedom of Photography
    This proposal does not have the support of the British Institute of Architects and would ciminalize tourists and visitors taking photographs in public with a copyrighted building or work of art such as the Angel of The North in the background. See: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3136945/Absurd-new-EU-law-mean-ll-face-legal-action-taking-pictures-famous-landmarks-Photos-punished-breach-copyright.html
    109 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Philip McNeill
  • Lift the ban on khat
    Khat is not a drug and the government them selfs conducted a research that proved so. This is something that is only used for social gathering purposes.
    1,116 of 2,000 Signatures
    Created by Abdul Omar
  • Equal Justice For All
    Political and finical corruption over the last ten years have virtually destroyed the lives of millions of British people. How many people who were responsible for both the banking crisis and the MP expenses scandal were prosecuted? virtually none. The law must treat everyone in the same way or we have no law.
    95 of 100 Signatures
    Created by jeff davies
  • Reopen Investigations into Malpractice at City of Edinburgh Council
    Reekieleaks calls for Transparency, Accountability and Honesty in our Public Institutions. The remit of this petition is more finite, but the clarion call is for accountability to start somewhere, here ... as a 1st step. This is important because the very fabric of local democracy is being cynically abused by those at the top of institutions that are set up to protect citizens. Dame Sue Bruce, the 5 Directors of Edinburgh Council, 58 Councillors, MSPS and Nicola Sturgeon are all refusing to collectively answer legitimate concerns, preferring to hide behind the flawed 'independent' Deloitte Reports which cost taxpayers Millions on top of irrecoverable losses due to the fraud. These are 'Reports' that Deloitte themselves referred to as 'at best patchy' due to the lack of information they received from the Council to allow them to investigate the scandal fully. Many Millions have been wasted that should have gone to good causes, thousands of residents have been and are still being caused undue stress. In the region of 3000 to 3500 Statutory Notices were issued per year on Edinburgh properties, that equates to approximately 20,000+ individual notices! The Scandal is known to have been going on for at least 10 years. Those on the inside say more. These figures are staggering, yet as Councillor Rose stated recently to the BBC “The implications are that what we saw at court [22/06/2015] was the tip of the iceberg. For the sake of the council and the people of Edinburgh this needs to be out in the open, otherwise suspicions will 
continue”. We at reekieleaks.org.uk could not agree more. As yet most of the perpetrators go free (only 4 have been jailed), and the systems that allowed it to happen go unchallenged by the public. If we do not challenge them, they will occur again. Do not believe Councillor Alasdair Rankin's protestations that investigations have been 'robust' and 'independent'. CEC has tried to contain the problem in the ill-advised belief that it is for the greater good if the true extent of corruption and malpractice is not known. What is for the greater good, is the rooting out of corruption and maladministration so that ever penny of taxpayers' income is put to good use in the future. And that those manifestly not fit for office are never again allowed into office ... not simply conveniently moved into other positions. The Police launched an investigation in 2011 which was dropped by the Crown reportedly due to lack of evidence. According to the few Councillors within City of Edinburgh who are prepared to fight against institutional stone-walling: there are wide-spread allegations from within and outside the Council that this was because staff had been ordered to shred damning documentation en masse. This is borne out by the fact that Deloitte confirmed that so much crucial documentation, in hundreds of cases is indeed missing. There are only two plausible possibilities as to why the documents are not there: the first is institutional incompetence, and the second is that they were systematically destroyed. Given this did not happen elsewhere in the Council and that there must be rules about sound data management, the latter is the more likely. Detective Inspector Arron Clinkscales, of the Organised Crime Unit at Police Scotland, has promised that officers would liaise with prosecutors if further allegations surfaced (Edinburgh Evening News, 22/06/2015): “It could mushroom, it could escalate. With public sector corruption, there are more and more people willing to come forward to speak out. I think [the recent convictions] will prompt people to come forward.” Let us hope he is correct. Who was in charge at the time? What was the chain of command? What orders were given to staff? What is known within CEC that would prove wide-spread fraud? Why have staff been sacked or moved by CEC with no disciplinary or legal charges brought against them? Why is Dame Sue Bruce not engaging in open and transparent conversation about this scandal with Constituents who are writing to her directly? Why are countless Freedom of Information requests being refused and information willfully withheld? We the Public deserve to know how much was wasted by corrupt officials and contractors through the years of the Statutory Notice Scandal, how much has been spent on external consultants in the attempt to draw a line under the fiasco, who was to blame, and what concrete implementations have been made to ensure that this never, ever happens again. Now is the time for conscientious citizens (inside and outside the Council) to come forward and fight for a truly democratic, honest and accountable local government in Scotland's Capital. Please support this campaign, and reekieleaks.org.uk in the fight for an honest and competent Council.
