On Monday David Cameron announced we’ll welcome 20,000 more Syrian refugees. But there’s a catch. This will happen over the next 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 Hackney, 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

Scotland has the most concentrated land ownership in the developed world. Just 432 people own half of the private land. Land prices are far too high - this is why rents are extortionate, and why young people are leaving when they can't even get a scrap of land for housing. For Scotland to flourish and every community to have a say over their resources and their future, we need a strong land reform bill that really tackles all these issues. We're up against a wealthy landowning lobby who want to water down the Scottish government's proposals - so we must make our voice heard! Tell your MSPs to back the five demands of the #OurLand campaign and make sure we get a bill that can change Scotland for the better. The Our Land Campaign was set up by Common Weal, Women for Independence, the Scottish Land Action Movement and campaigners Andy Wightman and Lesley Riddoch to highlight the way unavailable and unaffordable land blights development in the countryside and cities.

We owe them a great debt of gratitude for helping the British Forces I translating. They and their families are being murdered by the Taliban They are risking their lives escaping and having to hang around Calais trying to get to Great Britain. It is a disgrace and the powers that are preventing them seeking refuge in the UK should hang their heads in shame

There are millions of families fleeing terror and destruction across the globe and grass roots communities must reach out and offer them asylum even if the Government won't.

Thousands of migrants are dying and risking their lives trying to reach Europe daily. Many governments and people are closing their eyes to the problem, and are afraid of the consequences of taking progressive and positive action. This surely can't be the answer. The national press rarely provides details of individual stories of migrants - no names, no faces. The de-humanisation of whole families who may have faced torture or starvation is happening right in front of us, and still their stories are presented simply as deaths, arrests or statistics by the media. After days or weeks of journeying, and with their worldly possessions totalling what little they can carry, it is shameful that these people should be turned away from countries where so many possess second TV sets and cars. After sending an email request to York City staff member and Assistant Director for Communities and Culture Charlie Croft, who is apparently the relevant councillor on refugee issues, asking him to consider ways of helping those seeking asylum, he stated that York was not a designated dispersal area to receive refugees but that York houses refugees who come from these dispersal areas if they have leave to remain. Clearly he did not intend to be proactive. I hope this petition will encourage York City Council to commit to devising the infrastructure to help a set number of those seeking asylum. I remember a UK that successfully received refugees from the Balkans in the 1990s and before that from Vietnam. We have the skills and experience and we have the people and organisations who will support this. Please write to York City Council to put the pressure on and ask to share our wealth and give people a new future.

In 2011 the management of National Museums Scotland broke an existing ACAS agreement and arbitrarily and unilaterally imposed a two-tier wage structure upon its lowest-paid workers (principally Cleaners, Visitor Services Assistants, Housemen, Security) without consultation or negotiation with the recognised Trade Unions. Staff employed since 1st January 2011 are on reduced terms and conditions without a weekend working allowance which is paid to compensate for having to work anti-social hours. Many of this lowest paid group only get one full weekend off once every seven weeks, which has a detrimental impact on family and social life. The consequence is that low-paid workers on the same shifts, doing the same work, are being paid up to £3,000 less than their colleagues. These workers make the National Museums Scotland the top rate attraction it is, and it is only fair that they get paid properly for their hard work. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation states that those earning under £17,100 a year are being paid a Poverty Wage, and many of our members earn well below that. Senior Scottish Politicians, in opposition against Westminster, have recently been calling for recognition of weekend working payments for those who give up valuable family and social time. These payments make up a large part of low-paid workers’ take home pay. PCS totally agree with safeguarding weekend working rights, and believe that if it is good enough for other workers, then National Museums Scotland staff deserve this too. Both Museum management and the Scottish Government need to embrace the principle of recompensing weekend work and accept PCS proposals to settle this long- running dispute. We do not believe that low-paid culture workers deserve to suffer at the hands of austerity, especially when heritage and culture contribute so much to the Scottish economy. The Museum’s own figures show that it contributes £65million to the economy. PCS Members at the National Museums of Scotland have been taking part in discontinuous strike action for over 2 years. Despite repeated requests to come to a negotiated settlement with management, this has not happened.

The war in Syria has been going on too long and too many innocent people have been killed and are still being killed each and every day, and it is us who are killing them. Allowing our government to send RAF planes to drop bombs on innocent people is nauseating. Why are we involved? do we think this is helping the people of Syria? If we want to help the people of Syria, then allow more asylum seekers into the UK, that would be helping. How can you think it is right to bomb a country to smithereens , kill its people and then say no to allowing them a safe haven when they reach our shores. What hypocrisy! So far the 250,000 people who have been killed and maimed up to four times that number, according to the UN’s most senior humanitarian official, about 12,000 of that are Children We should not be apart of this war, and should stop all bombing of the innocent men, women and children. Please sign the petition to ask the government to cease fire on Syria now

This important to restore justice and honesty in to British politics. _________________________________________________________________________ This petition has been started by a member of public and not 38 Degrees. If there's a campaign that you'd like to run why not start your own petition here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petition/new

7 decades have lapsed since the issue of self determination for the Kashmiri people was raised, a plebiscite was promised by the then Indian PM Nehru but wasn't honoured. We call on the British PM to raise this issue so that the Indian government scales down military presence in the disputed region, stops human rights abuses and investigates the cases of abuse pending

Disabled customers should not have to justify their disability to bored customer care staff in a supermarket. Having to produce proof of a disability (as the blue badge will have been left on display in their vehicle) is undignified and demeaning. Having to divulge sensitive and personal information in a public area of a supermarket is unfair and unjust. Forcing customers to struggle back through a shop to the customer care desk in order to avoid being fined when they are wheelchair bound, struggle to walk or are in pain is a disgraceful way to treat a customer. Refusing to accept the validity of a blue badge becuase they are not on a supermarkets database is highly unfair and quite possibly illegal.

