For people in one of the wealthiest societies that has ever existed to be sleeping in the open in winter is inhumane. It's also inexcusable when we have so many empty buildings.

The new UK passport design supposedly celebrates the British 'cultural pantheon' but in 16 pages features only 2 women, despite finding plenty of space for men, as well as everyday objects such as the postage stamp and telephone box. British history contains countless inspirational women such as Jane Austen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Charlotte Bronte, Barbara Hepworth, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Laura Ashley, Boudicca, Queen Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Fry, Florence Nightingale, Mary Wollstonecraft, Marie Stopes, Agatha Christie , Beatrix Potter, Maggie Smith and Amy Winehouse - and many, many more besides! It is wrong that in 2015 men and women do not have equal representation on this important document - a document that will be in the hands of every man, woman and child for years to come. We are constantly hearing about how we must encourage women and girls to become engineers, doctors, company directors and much much more, but this sends the message to our women and girls that their contribution to society does not count. Is the contribution of inspirational women such as Emmeline Pankhurst or Jane Austen really not as important or interesting as a postage stamp or telephone box?

Andrew and Claire Stoddart have been farming in East Lothian for 22 years. During this time they have invested heavily in infrastructure and buildings on their farm at Colstoun Mains, creating a profitable and well-managed business. The Stoddart family are an integral part of the community. Andrew and Claire are well liked, and their 3 children go to the local school, as do the 4 children of their employees. The Stoddarts have been asked to leave the farm by the end of November. Once evicted, the Stoddart family will be forced to move from the local area, laying off their two employees, and taking their children away from school and friends. They are to be given very little recompense for the investments they have made over their lifetime, leaving them both homeless and unable to buy a farm elsewhere. I urge you all to show your support by signing this petition to ask the Scottish Government to intervene and stop the forced eviction of the Stoddart family. I address this petition to Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, and Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian. Some of the issues around this eviction are highlighted in the channel 4 news item below. You can see what Andrew Stoddart has to say at 6:33 minutes. https://youtu.be/E-6DzKzmFtA Thank you for your support.

Rob Lawrie is facing a jail sentence after attempting to reunite four-year old Bahar, who is living in the refugee camp in Calais, with her family in Yorkshire. He tried to take Bahar to relatives in Leeds after her father pleaded with him to do so, but was caught and arrested at the French border. The current refugee crisis has affected millions of people and by showing solidarity by helping those in The Jungle, Calais, Rob's life has been changed forever. Knowing that a four year old girl could be reunited with her family just 20 miles from where he lives, where she could be warm, fed and safe meant he took drastic action. Rob shouldn't be treated as a criminal, but as an ordinary man who trying to do the right thing in extraordinary circumstances.

The conflict in Syria has resulted in the greatest humanitarian crisis in a generation. It has led to millions of displaced people living outside the borders of the country, including appallingly high numbers of children. The figures are truly shocking: More than 4,000,000 refugees from Syria (95% of the total) are in just five countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt (Amnesty International September 2015). This influx is having a devastating impact on these countries (UNHCR 2013). Around 220,000 people have been killed and 12.8 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria. More than 50% of Syria’s population is currently displaced. In total, 104,410 resettlement places have been offered globally since the start of the Syria crisis, which equates to a mere 2.6% of the total population of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey (Amnesty 2015). 1,168,996 children were living as refugees outside Syria in 2013, the figure is likely to be far higher now. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has said: “Syria has become the great tragedy of this century – a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history.” When history looks back on what we did to assuage this terrible crisis, let's show Britain as a compassionate nation that doesn't sit back and watch a tragedy unfold, but one that holds out its arms and shares its resources with the Syrian people.

Since the refugee crisis in Europe began the people of the UK have united in a sterling effort to provide aid in the form of clothing, shelter, food and heat. These donations come from their own pockets, bank accounts and a deep sense of personal duty. There are somethings however that the everyday person cannot provide in sufficient amounts and this includes basic medicine. GSK and Astrazeneca are respectively the world's sixth and seventh largest pharmaceutical companies measured by 2014 market share: Last year Astrazeneca announced profits of $26.6 BILLION, an profit increase of 32% on 2013 and the GSK annual report 2014 announced profits of £23.0 BILLION, placing them in the top 2% of pharmaceutical companies world wide according to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. These types of profits mean that GSK and Astrazeneca are in a privileged position to give something back to the very people who have funded their operations for so long. This is our message: To Sir Witty and Mr Soriot, I ask you - how much is a life worth to GSK & Astrazeneca? Will you help ensure the survival of refugees of war? Will you stand with the people who have purchased your products and funded your empires or will you put profit before people? We know you can help - you have the resources and the means to ensure that basic medical care, such as antibiotics, pain relief, basic first-aid, cold and flu treatments can be delivered where they are needed most. If the people of the UK, where the average salary is £26,500 (down £164 since 2012) can sacrifice their time, goods, money and expertise to do the right thing, then is it really too much to ask for a multi-billion pound corporation, who profit from sickness and death, to dedicate just a tiny portion of its profits towards providing basic lifesaving necessities to those who have escaped oppression, torture , murder and rape only to succumb to colds, flu and hypothermia? According to my calculations (in my life, I deal in hundreds not billions so please correct me if I am wrong!) but just 0.12% of £26 BILLION is approximately £32.5 MILLION, a figure that would go a long way to providing basic health care - even more so if they would provide the equivalent in the required medical goods to be administered by the small army of healthcare providers and medical volunteers in camps across Europe. These are unthinkable figures for the average person;, and there are many who oppose big pharma for just this reason. However, this tragic situation provides both GSK and Astrazeneca with an opportunity to show their humanity and demonstrate the same values and common decency as those who are providing aid, fundraising and standing in the muddy rain drenched camps wondering how long the medicine will last now the winter is coming. If you truly value life as your corporate mandate should dictate we urge you to prove it. Help us to help them. We have trusted you with our lives, now we, are entrusting you with theirs. Please don't let us down. Sources: http://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/featurethe-top-10-biggest-pharmaceutical-companies-of-2014-4396561/ https://www.gsk.com/media/603031/annual-report-2014.pdf https://www.astrazeneca.com/our-company/investor-relations.html http://www.icalculator.info/news/UK_average_earnings_2014.html

