Many elderly and disabled people are struggling to exist on the money they receive in pensions or allowances, they can ill afford the astronomical cost of their medication. Young people should be aware of the fact that British pensions are the third lowest in the EEU. Educating our young people is essential for the future of mankind and we should encourage them, not hang a millstone round their necks in the form of student loans. Lastly, we have an ever increasing number of elderly, sick and disabled people who require medical care. Many of these people come from a generation who suffered through the horrors of the second world war and then worked hard to rebuild this. great country of ours and who saved and invested for their retirement. Their reward for this is to be forced to spend those savings to pay for care, which they thought would be payed for by the National Insurance contributions they made during their working lives. It,s important that people are aware of what is happening, the government should be stopped from stealing their money and made to give these people some decent Quality of Life.

The Welsh city of Cardiff plays host to several rounds of the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the city has chosen to steal from fans that have travelled across the globe to enjoy the best of sports in it's country of origin by increasing the price of hotel rooms on those dates by over 1000%. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hotels/11854221/Hotel-rates-up-to-1095-per-cent-higher-for-Rugby-World-Cup.html http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/rugby-world-cup-2015-hotel-10024469 http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/cardiff-hotels-cost-average-of-1-400-for-rwc-quarters-1.2347141 This is price gouging at it's worse and should not go unpunished, fans unable to pay could see their match day ruined by this scurrilous behaviour and the Welsh forever tarnished by this crime against supporters. We say Wales Cardiff should never again play host to a fixture that it has no reason to, let them thieve form their own!!! Signed, Rugby Supporters of the World

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-09-08/badly-burned-toddler-exposes-horror-refugees-are-fleeing/

Because we are fellow human beings, that's all. This is something we can really help with. We have a moral duty, and its time we did something human for our fellow humans. Aylan, the toddler who drowned fleeing Syria, was just three years old. His town was under attack by Isis. His five year old brother and his mum also died trying to reach safety. Yet our prime minister said ‘we won't take any more refugees’. He thinks that most of us don't care. But 38 Degrees members do care. We don't want Britain to be the kind of country that turns its back as people drown in their desperation to flee places like Syria. So let's stand up for Britain's long tradition of helping refugees fleeing war. Let's show the Prime Minister that we, the people of the UK, are proud to do our part and provide refuge to people in their hour of need. Please sign and share, or start your own petition for your town or city here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/efforts/refugees-welcome

Aylan, the toddler who drowned fleeing Syria, was just three years old. His town was under attack by Isis. His five year old brother and his mum also died trying to reach safety. Yet our prime minister said ‘we won't take any more refugees’. He thinks that most of us don't care. But 38 Degrees members do care. We don't want Britain to be the kind of country that turns its back as people drown in their desperation to flee places like Syria. So let's stand up for Britain's long tradition of helping refugees fleeing war. Let's show the Prime Minister that we, the people of the UK, are proud to do our part and provide refuge to people in their hour of need. Please sign and share, or start your own petition for your town or city here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/efforts/refugees-welcome

The people of Dundee are deeply disturbed by the images of huge numbers of refugees fleeing conflicts and want to do everything we can to help these people. Scotland has a history of offering shelter to people displaced by war and persecution: in the past Dundee welcomed refugees after WWII as well as Basques, Ugandan Asians, Chileans and Syrian Kurds. These people and their families became part of our city and have made a great contribution to Dundee: socially, culturally and economically. We the people of Dundee want to keep this tradition of offering safety and shelter to those in desperate need. The scale of the humanitarian crisis at the moment is vast yet the response from many has been negative or even hostile. As Dundonians, we want to tell the people who have lost so much that they are welcome in our homes, in our streets and our communities – as we would undoubtedly be welcomed by them if we ever need their help. Dundee has been in the news recently for being the “coolest little city”. But we want Dundee to be known as the kindest little city.

Fair business practice

As it stands, only the father's name and 'rank or profession' is needed on a marriage certificate. We believe this is archaic; a father's name and profession was important when marriage was seen as the passing of a possession (the woman) from one man (the father) to another (the husband). This is no longer the case. If the information is necessary for public record, then the mother's name and profession should be included too. Mothers play as vital a part in their children's upbringing as men do (and sometimes more...) and this should be reflected in modern marriage certificates. Ideally a person would be able to include information for only one parent if they so wish. Having to include a parent with whom one does not have a good relationship on something as significant as a marriage certificate can be unnecessarily upsetting.

It is important because the existing practice is unfair, dishonest and discriminatory all of which are un-British. It often results in pensioners who have gone to live with their families in countries like Canada or Australia having to sponge on their children or return to a lonely life in the UK where, of course, they become a burden on the NHS. The exclusion of British pensioners in most countries from receiving their rightful pension is irrational. Pension freezing means that after twenty years a pensioner is getting less than half of his or her entitlement. Our Government claims to be fair and honest but it seems to be unfair and dishonest. If we all pay the same compulsory contributions we should all get the same pension.

Disabled customers should not have to justify their disability to bored customer care staff in a supermarket. Having to produce proof of a disability (as the blue badge will have been left on display in their vehicle) is undignified and demeaning. Having to divulge sensitive and personal information in a public area of a supermarket is unfair and unjust. Forcing customers to struggle back through a shop to the customer care desk in order to avoid being fined when they are wheelchair bound, struggle to walk or are in pain is a disgraceful way to treat a customer. Refusing to accept the validity of a blue badge becuase they are not on a supermarkets database is highly unfair and quite possibly illegal.

