The cost of this wall is a devastating £17 million. This money would be far better spent on addressing the issues facing the desperate people you are trying to stop. Local residents in Calais are against the wall. The Road Haulage Association has said it is not a good use of taxpayers' money. A representative from Auberge des Migrants, an aid group working in Calais has said that building a wall will not achieve what it sets out to do anyway: people will still find a way round it but it will be more dangerous and possibly cause an increase in the price charged by people traffickers.

They are already using enough equipment to apprehend and pacify offenders.It is very worrying that the met police are going to use this in custody suites where there are no independent witnesses. Police officers are not in a position to establish whether an individual is in a satisfactory medical condition to carry out this forceful and highly stressful action.

These are barbaric devices are simply aimed at humiliating people. Regardless of what someone has been arrested for they should not be subjected to this level of humiliation. This is a link to a video showing how the Police used one of these masks on a young black lad. The use of these masks is absolutely disgusting and if it is allowed to continue who knows where such practices will end up? http://www.thecanary.co/2016/09/06/met-police-adds-new-weapon-collection-controversial-wont-use-public/

While the French government threatens its destruction a blockade has been launched of the The Calais ‘jungle’ refugee camp. Last week’s visit to Calais by the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve could herald the end for the camp. Now this threat has been amplified by the launching of a blockade of the camp by local businesses, police, truck drivers, dockers and farmers. The blockade is backed by the Mayor of Calais, who is a member of the fascist Front National. The camp is ‘home’ to some 9,000 people, around 800 of them are children, 700 unaccompanied, according to the latest census by Help Refugees. We are year on from the death of Alan Kurdi, the boy found drowned on a beach in Greece, that shocked the world. But things are getting worse. Last week thousands of refugees were rescued from the Mediterranean Sea as they attempted to get to Europe. Now the Calais camp is facing destruction. The British and French governments are failing in their duty of care towards the refugees, victims of war, poverty and oppression. After years of statements scapegoating the refugees by the British and French governments, along with the right wing press, it is no surprise that people draw the mistaken conclusion that the refugees are a problem they have to deal with. We oppose the planned destruction of the Calais camp and the blockade that has been initiated.

In 2014, Public Health England published their final version of a health report on fracking. The report was narrow in its contents and missed out some significant health evidence that indicated hydraulic fracturing impacted upon public health. Since that report, hundreds of other health reports have been published with critical evidence that now needs to be taken into account before any shale activity should proceed within the UK. Medact have released two reports into public health and fracking, both of which have been ignored by the Conservative government. Medact said they have “called for a moratorium on fracking because of the serious risks it poses to public health. Fracking has already been suspended in Wales and Scotland because of health and climate risks and New York State has banned fracking because of the ‘significant health risks’. “The [Medact] report highlights the limitations of Public Health England’s report on fracking, including the fact that it was narrow in scope and failed to critically assess the adequacy and reliability of the regulatory system. “Working with various experts in energy policy and climate change, Medact’s report also describes how shale gas produces a level of GHG emissions that is incompatible with the UK’s commitments to address climate change.” A letter published in the British Medical Journal stated: “The arguments against fracking on public health and ecological grounds are overwhelming. There are clear grounds for adopting the precautionary principle and prohibiting fracking.” This letter was signed by 18 academic and medical professionals. In Lancashire it was left to the county council’s own director of public health to assess health impact. He advised that there was no regulatory system in place, in that health outcomes are not part of the regulatory bodies’ agenda. He could provide no assurance of baseline or any ongoing monitoring of health. More recently, an important study has been released by Johns Hopkins University linking fracking to an exacerbation of asthma. Public Health England’s mission is: "to protect and improve the nation’s health and to address inequalities" If Public Health England is to fulfil their public duty and mission statement, then to not acknowledge and act upon the wealth of contraindications towards hydraulic fracturing, they could be in breach of their position and may face a legal challenge. A full and concise article by Alan Tootill, with references on this subject, can be found here: http://www.frackingdigest.co.uk/health.htm

Community Hospitals provide health and medical services such as minor injuries departments and hospital beds for those well enough to be released from General Hospitals but still too sick to return to their own homes. These hospitals act as intermediaries, providing care for some of the most vulnerable people in south devon in particular the old and infirm. In particular patients who would have used Ashburton & Buckfastleigh Community Hospital will be put into Totnes Community Hospital instead. This is farther from home, there is no public transport links, and therefore will only cost more money to non-emergency patient transport services. Beds in community hospitals mean General Hospitals are able to move recovering patients enabling them to treat more critical patients. Losing these beds will only serve to bed block General Hospitals, such as Torbay, leading to poorer service. When it comes to Medical treatment this can be the difference in providing outstanding care (saving lives), or being prevented from treating the sick or injured (resulting in preventable deaths and suffering).

To allow the safe passage of innocent men, women and children out of Aleppo, cease the slaughter of innocent civilians and medical staff and allow crucial supplies to these beleaguered people. There are over 60 million refugees globally, people displaced by war and under constant and brutal attack. In my trips to the Jungle in Calais ( France) I met and heard some of the harrowing stories of many innocent and decent people and marvelled at some incredible feats of bravery. All of these stories affected me deeply, especially those concerning the children - hundreds of unaccompanied minors. We all deserve the right to a safe home. The number of displaced and traumatised individuals worldwide is a disgrace and Aleppo is rapidly adding to an already unmanageable crisis. I like many millions of others, want this to stop.

