• Bring Andargachew Tsige Home
    Andargachew Tsige is a campaigner for democracy in Ethiopia, he is an innocent man trying to bring change to his native country. He was sentenced to death in absentia for trumped up charges. Freedom of speech and dissent is a basic human right, which the Ethiopian government denies its people.
    177 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Graham Peebles
  • Stop joint enterprise
    By having laws such as this we are on a slippery slope towards a controlling state who is fearful of a particular group of people. If there are problems with gangs then we need to find out what those problems are and deal with them in a fair and humane way, not just lock them up and throw away the key!
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    Created by ilona harding
  • A Proper Independent Judge Should be Appointed
    Lady Butler-Sloss, the judge you have appointed, is the sister of Sir Michael Havers who tried to prevent Geoffrey Dickens from naming Sir Peter Hayman being named as a member of the paedophile information exchange. This means that from her position at the highest level of the very establishment she is supposed to be investigating, it is very difficult for the public to have the complete confidence that she will get to the bottom of things where establishment figures are concerned. There should be several lay people sitting with her, seeing everything she sees. These people are there to serve, who have never been in politics or public service, who are good decent sensible people who can take a balanced view.
    6,264 of 7,000 Signatures
    Created by David Steen
  • We demand a National inquiry into peadophilia at the Home Office
    Children should be protected from everyone especially from those who believe they will never be caught or convicted.
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    Created by John Garrett
  • Add Crossbows to the Scottish Government's air gun licensing proposal
    If licences are made obligatory only for airguns, I am convinced that people will buy crossbows instead. These are even more lethal and altogether much nastier weapons. Lets reduce the number of accidents and reckless incidents endangering wild life and humans not increase them!
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    Created by Steve Dovey
  • Drop the charges against bedroom tax victim Michael Hilton
    This concerns every person living in Britain. What happened to Mr Hilton can happen to anyone in Britain, whether we’re aware of it or not. The following took place. Mr Hilton of Meadoway, Church in East Lancashire felt very vulnerable and grew increasingly upset when he was threatened with eviction from the home in which he’d been living for 30 years. He responded by threatening to blow up his home. The reason for the eviction was that Mr Hilton developed rent arrears as a result of what PM David Cameron euphemistically and callously calls the withdrawal of the spare room subsidy, and what I see as an instrument of a feudal aristocracy, the so-called bedroom tax. We all tend to assume that when someone else is threatened with eviction, the person could make this ‘go away’ if only they would act. Because we have no choice but to believe that if it happened to us, we would make it go away. Because we, we would act. That is how threatening the idea of an eviction is to most of us. Losing our home… In reality, however, there is often very little a person can do against an eviction for arrears if the person has no money. In cases of rent arrears caused by the so-called bedroom tax, it is safe to assume that if the person was unable to do anything about the bedroom tax, he or she is equally unable to do anything about the eviction. Effectively, Mr Hilton was being threatened with homelessness after having lived in his home for 30 years. I don’t know Mr Hilton and he may have been seriously mentally ill. If he was merely terribly stressed, then chances are that he did not stick his head in the sand, but simply felt there was nothing he could do and was convinced that his housing association could not do anything for him either. I think that he threatened to blow up his home because he could not accept the idea that there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop the eviction. He did not blow up anything at all, and no one got hurt. He just yelled. He was arrested because he had made many people worried which can be seen as a disturbance. He has been in custody since the beginning of June 2014. The plea hearing is set for 22 August 2014 and his trial hearing is scheduled for 12 November 2014. A little earlier, namely in May 2014, David Garbett of Sunderland took similarly drastic steps when he chained himself and his wheelchair to the railings of Southwick JobCentre. In his case, his Employment Support Allowance had stopped which meant that he became unable to buy food and pay bills. After he chained himself to the JobCentre, Mr Garbett’s claim was settled, and his payments were backdated. Mr Garbett was not in danger of losing his home, but he too was desperate so he did something desperate. When austerity has already been part of your daily life for years, there is no room for more austerity. It is believed that Mr Hilton was eligible for exemption from this wretched bedroom tax, but apparently did not know how to obtain this exemption. It is also believed that Mr Hilton had been in bad mental health for some time. So here we have two men who apparently both had health problems. One was losing his home and spoke desperte words that others felt threatened by, but did not carry out his threats. The other one was fed up with having to go to the food bank and being unable to pay his bills and did not threaten but took desperate action. One is now in detention and has lost his home. The other one’s claims were reinstated and backdated. Mr Hilton – the man in detention – is a victim, not a criminal. He deserves leniency.
