When a girl undergoes female genital cutting, some or all of her external genitals are cut away. This can be part or all of her labia, part or all of her clitoris and part or all of her clitoral hood (the prepuce). In its most extreme form, all of her external genitals will be cut away. This often happens in very basic circumstances with rudimentary tools; it is unlikely that there will be any anaesthetic or sterile conditions and often severe and life threatening complications follow FGM. In the harshest form of FGM, the wound that is left may be sewn closed with thorns or string and only a small hole is left for menstrual blood and urine. The wound then heals over and the scar tissue “seals” her vagina. When she is married she will then have to be cut open to make sexual intercourse possible, often on her wedding night. When she goes into labour, she has to be cut open again. After this she may be re-sewn and cut open again every time she conceives and gives birth. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies FGM into four categories dependent on severity (initially there were three categories, the fourth was added later): Type I: Also known as clitoridectomy, this type consists of partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or its prepuce. Type II: Also known as excision, the clitoris and labia minora are partially or totally removed, with or without excision of the labia majora. Type III: The most severe form, it is also known as infibulation or pharaonic type. The procedure consists of narrowing the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora and/or labia majora, with or without removal of the clitoris. The appositioning of the wound edges consists of stitching or holding the cut areas together for a certain period of time (for example, girls’ legs are bound together), to create the covering seal. A small opening is left for urine and menstrual blood to escape. An infibulation must be opened either through penetrative sexual intercourse or surgery. Type IV: This type consists of all other procedures to the genitalia of women for non-medical purposes, such as pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization. The usual age for girls to be cut is between five and eight although in some communities, girls undergo FGM in their early teenage years and the procedure acts as a rite of passage into womanhood. Throughout history barbaric practices have been stopped mainly through a sustained process of education and legislation. FGM has continued because it has been a secretive and taboo subject. It is time to break the silence, educate and legislate, and eradicate FGM totally.

Societies are judged by how they take care of their most vulnerable. As you yourself, Mr Cameron, put it so very well: "...Fairness means giving money to help the poorest in society. People who are sick, who are vulnerable, the elderly - I want you to know we will always look after you. That's the sign of a civilised society and it's what I believe..." ... David Cameron 6 Oct 2010 Those in power should not be cynically trying to distract the public by attacking the weakest; the young, students, immigrants, sick, disabled and elderly. Don't expect everyone to be fooled by these tactics for too much longer. Sooner or later, they'll wake up and realise that they're next in line. Why not make our democratic society fairer by asking more from those who can afford it - those who have profited most from the shrinkage and privatisation of our national assets; the corporate companies, the bankers, CEOs and executives, the politicians with their own private health care companies, beancounters and lawyers, shareholders, the hedgefund managers, the private equity companies, PFI contractors, russian oligarchs, and other rich and thriving individuals? The lucky wealthy have grown richer by exploiting the poor and powerless, and this 'Bedroom Tax' is yet another attempt to reduce the welfare state. Meanwhile the government continues to cut, chipping away at our welfare state, disparaging worker representation through Unions, closing hospitals, schools, public housing, swimming pools, libraries, welfare benefits, ad nauseum. The rich don't need, and don't want to pay for, any of the welfare state - they just want to benefit from the rich prizes of opportunity as public services collapse, and they pick up the cherries. And, of course their wealth has grown enormously since the recession started. Despite the poor losing their homes, the wealthy continue to do very nicely "Thank you very much" on their fat salaries and fat pensions, insider / offshore dealings, their directorships, private schools, investments, private healthcare, property portfolio, gyms, golf clubs, not forgetting their offshore: bank accounts, companies, and lavish homes with untaxed spare bedrooms galore. Why are they so greedy? Why do they need my bedroom? Will they force me out of my home?