We already have laws in place intended to protect mainly ethnic minorities within society at large, while other often-disadvantaged groups of people can take comfort in there being rules by which prospective employers must abide. The question of gender equality and the LGBT movement also continue to be major talking points, as campaigns such as those seen on this very site and others enjoy increasing momentum. However, one thing that does appear not to have penetrated the public consciousness - quite the opposite - is the situation pertaining to, in particular, many unemployed and disabled people, beyond merely the legislation being passed. Compounding the present climate of savage spending cuts, workplace ambivalence to rights and key government departments' cruel dehumanisation of their core services' users, is the growing groundswell of opinion - perpetuated by small-scale local news sources [1] and internationally-renowned public service broadcasters [2] alike, alongside everything in-between [3] - whereby anyone out of work or known to be claiming any sort of social security is instantly not only marginalised, but in fact openly vilified [4], and blamed for all manner of perceived problems blighting the country. Some writers even set up websites for the sole purpose of baiting those on welfare. [5] Worse still, the overriding premise around which the whole hysteria was intended to revolve, thanks to the 'free' British media, is a purely sensationalist, propaganda-fuelled one that ultimately rings hollow when scrutinised on the grounds of accuracy. [6] From domestic charities [7] to medal-winning athletes [8], bloggers [9] to the research teams of esteemed Universities [10] the length and breadth of the country [11], online publications [12] and even some mainstream news outlets [13], the message is clear: this is irresponsible, vindictive journalism. Of course, even in light of the recent revelations in relation to the practices of the press and the resulting Leveson Inquiry, it seems that the nature of the stories' content itself is something largely being forgotten about, and so the attacks go ahead. Such is the public's apparent willingness to serve as a channel for the outrage emanating primarily from reports peddled by the likes of the Daily Mail, the Sun and the Daily Express, that we are now seeing innocent claimants abused [14], harassed [15] and even driven to death [16] by those who feel compelled to do their bidding. All this because a tiny minority (less than 1%!) of the DWP's bill are understood to be 'scrounging' off taxpayers' money. Taking vital funding away from those with little else to hold onto is one thing; sitting idly by while the institutions we depend on to inform us fairly and comprehensively instead choose to make these people's lives a complete misery - if not aiding them in doing so - is quite another. The media has no right and no mandate to wilfully turn citizens against each other (regardless of whether the victims can defend themselves any better than is the case here), especially on the basis of misinformation and spin. The buck for the crimes committed against these people (and no doubt many others hounded for a variety of reasons) falls squarely at the feet of those who are moulding ordinary people into vehicles of unfounded hate. This societal cancer needs to be removed at the source. By extending what we already have written in Acts of Parliament, to encompass anyone at risk of being the subject of incitement to ill intent, we can achieve this. [1] http://goo.gl/Sp3YQn [2] http://goo.gl/bMvbz [3] http://goo.gl/ar7Hgh (various links, including top of page 1) [4] http://goo.gl/SO8DPm [5] https://goo.gl/Ti1EK5 [6] http://goo.gl/hKFRrs [7] http://goo.gl/owGMal [8] http://goo.gl/4SwXGH [9] https://goo.gl/c9doFM [10] http://goo.gl/rNbdhv [11] http://goo.gl/9vpRQb [12] http://goo.gl/argS0d [13] http://goo.gl/FfpmZA [14] http://goo.gl/2XgLMn [15] http://goo.gl/EHOxz [16] http://goo.gl/ZHgNhP

NHS children's community health services and the inpatient adolescent mental health service in Bristol & South Gloucestershire are in the process of being recommissioned. The first stage of this campaign has already been successful with the recent announcement that the interim contract to deliver community children's health services for one year during 2016/17 has been won by a partnership made up of Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) and two social enterprises, Sirona Care & Health CIC and Bristol Health CIC. The adolescent inpatient mental health unit, the Riverside Unit, will also be provided by AWP, with private company The Huntercombe Group, acting in a 'consultancy' role. However, AWP will be running the unit on a day-to-day basis and staff will be employed by AWP, so it will essentially remain within the NHS. The demand that services remain integrated has also been won, with the announcement that for the longer-term contract these services will be commissioned together by the Clinical Commissioning Groups and their partners. However, the campaign is not over yet. The next stage of the process during which the same services will be commissioned for the next 5 or 7 years from 2017 has begun. We must keep the pressure on to protect children's health services in Bristol for the long-term. And now we know it can be done! The next stage of this campaign will focus on bringing all of these services entirely back into the NHS for the long-term. We know private companies are planning to bid to run them. There should not be a role for companies who seek to make a profit or for social enterprises (many of whom operate in a similar way to private companies) in the delivery of our health services. There are two reasons why this campaign is vitally important: Firstly, children and young people in Bristol and South Gloucestershire need to get the best possible care and treatment. This means having services which are integrated and can work together, provided by people who are interested in delivering top quality care, not making maximum profit. Secondly, every time an NHS service in the UK is privatised we are a step closer to a US-style health system which would mean the end of free-at-point-of-need healthcare. The evidence is mounting that this government is not fully committed to a future publicly-owned health service. We are a group of concerned local people, including service users and NHS staff, who understand how damaging the consequences of moving these services to a private provider could be. We think the principle of 'people before profit' in the NHS is fundamental in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and the rest of the UK. Join our campaign at https://www.facebook.com/ProtectCCHP or search 'Protect CCHP' on Twitter for more information.