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    Created by Angelina Souren
  • Tell Northern Rail they can't Silence the Press
    On Monday 23rd June, a peaceful protest by members of Sheffield Disabled People Against The Cuts and Barnsley Retirees Action Group was broken up by British Transport police. The protesters were taking part in the Freedom Ride, a long-running protest against cuts to free travel provision in South Yorkshire. Witnesses report that the police used heavy handed tactics. One witness, Jen Dunstan, of Sheffield Disabled People Against the Cuts, said: “Dozens of elderly and disabled people have been left with bruising. Some have cuts where their skin has broken from being pushed and shoved. “A placid and calm gentleman was roughly manhandled. I am angry and shocked. The police are meant to protect elderly people.” A journalist from the Sheffield Star was present, and tried to video events on his phone. He was ordered to erase footage he’d recorded on his phone because he did not have permission to film on private property inside Sheffield station. When he initially resisted the request and continued to film, he says he was told he could be arrested under terror laws. A statement from Northern Rail said: “Members of the media must have written permission from the train operator which manages the station before undertaking any filming on station property. Under no circumstances are Northern Rail employees to be filmed without prior agreement from the Northern Rail press office.” Fortunately, other witnesses were able to video the behaviour of the police on Northern Rail's property. The treatment of the elderly gentleman can be seen here:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svv9YcyZ6Os&list=UUiZU8ySSrpSg-qhR3BsYSSQ Many people who view this video will think that this treatment is disproportionate for an old man accused of fare-dodging, especially when he is taking part in a legitimate peaceful protest. In the video, five burly police officers are pinning the elderly gentleman down so that he cannot move, despite no visible signs of protest or resistance from him. It is not within the rights of Northern Rail, or any other organisation, to try to ban filming on their premises, when that filming clearly shows a questionable activity taking place with the collusion of that organisation. It is anti-democratic to try to silence the press in this way. Please sign this petition to force Northern Rail to retract their statement, and issue an apology that recognises the right of journalists and the public to film wherever they wish when a breach of a person's rights is taking place.
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    Created by Murray Cowell
  • David Cameron Should Resign in light of Andy Coulson's guilt.
    by putting Andy Coulson in place as communications director against advice and in light of Coulson's being found guilty of phone hacking that caused untold misery to people, David Cameron has shown he cannot be trusted to run the country and cannot command the confidence of parliament or the people of the UK. he must go.
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    Created by Rory Lee
  • commemorate the death of jean charles de menezes (22nd of july 2015)
    Jean Charles de Menezes (pronounced [ʒeˈɐ̃ ˈʃahlis dʒi meˈnezis] in Brazilian Portuguese) 7 January 1978 – 22 July 2005) was a Brazilian man shot dead by the London Metropolitan police at Stockwell tube station on the London Underground after he was misidentified as one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts. These events took place two weeks after the London bombings of 7 July 2005, in which 52 people were killed. Contemporaneous and later police and media accounts contradicted each other, specifically regarding Menezes's manner and clothing as he entered the station, and whether there had been any police warnings before they fired. The death sparked an intense public debate over a shoot-to-kill practice known as Operation Kratos. The codename was dropped in 2007, but the policy continues. Police put under surveillance the communal entrance to a block of flats in Tulse Hill, south London, in which Menezes was living, and saw Menezes leave the building. Plain clothes officers, armed with pistols, followed him as he took a bus to Brixton tube station, before boarding another to Stockwell because the tube station at Brixton was closed. Specialist firearms officers were called to Stockwell. Just after Menezes entered a train, several officers wrestled him to the ground and fired seven bullets into his head at point blank range. The train was still at the platform with its doors open, having just been evacuated by officers. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) launched two investigations. Stockwell 1, the findings of which were initially kept secret, concluded that none of the officers would face disciplinary charges. Stockwell 2 strongly criticised the police command structure and communications to the public, bringing pressure on the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair to resign. In July 2006, the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any of the officers, although a corporate criminal prosecution of the Metropolitan Police was brought under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This alleged that the police service had failed in its duty of care to Menezes. The service was found guilty and fined. On 12 December 2008 an inquest returned an open verdict.[1]I feel that because of the way he was taken from life that it is the least that can be done. I pass the memorial at stockwell and look it to his young eyes and it makes me upset that he was killed so brutally .