The law is a discriminatory one which relies on an individual police officer's judgement and, as such, is open to abuse. The police officer is open to criticism for misuse of the order and under 16 year old's are vulnerable to overzealous application and miss-accusations. The discriminatory nature of the order encourages the hatred and fear of young people and allows some to feel justified in discriminatory attitudes toward them. It encourages those who have suffered at the hands of badly behaved youths to believe that they are all like that and to become more afraid. It will only serve to alienate young people and make them feel that the police are there simply to control them but not to protect them. Already young people in Bangor are avoiding going out to the cinema and to after school clubs for fear of being caught in the curfew or of being beaten up by the marauding gangs that this order implies are on the loose in the city center. Bangor is a lovely historic place with much to offer young and old alike. It suffers from very little anti-social behavior apart from a very few people in limited areas and the usual after pub and club problems present in all cities. It is suffering in the downturn from an empty high street (the longest in the country) but there was no rioting in Bangor last year, the out of town JJB sports, PC World etc were not ransacked as was seen in other towns and cities across the UK, so why Bangor? There was no consultation with the public or even their elected representatives on the City Council. This is despite the ACPO guidance that there should be consultation with the effected community and a Rowntree report, which concludes that these laws have only been effective where consultation and involvement had taken place. This law is badly worded, heavy handed, discriminatory and draconian and it should be stopped now!

The age of criminal responsibility in England is one the lowest in Europe, and the statistics show that we are in danger of criminalising too many children and young people. The age of criminal responsibility needs to be reviewed in light of the standards set by the UN Convention and these international comparisons. Young children are simply not capable of the sophisticated mental reasoning required to be held fully responsible for criminal actions, and we need to take a far more "welfare based" approach in dealing with young people who commit serious crimes. Furthermore, there is concern among neuroscientists in this field that the age of criminal responsibility in the UK is unreasonably low given the emerging understanding of how slowly the brains of children mature, and the evidence of individual differences suggests that an arbitrary cut-off age may not be justifiable.

There is a NEED for this facility. This only highlights the councils need to sell off public amenities. We need to stop these changes and speak up for what is right.

Previous attempts by this and former governments to train chefs within specialized Training Centres of Excellence in the UK have consistently failed to produce the skilled chefs required to address the shortage. Closures of restaurants around the country are at an alarming rate of 3-4 per week. Heavy handed raids by UKBA and heavily imposed penalties add to the burden levied upon the restaurateurs eager to maintain and survive the current economic climate.

There is no legal requirement for the prime minister to consult MPs before taking military action, or even to inform them. In 2007, shortly after entering No 10, Gordon Brown vowed to limit the Royal Prerogative under which the prime minister can unilaterally declare war. Parliament, Brown proposed, would be guaranteed the right to approve “significant, non-routine” deployments of the armed forces to “the greatest extent possible”. But absorbed by the 2008 financial crisis and the recession that followed, the government abandoned reform. Under the recent era of international relations and modern warfare catastrophic and irreparable damages to human and other life can be caused on errors of judgement. The constitutional powers, accordingly, need to be reviewed and renewed.

Retirement-age UK citizens who migrated from commonwealth countries as children, and who have lived, worked, and paid taxes in the UK for several decades, are now having their rights as British citizens called into question. British citizens are being denied NHS treatment, evicted from council homes and denied the right to work, on the basis that they do not have the paperwork to prove their entitlement to these basic British, and fundamentally human, rights. Take the case of 63 year old Albert Thompson. He has lived and worked in London for 44 years, but was recently denied NHS treatment for cancer because he is not able to produce a British passport. He will only receive the treatment if he can produce the £54,000 needed to fund it. He arrived from Jamaica as a teenager, but the Home Office is disputing his eligibility to remain here. Last year he was evicted from his council-owned accommodation because the Home Office suddenly questioned his eligibility. According to the migration charity Praxis, they have seen a sharp rise in cases like this since records began in 2015. British citizens cannot allow this callous treatment of our friends and neighbours to continue.

