• Banks take notice of elderly customers !
    I have a good deal of contact with older people, who often have increasing difficulty retaining information because of failing memory. I have also had contact with people experiencing significant difficulties because of learning disabilities or brain diseases, eg. dementia. These conditions often also affect a person's mobility and it is not so easy for them to simply visit the bank or Building Society and re-assert their identity, with the support of utility bills, passports, etc. Both of my parents are tragically affected by Alzheimers Disease. My father remains, for now, independently managing his own affairs (with considerable time and support from others). I have seen at first-hand the terrible frustration he experiences when trying to transact, or obtain information over the 'phone when agents are unable to help because he can't tell them the security information; he is unable even to recall his address of the past 2 years. I see that it may be difficult to find a suitable alternative to memory-reliant methods to assure security but I believe the problem to be an urgent and common one. The institutions holding our money must provide the means for us all to access their services, no matter our age, memory or health status.
    6 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Wendy Wood
  • HOW MUCH DO OUR WARS COST?
    Until just a few years ago we, as a nation, were beholden to the USA under the terms and conditions of the Lend-Lease agreement during World War 2. We have paid our debt to the USA in full, both in cash - with massive interest - and in human lives. We no longer have to join in their wars and we should be a peaceful island nation which just gets on with our global neighbours and trades peacefully with them.....rather than being a belligerent nation which spends a disproportionate amount of its GDP on its military and getting involved in warfare that we can't afford. Wouldn't our nation be so much better if we used this money to make life in the UK better and healthier for the people who live here? Warfare is paid for from the taxes we pay - we choose that our tax is spent on positive outcomes for the people of the UK, instead of bombing distant countries just because they have an issue with the USA.
    76 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Simon Ingram
  • Stop the nurses annual registration icreasing from £100 to £120
    Nurse are not paid enough as it is, and their pay rises are pitifully small. Yet the annual registration fee is set for a 20% rise.
    36 of 100 Signatures
    Created by David James
  • Democratic budget: Give Citizens a choice in how the tax we pay is spent
    Public spending has grown fortyfold since the start of the 20th century and no new mechanisms have been introduced to oversee this. We can: address the democratic deficit; increase accountability and control over government; update democracy for the digital age, applying time-honoured democratic principles with new technology; directly mandate policies, not political parties; and make the civil service more efficient by attaching budgets to policies, not time periods.
    40 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Sven Desai
  • End the archaic and oppressive regime of sanctions at DWP
    It's a matter of principles in belief and defense of the last remnants of the welfare state of which a slow and deliberate attempt has been made to eliminate to the benefit of nobody in society. It's also in contradiction of human rights legislation recognized on an international basis...
    123 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Damian Kershaw
  • Stop the CETA corporate power grab
    The secret negotiations for CETA (official name: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) between Canada and the European Union have already been concluded, without consulting any of us! - Even though Canada and the EU have been negotiating this so-called “next generation free trade and investment pact" behind closed doors since May 2009. But CETA is better understood as another corporate power grab. If signed, CETA will give multinational corporations the right to sue countries for loss of profits in secret courts of arbitration if those countries seek, for example, to pass laws to prevent fracking, to regulate prices, or to raise the minimum wage. Also (like TTIP), CETA will enable the multinationals to pressurise communities to privatise basic public services like water systems, transport and energy - and much more. As the social justice organisation the Council of Canadians points out: "The secret negotiating process, as well as the overall corporate agenda behind next generation deals are an affront to democracy on both sides of the Atlantic." If all this sounds horribly familiar, it's because CETA would have exactly the same adverse effects on our society and economy as TTIP - the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership planned between the USA and Europe (for further info on TTIP, see the 38 degrees campaign and petition to stop TTIP). Here are some examples of current cases arising from other, very similar "free trade agreements" that are already in force. Tobacco giant Philip Morris is suing Australia for billions of dollars in lost profits because the Australian government took action to reduce teenage smoking by stipulating plain packaging for cigarettes. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is suing Canada for $400 million because Canada has introduced laws to keep essential medications affordable. Worst of all, those proceedings are being held in secret international courts to which only corporations have access, in accordance with "investor-state dispute settlement rules" which also apply to CETA (and to TTIIP). This basically gives greedy corporations power over our social values, our legislative procedures and our trading standards. That's why CETA must be stopped now! To quote the corporation-loving TheCityUK website: "Canadian and the EU officials have agreed a complete CETA text, to be initialled at the EU-Canada Summit in Ottawa on 25 September 2014."... (That's only weeks away!)... "The gains to be had from the EU-Canada CETA are potentially very large." ...(Yes, you can bet they are - but only for big business!)... "The agreement – all 1,500 pages of it - now needs to be translated into all EU languages and reviewed by lawyers. Once approved by the EU’s 28 member-states and Canada’s ten provinces it will then be formally signed (probably in 2015). It is expected to be ratified by the EU's 28 member states and the Canadian provinces in the course of 2016." So big business is very confident that this undemocratic deal is going to go through, to the huge benefit of its profits. But if enough of us raise our voices and raise awareness about CETA, we can still force our politicians to think again about selling us out to big business. Please sign the petition to stop CETA.
