It is obscene that foreign investors can buy up and leave unoccupied these properties whilst in this country there is a dire affordable housing shortage. It is a sad indictment of our society, and in particular of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, that this state of affairs is allowed to exist.

We would like to see a people parking bay or parklet in every street in Hackney. The provision of official parklets by Hackney Council in three locations in Hackney in three years is welcome and we recognise Hackney is ahead of the curve in London. However, it will take a millennium to have a significant impact on the parking environment in Hackney. Therefore, we would like to work with the Council to develop a community and business led 'parklet' programme that will allow people and businesses to invest in the public realm. This experimental community parklet allows the gauging of public support for such an idea. Please do let the experiment run its course. The bay is very popular with residents and passers by. The visitor book has hundreds of positive comments: https://goo.gl/photos/gUA8bbtaMamuCcUC8 Walking is the most common way for people to get around in Hackney but while car parking dominates kerbside space there is little provision for pedestrians to rest. Many people, including older and disabled people, and people with kids need regular rest stops while walking, and pavements are too narrow for walking let alone placing benches on them. The popularity of this people parking bay is demonstrating that resting spots for pedestrians are likely to very popular. The people parking bay was a lead article in Local Transport Today. https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/parking-review/news/53699/hackney-resident-wants-to-convert-parking-bays-into-people-places www.peopleparkingbay.com

Grenfell Tower was built in 1974 by Kensington and Chelsea which remains one of the richest boroughs in London. The tower block was refurbished last year; part of the refurbishment involved exterior cladding and additional flats. The tenants made it known that the refurbished building was a fire hazard; their complaints ignored. On Wednesday 14 June 2017 the tenants of Grenfell Tower paid with their lives when a flat caught a light as a result of a faulty fridge. People lost their lives for no good reason. Mothers threw their children out of the window in order to save them whilst they perished. We cannot as a civilised society put profit before human lives. We cannot treat people who are poor as less than equal because they are poor. We want to ensure that fire safety checks, risk assessments and fire safety training is immediately returned to the Fire Brigade. Firemen have integrity. They are responsible and better equipped to deal with the prevention and detection of fires. It is logical that those responsible for saving lives should do the relevant checks to make sure buildings are safe; not independent third parties for a profit. We have seen first-hand the results of a complete failure to have the fire brigade carry out risk assessments, so please return this important function back to the fire brigade and restore their numbers to the correct levels so that they can do their job; which is to keep us the public safe.

My nan has lived on the 12th floor of a Shepherd's Bush Tower block for 40 years. She is 77, if a fire broke out in the flats on her floor or higher she couldn't be reached. She walks with a walker and wouldn't make it down the stairs. Who would save her ??? In light of the Grenfell Fire it's now More important than ever. The firefighters did an Amazing Job but they didn't have the resources to reach the top. This isn't their fault it's due to cuts, those victims had to wait for a crane from Surrey!

There is much evidence that "the political decision to appoint inquiries into public crises is strongly influenced by short-term blame avoidance considerations, media salience and government popularity." (Reflection in the Shadow of Blame: When Do Politicians Appoint Commissions of Inquiry? - The British Journal of Political Science, Volume 40, Issue 3 July 2010, pp. 613-634). An event such as the Grenfell Tower fire, with its clear implications of Government Minister involvement and possible culpability, requires an inquest which is truly independent from government; not set up and controlled by government. The right to life under Article 2 of the Human Rights Act requires that an effective and proper investigation be carried out into all deaths caused by the state. In particular the right requires that such an investigation must be: * Independent; * Effective; * Prompt; * Open to public scrutiny; and* * Support the participation of the next-of-kin. It is clear from historical evidence that public inquiries do not achieve these requirements. Since the appointment of a public inquiry is typically made by government ministers, events that involve allegations of blame on the part of the relevant minister are less likely to be investigated by a public inquiry

It's a damning indictment of our society that people are afraid to accept help because of draconian, ideological restrictions on social housing. People MUST be treated with dignity.

In February 2017 after months of negotiations trying to avoid compulsory redundancies triggered by deep budget cuts, EHRC management sent e-mails to 8 workers work addresses informing them they were being made redundant whilst they were taking part in a lawful one day protest strike. The EHRC still has over 47 equivalent vacancies these displaced workers could easily fill, but has so far refused to do so. What is so shocking is this employer also happens to be the UK's UN recognised guardian of our Human Rights! With Brexit uncertainty and challenges to Human Rights law being suggested, we need a strengthened fully resourced EHRC to defend the most vulnerable from discrimination and attack.

In light of the British electorate's response to The Government's request for a mandate to pursue what has been termed a 'hard Brexit' approach to leaving the EU I believe that the Government should now respect the will of the people for a 'softer Brexit'. In order to demonstrate that commitment I petition The Government to include a clause in The Queen's speech to guarantee to the British people that the UK will remain within the single market as part of the terms of withdrawal from the EU.

Currently same sex marriage is not allowed in Northern Ireland. This is because, despite laws being passed in the UK that grant same-sex marriages, the Northern Irish assembly (because of the now infamous DUP) has blocked any such proposal there. This means that LGBT UK citizens are being treated as 2nd class citizens in a part of the UK, we need to address this quickly and with certainty, as this is intolerable. It will also have further reaching consequences as a change in law in Northern Ireland will strengthen our position when campaigning with other countries when they deny their citizens equal LGBT rights.

In the aftermath of the recent Manchester bombing and the London Bridge atrocity, The Daily Mail published a front page headline and a 13 page campaign against Jeremy Corbyn's inner circle and The Sun newspaper simultaneously published a libellous front page article entitled "Jezza's Jihadi Comrades", one day before polling stations opened for the General Election. These actions had the clear aim of influencing public opinion to believe there was a link between Jeremy Corbyn and Jihadism. These actions are highly inflammatory as they prey on a heightened state of public fear against Islam as well as potentially undermining the UK election campaign as a whole. We call on The Daily Mail and The Sun to issue an immediate public apology to Jeremy Corbyn.

MITIE Group PLC is the UK's single largest provider of immigration detention centers. Inspections have severely criticised these facilities for detaining people for 'unreasonably long' periods (even when medical and mental health professionals have recommended their release) in 'desolate' and insanitary conditions. Other exploitative practices include the use of inmates to perform essential maintenance work, with payment of only £1 an hour, while incidents of serious self-harm quadrupled in 2 years at one immigration detention centers operated by MITIE. Durham University has a long and proud record of respect for human rights and social justice, a record that is being tarnished by our association with immoral companies like MITIE. Working with these firms is an embarrassment to the student body and the university as a whole, this is why we are calling VC Stuart Corbridge's administration to cease all relations with MITIE (firstly by not renewing their current £5 million contract, due for renewal this year) and to look into updating the University's procurement policy to include more human rights requirements.

Cae is a valued member of our community and has contributed a great deal to Bentley House Estate and supported many of its tenants/leaseholders over the last 20 years. City South Housing Assocation, now part of One Manchester, describes its purpose as: Creating opportunities · Transforming communities · Changing lives · Providing quality homes · Ambitious · Connected · Trustworthy A recent move by the company unfortunately calls most of these into question - apart from “changing lives”. Making a long term resident homeless and destitute would certainly be life-changing for him. Please follow the link below to the video of Cae explaining his desperate situation. Please don't delay! Watch the video today. We've got 11 days to challenge this decision to save Cae's home and future livelihood. We urge you to take 10 minutes to watch this. We are running out of time to help Cae get justice! https://youtu.be/9rwlO9DzDvk