    340 of 400 Signatures
    Created by Simon Williams Picture
  • Remove Anti-Homeless Spikes from HSBC Birmingham
    Anti-homeless spikes, along with other defensive architecture, have been around for a while now, and we shouldn't stand for them anymore. They not only have a practical impact on homeless people's lives, disallowing them from sitting or sleeping in certain sheltered locations, but they also help to propagate the feeling of division in our communities, creating an 'us and them' mentality. This means there is less interaction, less communication and therefore ultimately less understanding of why people end up sleeping rough, and what we can do to help. Getting rid of these spikes is a small gesture, but a huge step in acceptance and care, which will help to break down barriers, allowing us to engage more fully with the poverty and need which lies on our very doorsteps.
    14,040 of 15,000 Signatures
    Created by Chris Brees
  • Christmas Island
    I know a man who is in very bad health he has had cancer all over his body and is still fighting. I was horrified to find out that all the other people from other countries all over the world have had compensation apart from the UK Please help me get justice for the people who are now getting to old to fight. read more about the story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/defence/10611985/Forgotten-victims-of-Britains-nuclear-tests-on-Christmas-Island.html
    75 of 100 Signatures
    Created by bernard mc gough
  • Stop Tesco from banning photographers
    In the runup to Christmas 2014 my local Tesco store - Ilkley, West Yorkshire - placed posters next to the checkouts listing the store's extended opening hours over Christmas. The posters also invited customers to take a photo of the poster if they wanted their own record of the opening hours. So I did. As Christmas passed I forgot about the photo and may even have deleted it. A week ago,almost 6 months later, I was suddenly surrounded by the Store Manager, Head of Security and 3 other senior managers, frogmarched into a private corridor and interrogated, military style, as to why I have been systematically been taking illicit photos of the store staff on numerous occasions during the past 6 months! I explained to the Store Manager that this was completely untrue and that I have never taken 'illicit photos' of the staff on numerous occasions, but simply a photo of a poster on 1 occasion as described above. He refused to believe me and has subsequently informed me that his staff regard me as a major threat to their health and safety, a potential security risk to the store and that, furthermore, I am now the subject of a police investigation into the incident. Further enquiries to Tesco Head Office have revealed that this is standard Tesco policy which will be applied to each and every Tesco store in the UK. Although the specific circumstances of this case may be seen as ridiculous and laughable, they mask a much more serious and sinister trend. I have been treated by this store as almost a potential terrorist for simply taking a photo within a Tesco store. There was no suggestion at the time that this photo would be published, distributed, downloaded onto the internet or posted in any way to a third party. It was taken for purely personal use and, incredibly, at Tesco's own invitation. There is nothing illegal, as far as I am aware, about my actions. Yet Tesco have responded by treating me as a potential serious criminal. What is deeply disturbing about this is that if you are a photography student, photographer, journalist, artist or simply a law abiding member of the public who wants to engage in the hobby of photography you will be treated almost like a terrorist presenting a major threat to public safety by this company. This case introduces a major challenge to civil liberties and human rights of every single member of the public in the UK who happens to have a camera (or camera phone) in their possession while on Tesco premises. This is why I think a campaign should be launched to pressure Tesco to change this draconian policy.
    44 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Jon Parker
  • Legalise Cannabis
    It has now been established that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol, it has many uses both medical and practical. There are no deaths attributed to cannabis usage.
    124 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Dan Harrison
  • Ban Incoming Premium Text Messsages
    I have recently been the victim of an Incoming Premium Rate Text Message scam. Fortunately TalkTalk, my Mobile Phone Provider eMailed me to warn me I had gone over my monthly allowance, and this is how I learned that I was being charged £4.50 for each one of these messages I had received. I had not knowingly subscribed to this. After doing some research I found that this scam is by no means an uncommon incident & is growing all the time. It even seems to have an authority (PhonePayPlus) which is supposed to monitor it. This, in itself, is ridiculous. It is clearly a way of making money under false pretences. All Premium Rate Text Messages are a rip off, but at least when making outgoing ones at least the customer is making the concious decision to throw their money away. These, however, are INCOMING. Most of all I was amazed to learn that this way of covertly taking money by deception is actually legal. This, to anyone with any sense of common decency can see this to be morally outrageous. Incoming Premium Rate Text Messages are theft, plain and simple, making use of some loophole in the law, targeting the most vulnerable. This loophole needs closing.
    141 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Jerry Gamble
  • Banking Reform
    As we suffer the daily rigors of Austerity, The City of London & The Banks are draining our Real Economy with fraud, asset stripping, the privatisation of sovereign assets. Combined with The Corporations accounting fraud & their failure to pay taxes, the UK Economy has been left heavily in debt. We should not silently put up with this illegal behavior by Criminal Banks. We need Bank Reform to be undertaken by this government in this year. Please write to your local high street banks to let them know how you feel. Also The Bank of England governor Mark Carney, The Accountants; KPMG, PWC, Deloitte, Ernst & Young(EY) The Attorney General, The Rt Hon Jeremy Wright QC Your Local Crime Commissioner And your local Chief Constable. You can send them this: http://www.realnewsuk.com/print/Banking_Reform.pdf
    116 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Vernon Moat Picture