    418 of 500 Signatures
    Created by Catherine Danner
  • Paying for prescriptions in Wales
    At the moment hospitals across Wales and the NHS in Wales are struggling to survive and staff are stretched to the limit. . We need to fund more nursing staff and also to stop the current ridiculous abuse of the system where people go to A&E just to get a packet of Paracetamol or Calpol for nothing or ask their doctors for medication they do not need and probably will not take. A basic charge of £3.00 would stop such abuse of the system, and there could be a cap of £10.00 if people needed several items. This additional money would transform our NHS in Wales and provide jobs for much needed nursing staff.
    9 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Joanna Spikes
  • 50+ women being crucified by the new pension rules
    This is an important issue whereby many women over the age of 55 particularly will suffer financial hardship through no fault of their own. There has been no proper planning or compensation considered for or this small minority of women which will suffer as a result. Many women over 50 find themselves living alone and had always expected to retire with a state pension at 60. The new legislation has not given woman a fair enough amount of time to prepare for such a major financial disruption to their lives.
    257 of 300 Signatures
    Created by Susanna Young
  • Support Your Firefighters
    The government is threatening to change firefighters’ pension schemes, meaning all members will pay more, work longer and still get less. Pay more Before 2010, firefighters already contributed one of the highest proportions of their salary towards their pensions (11%), and in April this year it increased for the third year running. Firefighters typically now pay over £4,000 a year from a £29,000 salary, and the government has announced they will impose another increase in 2015. Work longer Firefighters will be expected to work until they are 60 however the government’s own report by Dr Tony Williams, published in December 2013, recognises that two thirds (66%) will not meet the current fitness standard. Firefighters, who are forced to retire at 55 due to a natural decline in fitness, could lose up to half of their pension or face the sack. Get less Firefighters will only receive the full pension they signed up for if they work for 40 years in the service which given current retirement and fitness rates is unlikely for the majority of firefighters.
    8,268 of 9,000 Signatures
    Created by Liam Reed
  • More spending on the NHS
    This is important because the vast majority of people reading this petition will still be around in five years, and so this affects YOU. If we don't act now, then our safety and the safety of future generations will be in danger as our National Health Service slowly crumbles from a lack of funds.Furthermore, the population is ever increasing; as the ONS predicts, within 25 years the UK population will reach just over 73 million. This will put further strain on an already struggling institution. We need to say NO to spending £1.4 billion on redundancies, and YES to more spending on the NHS itself, its resources and its staff.
    94 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Dan Shears
  • Scots Against TTIP
    It is important because TTIP will rid us of some of our basic liberties and will oblige the UK Goverment to put businesses over people,stop the UK making laws that hinder companies profitability and will allow companies to bring in workers from any where in the world to save money on labour. TTIP should not,must not and will not make exploitation from corporations easier! With the help of you we can stop this! For more information on the issue search TAFTA,TTIP or go to the following link http://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/trade-justice/more/inform/18078-what-is-ttip
    364 of 400 Signatures
    Created by Lewis Akers
  • Factory farming should be abolished!
    Whether we farm animals for food, use them for recreation, or keep them as pets, we need to make sure they are properly looked after. This requires more than simply protecting them from cruelty. We need to meet their needs for food, water and living space, protect them from disease, and create a healthy and stress-free living environment for them. When we slaughter animals for food, we need to ensure that, as far as possible, they have calm, painless deaths.
    246 of 300 Signatures
    Created by Thomas Robinson