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    Created by Martin Kershaw
  • Please deny authority to use water cannon in the UK
    The attitude of the public towards the police in London has taken quite a battering over the last few years and the level of trust is pretty low, along with that of Politicians. Considering the discontent against policies the government has implemented, the ever increasing appearance that London is becoming exclusive to the elite and Very Wealthy, to authorise use of water cannon will further dissolve trust and solidify the opinion that the government is seeking to protect its interests and that of wealthy backers. There would be no trust that these would only be used in major incidents and a belief these would be deployed in peaceful protests to deny people their voice. Previous uses around the world have shown this to be the case. If this authority is granted, it will set a dangerous precedent that other police forces will be able to deploy this too. Politicians and police need to build trust within their community, not further increase the divide that is currently very apparent.
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    Created by Chris Turner
  • 'Innocent' yet already in print!
    If you were accused of something terrible and degrading that you had not done, and your details together with these allegations appeared on the front page of your local newspaper, for example, then can you imagine the damage caused to you alone? You as a son or daughter, an employer or employee, parent, a sister or brother, a friend, minister, you as a celebrity,... let alone others too like your children, friends and family and associates. Can you see how that would quite easily stain your life having a profound and long lasting impact that could not be erased!? Yes, this regularly happens to innocent people like you and me before any opportunity to a fair hearing or trial and by mistake. The permanent damage based on alleged guilt is unfair and unjustified! It’s done just so that newspapers can have something to print, 'a juicy story', scare tactics or for greed. Sign this petition to reduce the media's powers to invade your privacy, devastate and ruin lives by being able to print allegations with personal details. I had not given it too much consideration until it happened to me and my family. Anonymity is the only fair way for the innocent.
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    Created by Samantha Shaw
  • CALL FOR AN INVESTIGATION AND INDEPENDENT PANEL INQUIRY INTO THE DEATH OF 7 YEAR OLD ZANE
    Zane died in his home on 8 February 2014, a day after his home in Chertsey was hit by severe floods. His parents Nicole and Kye were hospitalised in a critical condition. Evidence suggests the cause of Zane’s death was hydrogen cyanide, a toxic gas that can lurk in unregulated landfill - like the one by their house - released from the ground by mixing with floodwater. But it took Public Health England 14 weeks to confirm to the family that hydrogen cyanide was indeed found in their flooded house. And despite this the pathologist was never told to test Zane’s blood for hydrogen cyanide. Nicole and Kye are bereaved parents who deserve to know what really happened to their son. They have been left ‘broken’ by the death of their son and frustrated by the lack of answers. Zane's father Kye, who was left paralysed from the same incident and whose diagnosis is paraplegia due to Hydrogen Cyanide poisoning, says: “We really want to push and find answers because it is wrong that these risks can occur. Ideally this is something we would like to be able to highlight nationally. This deadly gas has come from somewhere, the authorities need to admit its presence, investigate its source and act to prevent more deaths and illness.  We miss Zane every second of the day and all those who spent time with Zane commented that Zane was a truly remarkable boy. We would not want anyone else to experience this pain and burden of a living hell”.
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    Created by Ella Oates