This petition urges MCC to overturn the decision to allow DC/2017/00563 to go ahead and furthermore to reject the application DC/2017/00700 by DPS waste incineration. This directly affects your health and that of your family and friends. YOUR VOICE MATTERS and IT DOES COUNT. If approved Severnside air pollution WILL increase forever, with significant predictable life threatening and life changing health consequences for many, including the most vulnerable youngest members of society. Research has proven unborn babies; infants and children are most at risk from incinerator emissions. Incinerators are associated with direct causal links to all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and lung cancer, including both adult and childhood cancer. Other associated issues include: birth defects, increased respiratory issues, emotional and behavioural problems in children including autism, dyslexia, ADHD, learning difficulties, and delinquency. And, furthermore potential cell level genetic changes pose a risk to future generations. Whilst in adults: violence, dementia, depression and Parkinson’s disease are all attributable. These findings come from a wide variety of peer reviewed research and reports conducted by The World Health Organisation, British Heart Foundation, British Lung Foundation, DEFRA, Asthma UK, and many others. The latest planning application (DC2017/00700) is needed to build Chimneystacks for the operation of both the incinerator unit and storage units for the waste both pre and post incineration. The planned chimneystacks are out of keeping with surrounding local village architecture and may potentially contravene NPPF guidelines. Equally the granting of this application may contravene The Future Generations Act 2015 and this must be considered in any decision made. No one can guarantee that waste incineration is totally safe for public health. The toxic emissions and particulate pollution have to go somewhere. It is enshrined in EC and UK legislation that reducing emissions produces true health benefits, reduces the burden on healthcare, and protects against the impacts of acid air, and its effect on water including local and wide ranging ecosystems and the food chain. . Research has demonstrated that the hazards of incineration are greater than previously realised especially relating to fine and ultra fine particulates. Operating waste incinerators in urban areas results in dangerous health and environmental consequences from both construction and operation. The proposed site is adjacent to a community Greenfield site (The Cornfield project), used daily by dog walkers as well as families using the numerous picnic areas contained within it. Caldicot Castle and Country Park are within ½ mile, which is also used for food festivals and outdoor concerts exposing even more people to potential harm. In the village there is an infant/junior school whilst a newly built comprehensive lies within two miles. Furthermore there is already one housing development locally of 212 houses and a proposed development of 285 houses and dementia care facility to be built virtually opposite this facility. Residents of Severnside have the human right to clean air and their health protected. Transport of the Waste to the plant causes another issue, with huge diesel lorries coming and going from Bristol to the property throughout the day passing both the country park, new development and dementia care facility on the Crick Road site in Portskewett. The company will be self regulated meaning they would be responsible for reporting their own breaches. In other self-regulatory plants it has been reported there have been over 1000 breaches recorded. And whilst it is implied the emissions from the plant “Will not harm the health of residents”, what safeguards are there for more vulnerable groups, including those with asthma, COPD and youngsters whose lung development can be stunted by pollution This plant may potentially release a cocktail of particulate matter, chemicals, metals, dioxins and furans - the most toxic chemicals known to science. The major source of dioxins & furans in the environment come from burning waste! Experts have warned these are all a major cause of cancers, birth defects, breathing difficulties and heart disease. These poisons will fall over a wide area around Severnside and beyond, wherever the winds take it. We urge MCC to disallow planning for the proposed stacks and to overturn its original decision (DC/2017/00563) to allow the site to be used for incineration. Sign this petition. Save our future generations by saying no to incineration.

Homelessness is an issue that can affect any one of us. It is getting worse and more needs to be done both nationally and locally. However, people living on the streets deserve to be treated with compassion, understanding and empathy and they most certainly DO NOT deserve to be demonised, vilified, persecuted or mistreated.

An offer was recently made to MPs to vote on whether to accept the deal that is negotiated, or to leave without one. But there is a third option, which is to say no to both, and to stay in Europe. The original public debate on whether to leave Europe was full of misinformation and promises that have no prospect of being kept. As time moves on, it is becoming increasingly evident that the damage to the UK economy is significant, and is forecast to get even worse. In view of this stark reality the terms on which the UK will be obliged to quit Europe should be put to the nation as a whole, and not left to politicians alone.

A Wiltshire wide concessionary fares scheme should be considered by Wiltshire Council. Many of these young people are in full time education and have no access to there own transport. And in many cases if there is public transport the price is beyond there reach.