We already have laws in place intended to protect mainly ethnic minorities within society at large, while other often-disadvantaged groups of people can take comfort in there being rules by which prospective employers must abide. The question of gender equality and the LGBT movement also continue to be major talking points, as campaigns such as those seen on this very site and others enjoy increasing momentum. However, one thing that does appear not to have penetrated the public consciousness - quite the opposite - is the situation pertaining to, in particular, many unemployed and disabled people, beyond merely the legislation being passed. Compounding the present climate of savage spending cuts, workplace ambivalence to rights and key government departments' cruel dehumanisation of their core services' users, is the growing groundswell of opinion - perpetuated by small-scale local news sources [1] and internationally-renowned public service broadcasters [2] alike, alongside everything in-between [3] - whereby anyone out of work or known to be claiming any sort of social security is instantly not only marginalised, but in fact openly vilified [4], and blamed for all manner of perceived problems blighting the country. Some writers even set up websites for the sole purpose of baiting those on welfare. [5] Worse still, the overriding premise around which the whole hysteria was intended to revolve, thanks to the 'free' British media, is a purely sensationalist, propaganda-fuelled one that ultimately rings hollow when scrutinised on the grounds of accuracy. [6] From domestic charities [7] to medal-winning athletes [8], bloggers [9] to the research teams of esteemed Universities [10] the length and breadth of the country [11], online publications [12] and even some mainstream news outlets [13], the message is clear: this is irresponsible, vindictive journalism. Of course, even in light of the recent revelations in relation to the practices of the press and the resulting Leveson Inquiry, it seems that the nature of the stories' content itself is something largely being forgotten about, and so the attacks go ahead. Such is the public's apparent willingness to serve as a channel for the outrage emanating primarily from reports peddled by the likes of the Daily Mail, the Sun and the Daily Express, that we are now seeing innocent claimants abused [14], harassed [15] and even driven to death [16] by those who feel compelled to do their bidding. All this because a tiny minority (less than 1%!) of the DWP's bill are understood to be 'scrounging' off taxpayers' money. Taking vital funding away from those with little else to hold onto is one thing; sitting idly by while the institutions we depend on to inform us fairly and comprehensively instead choose to make these people's lives a complete misery - if not aiding them in doing so - is quite another. The media has no right and no mandate to wilfully turn citizens against each other (regardless of whether the victims can defend themselves any better than is the case here), especially on the basis of misinformation and spin. The buck for the crimes committed against these people (and no doubt many others hounded for a variety of reasons) falls squarely at the feet of those who are moulding ordinary people into vehicles of unfounded hate. This societal cancer needs to be removed at the source. By extending what we already have written in Acts of Parliament, to encompass anyone at risk of being the subject of incitement to ill intent, we can achieve this. [1] http://goo.gl/Sp3YQn [2] http://goo.gl/bMvbz [3] http://goo.gl/ar7Hgh (various links, including top of page 1) [4] http://goo.gl/SO8DPm [5] https://goo.gl/Ti1EK5 [6] http://goo.gl/hKFRrs [7] http://goo.gl/owGMal [8] http://goo.gl/4SwXGH [9] https://goo.gl/c9doFM [10] http://goo.gl/rNbdhv [11] http://goo.gl/9vpRQb [12] http://goo.gl/argS0d [13] http://goo.gl/FfpmZA [14] http://goo.gl/2XgLMn [15] http://goo.gl/EHOxz [16] http://goo.gl/ZHgNhP

People seeking sanctuary are now given a further push into poverty due to the Home Office’s decision to drastically reduce the weekly support payments made to asylum seekers. Following a review of asylum support payments earlier this year, the Home Office has now taken the decision to provide every asylum seeker, adult or child, the total of £36.95 a week to cover what they refer to as the “essential living needs” of a person claiming asylum in the UK. This amounts to a 20% cut in support for each child. Families with very young children will receive an additional £5 per week for children under the age of 1 and £3 for those age 1-3 years old. Similarly pregnant women will continue to receive an extra £3 per week and be able to apply for a maternity grant of £300. Below are the different payments made currently and the impact from 10th August 2015 Single Parent and a child is £96.90 will be £73.90 Single Parent and 2 children is £149.86 will be £110.85 Couple and 1 child is £125.48 and will be £110.85 Couple and 2 children is £178.44 and will be 147.80 Given that many asylum seekers already experience destitution due to the low level of support provided, it seems inevitable that these cuts will have a huge impact on the quality of living for people seeking sanctuary. Many asylum seekers come to the UK with almost nothing. In addition asylum seekers are forbidden from working by the Home Office. The current level of support is already inadequate and many rely on the support of voluntary agencies to help them get through the day. It is important to remember that asylum seekers have to rely on this £36.95 a week to feed, clothe and take care of themselves and their family, not forgetting travel costs for asylum appointments, solicitors, healthcare and other essential journeys. The Home Office states that “full consideration has been given to the welfare of children”. However it is families with children who will experience the greatest impact of this reduction in support. At the Welsh Refugee Council, we see many asylum seekers coming through our doors for food and clothing vouchers including food and welfare supplies for their children. Welsh Refugee Council Chief Executive, Salah Mohamed, says ‘These changes suggest the UK Government’s intention is to prolong the suffering of asylum seekers and make it more difficult to access their right to sanctuary and protection. This kind of treatment is unacceptable. The Welsh Refugee Council and other agencies in Wales calls upon all organisations working with asylum seekers to express their disapproval of these cuts by asking the government to abandon its plan to put people in further destitution and help families in the asylum process get a decent quality of life after fleeing conflict or persecution.’