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. We want refugees to be welcome in rural areas too. 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

This is important because thousands of innocent people are losing their lives on the grounds of their sexuality, something they simply CANNOT change. It promotes hatred and propagates the children. Those who are gay and want to live a normal life don't have this option as a result of its prejudice and legal position.

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

To all British retailers, Just over 4 months ago I found out I was pregnant. Since that moment my life has been a roller coaster ride of emotions ranging from so-excited-I-could-burst to oh-my-god-what-are-we-doing?-this-is-absolutely-terrifying. Indeed, as a FTM or first time mum there are lots of things to get my head round. Knowing what FTM means for example, or becoming highly acquainted with the toilet bowl. There seems to be an endless list of adjustments to be made, whether it be my sleeping position or how to sneeze without causing myself pain. All of these things I hadn’t expected. I actually said to a friend that I’m convinced the reason why it’s been deemed bad luck to share your pregnancy news before you’ve completed the first trimester is because the first trimester is so bloody horrible that if non-parents were to know they’d never consider starting a family. All in all it’s been emotional. One of the biggest factors to contend with is the effect of pregnancy on your body. People talk about the pregnancy glow but I must admit I can’t say I feel bouncing when every part of my body hurts, I’m out of breath, covered in spots like a pubescent teenager and watching my body expand by the day. Like any woman I take pride in my appearance, like to keep up to date with fashion and know that when I’m not feeling my best I want to be dressed in my favourite clothes. This has been a problem. On a recent visit to the UK I was looking forward to hitting the streets of London and Manchester and getting my hands on some maternity clothes. I’ve reached the point of no return with my ‘normal’ clothes and I was looking forward to shopping in the both fashionable and affordable high street stores. Sadly I shouldn’t have bothered. After dragging my podgy ankles up and down Oxford Street I realised that it was time to make another realisation: I was now an outcast of society. All the stores I entered (bar three) told me that they no longer stocked maternity clothes in-store, instead opting to sell them online. Now I’m a big online shopper, I love it, especially living abroad but I only love it because after 30 odd years I know my size. Being pregnant I don’t. Never has there been a more important time to try clothes on because I’m still coming to terms with my ever-changing shape. Trying to explain this to various shop assistants and managers I got some sympathetic glances and suggestions to try plus size clothing but i left feeling hugely disappointed. It’s not as if I’m the only pregnant woman in the world so what has changed the attitudes of the retailers? Why is being pregnant now out of fashion? Most fashion stores now stock a variety of ranges for different body types, tall, petite, plus-size. So why has pregnancy clothing suddenly been deemed uncommercial? In the few stores I visited which did stock maternity clothes there was a very limited range (usually just a rail or two) and bizarrely these sections were located in the most inaccessible parts of the store, requiring me to climb several flights of stairs, manoeuvre through enthusiastic bargain-hunters and rifle through childrenswear before finding my one pair of over-the-bump jeans. The store whose praises i would like to sing however is H&M. In virtually all the stores I entered I found a maternity range, clearly signposted and easy to find and with a decent range of fashionable clothes at reasonable prices. Were it not for them I would probably have burst into tears a few times during my shopping trip (I’ll blame the hormones). So to all the other retailers who have, for some unbeknown reason, decided to purge their stores of maternity clothes and move them all online; I urge you to reconsider. Having children is a wonderful thing and mothers are truly awesome at dealing with pregnancy and childbirth (trust me on this one) so please, please don’t alienate young mothers and make their self esteem take yet another beating. At a time when everything is changing lets allow mothers to at least indulge in a good bit of retail therapy. Yours sincerely (and pregnant) Olivia

If equality and social mobility are regarded as important in a society, that society will provide all with equal access to the whole education system. Either education will be free, or it will be subsidised in such a way that people are not disadvantaged based on their background. Generations in the past have been screwed over by the government, but nothing like the current youth. If you’re tired of being told you are lucky to be able to afford a £200 iPhone by people who bought a house in central London for £21,000, then this campaign is for you. For most of us, if you want to be one of the people who can change the situation we’re in, you’re probably going to need a certain kind of job. And to get those kinds of jobs nowadays, you’re going to need some form of postgraduate qualification. If education isn’t affordable for all, we can never expect to live in a fair society. A lack of funding for higher-education means that the only people who are able to change our country will be the very people who want it to remain the same. To protect our democracy, this must be opposed. On 6th January 2013, the Observer printed a letter from nine UK university vice-chancellors calling for action on the 'policy vacuum' on postgraduate study. Since then, the number of students opting for postgraduate study has fallen by around 16,000 a year. This is despite the importance of postgraduate qualifications skyrocketing in that time. A Confederation of British Industry (CBI) report states that ‘anticipated changes to occupational structure mean that by 2020 nearly half of all employment will be for highly skilled roles.’ Worldwide, the number of high-level jobs that require postgraduate qualifications is growing by roughly 75% per year, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). At home, all this means less influence in our society for ordinary British people. As Gary Bell, a man from a working class background who is now a QC specialising in criminal defence, put it in the Guardian yesterday: 'The chances I had just aren't there for deprived young people today.' When Labour introduced university fees and the student loan (as opposed to the grant), Ken Livingston famously accused the Blairites of 'whipping away the ladder that they themselves had climbed.' Of the Tories' current policy, Bell added that: 'The ladder has now been not just whipped away but burned.' The Government is currently considering providing a postgraduate loan for the 2016/17 academic year. However, this loan has already been rejected by six Russell-Group Universities for the following reasons: 1. The loan will be a maximum of £10,000. This figure is lower than the costs of many postgraduate courses and will not provide living costs, even if it covers the course fees. It therefore greatly discourages lower income students - the very problem such loans should be set up to avoid. 2. The rate of repayment is set at 9% on earnings over £21,000. This is the same repayment rate as the undergraduate loans, but they will be paid CONCURRENTLY. Therefore the real figure for almost all students will be 18%. When you add income tax and national security to this, a person with a postgraduate qualification earning £24,000 will end up taking home around £12,000. This figure is only fractionally above minimum wage and, like the minimum, is not sustainable for the vast majority of people. 3. The loan is only available to people under the age of 30. Not only does this rule out the option for any professionals who desire a change of career, but it makes it even more unlikely that people will have time to apply by the time they have paid off their undergraduate loan. We’re looking for the 100,000 signatures required to force the MPs to debate this issue in The House of Commons. Our goal is to make campaigns such as this one unnecessary in future. In the meantime it's up to us to build a fairer society together. THANK YOU in advance. Please SIGN AND SHARE!

The recent scandal involving Lord Sewel has highlighted the fact that peers can claim a £300 allowance for sitting in the Upper Chamber. Surely this level of subsidy is the real scandal here!