Air strikes are indiscriminate and deadly. They kill and maim en mass and are based on so called 'intelligence'. The current viral circulation of little Omran Daqneesh dusty and bloodied in an ambulance has once again gripped the world. But what of little Aylan in Sept. 2015? He drowned trying to escape the horrendous conflict in Syria that have killed well in excess of 300,000 people and displaced millions more. What of the M10 hospital bombing in early August? These viral stories are swiftly forgotten by our media but must not be allowed. Please sign and force this issue to be discussed once more in parliament.

David Cameron announced we’ll welcome 20,000 more Syrian refugees. But there’s a catch. This will take 5 years, leaving thousands of refugees in limbo. It’s now up to us to show that in cities, towns and villages all across the country we’re ready to welcome people now. 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.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

Haringey has the expertise and resource available to provide a good home for many more than four families. It only remains for the Council leadership to submit a request to the Home Office. Why have they refused to do so? The VPR scheme was established by central Government in 2014, and in September 2015 David Cameron promised to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees during the lifetime of the current parliament. The refugees are currently in UNHCR camps in countries neighbouring Syria, and have particular vulnerabilities such as disabilities, or having survived torture, which mean they cannot safely stay in the camp environment. Each refugee is funded to a total of £20,000 over five years, which is channelled through the local authority to pay for the costs of resettlement. So, a family of five would be funded to a total of £100,000. Four such families would be funded to a total of £400,000. These funds are already available to provide important wrap around care and support to refugees arriving through the VPR scheme. Resettling refugees through the VPR scheme would give them the opportunity for a new start. But Cllr Kober and Haringey Council are still refusing to resettle even a small token number of refugees. They claim that central Government funding is inadequate and that they must wait until negotiations via the GLA are concluded. We agree that central Government’s role in dealing with the refugee crisis has been wholly inadequate, but there are funds available now. Eleven other London authorities – including Camden, Islington, Barnet, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, and Kingston – have started resettlements. We do not agree with using vulnerable refugees as political bargaining chips in negotiations. We must provide support for all those we can, right now. We call on Cllr Kober to take action immediately to bring this about. Four families by Christmas! Please sign the petition if you agree. Further information: https://refugeeswelcomeharingey.wordpress.com By signing this petition your details may be placed in the public domain (e.g. they may be published on the Council’s website).

We currently face a problematic situation where there is a schism between the laws that protect patients within the NHS and those that relate to private healthcare when an injury is sustained by a patient due to negligent treatment. Private healthcare patients are commonly led to believe that the care they are paying for will exceed the highest standards offered by the NHS, and assume that the claims made in company mission statements, advertising literature and company accounts have to be correct and true by law. Unfortunately, this is not so. In cases where patients are treated wrongfully or negligently private healthcare patients currently have less access to adequate redress and compensation than NHS patients. This is partly because liability insurance for surgeons in the private sector is discretionary rather than mandatory meaning that cover can be withdrawn – even retrospectively – leaving patients without the possibility of compensation. The petitioners therefore ask Parliament to legislate to require all private healthcare providers/companies/institutions to have liability insurance covering compensation for negligence in the work of their employees and of freelance healthcare professionals working on their behalf or practising on their premises. Furthermore, private healthcare providers/companies/institutions should be obligated to ensure that the surgeons they provide to perform procedures are not only correctly qualified and competent, but also not under investigation, suspension or other disciplinary action from other private healthcare providers/companies/institutions or NHS authorities. At present legislation is insufficient, allowing one private healthcare company to permit their legal representatives to write in a legal defence document that they were ‘under no obligation to provide competent surgeons to perform surgery at the hospital’ and had ‘no duty to protect patients from harm, and risk of injury’. The Petitioners would like to add that legislation should be put in place to ensure that no surgeon under disciplinary procedures can work anywhere in the UK (NHS or private sector) until the issues for which they are being investigated are properly and completely resolved to the satisfaction of the GMC, the patient(s) and in the case of fatalities the patients' families. We ask Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt and the Department of Health to close the legal loophole which allows for private healthcare patients to be left without protection or redress when things go wrong. With an increasing role played by private healthcare companies fulfilling NHS contracts we must put public safety first and ensure that private healthcare companies are obligated to provide clinical excellence for all their patients, to be transparent in their investigation of complaints and to provide proper protection and redress if things go wrong. We must not allow negligent practice to run rife in the private sector, and we cannot allow ruthless profiteering without responsibility to permeate our NHS.

Imagine the nuclear bombs in our country went off, leaving our nation a wasteland and we had to flee to mainland Europe or Africa, should they turn us away because we're refugees? Because we're of another faith or skin colour? Would other nations letting us die be okay? Chances are you said, no, so how is it okay for us to let thousands of people die every day trying to escape war. War that we created. They're trying to escape the IS, they're trying to escape the bombs that France, America and We drop on them. We need to do more. These are human beings and we are letting them die.