The treatment of the children in this way contravenes article 37 of the United Nations charter for children. This treatment will result in long term physical, psychological and emotional damage to the children. It is not how a westernised nation should behave. Read more here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugee-crisis-orphans-locked-up-in-medieval-prisons-alongside-adult-criminals-on-greek-island-of-a6694521.html

It is important so that our daughters know that when they study, work-hard and contribute to society in the same way as their male counter-parts, they are not penalised for the sex they happen to be. In today's, modern, inclusive society where anti-discriminatory practice is common-place, we believe it is the Conservative Governments duty to implement equality of pay, regardless of sex. The gender pay gap currently resides at 10%, meaning men earn 10% more just for being men. How can we hope to encourage more women into Government and the boardrooms of the country when the pay gap exists on top of the many other barriers to success women may face? Sign our petition to give women true equality in the work-place.

Because the child should not have been given up for adoption until they had been tried.It's disgusting that the social services can give away a 6 week old baby before it has been confirmed by a judge and jury has heard all the evidence on one persons view no way should this be allowed we must stand behind these parents for the sake of future mistakes

Jeremy Corbyn's political enemies are seeking to undermine his position as Labour Leader and have chosen nuclear weapons as their attack platform. We must not allow them to get away with it. Some helpful advice from a supporter - a great way to get this petition circulating widely is to share on comments on relevant online newspaper articles! For those of you that have the time .... Facebook 'misbehaviour'. A number of supporters have reported that Facebook is not sharing this petition. I have tried to do it myself and failed with a very unusual message. The petition has also 'dropped off' The Ecologist's timeline. I have now re-posted on Facebook with a perma-URL of https://www.facebook.com/TheEcologist/posts/10152959345741618 . You should be able to share from there. Either that or just copy the petition URL in the browser bar to your timeline.

Hundreds of children and young people with autism/learning disabilities and mental health problems across the uk are being shipped miles away from their families because there are no provisions in their own locality. As Norman Lamb said " we wouldn't ship a child hundreds of miles away for a broken leg, why are we doing to children with mental health problems." This has disastrous consequences for not only the child, but their loved ones. Often families find it financially difficult to travel, emotionally draining having to listen to their loved one heartbroken in an unfamiliar environment 100s of miles from home, their condition often deteriorates leaving their recovery period much longer and more painful, children are often drugged and restrained as a means of treatments (control) This barbaric treatment has to stop, children should be in their own locality and received the necessary treatment they need surrounded by their family. If no such provision is available then bespoke placements should be built around the home locality of that child and specialist experts in their condition be available. Children and young people have a voice and should be heard, they should be listened to and every effort made to adhere to their wishes and feelings and not ignored and dismissed as the NHS says EVERY CHILD MATTERS!!!!

This petition is highly important to myself and my family, our friends and the local community. This is because on 6th September 2015 my cousin Jarrad Joseph Grainger took his own life, he was only 21 years old. I am starting this petition on behalf of my auntie Nadine West - Jarrad's mother. We are wanting to stop this from happening to more people as this is an all to common occurrence these days. We need help in reinstating 24/7 care for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Kingston upon Hull. Vulnerable patients do often need 24/7 care and sometimes need to stay in units for anywhere between a few days and months at a time, the closest unit to Hull is approximately 42 miles away meaning that when children/adolescents need to stay in the units they are kept many miles away from their families making it hard for them to visit making them feel even more isolated. We need to improve the care that Hull and East Yorkshire currently has to make it ALOT better than it is, patients need better care and for it to be more accessible. People searching for help who contact these Charities are often left for days or weeks without a reply to the shout for help, we need to change this urgently! The stigma surrounding Mental Health and Illness needs stopping, we need to raise more awareness about this to give people a better understanding, the more people that know about Mental Health/Illness the better chance we have at helping those in need. We couldn't help Jarrad and we lost him, we were too late. So we will do this in his memory, we will help those we still can. We will improve the services in Hull and East Yorkshire and we will prevent people deteriorating from Mental Health/Illness and we will save them. Jarrad Joseph Grainger, Forever Young - this is for you xx