We are coming up to the 100 Years anniversary of the Great War. I am the last surviving family member of Private William Tongs D.C.M, who died on the 12th of May 1915, after carrying out three brave deeds, each act deserving the highest award of the Victoria Cross. There is evidence that the War Graves Commission's burial records indicated he was buried with the award of the V.C. His Commanding Officer was injured the same day that Pvt. W. Tongs earned the DCM for his first act of bravery. His second act was to rescue 7 wounded men of the Royal Irish Rifles under very heavy fire and brought them back to safety. His third act, as defined by his Commanding Officer in a letter to his father:-. "There was no more gallant officer or man in the battalion than your son; he earned his D.C.M. on 10th March for conspicuous bravery both in the handling of a machine gun and for going out under very heavy fire from the enemy and helping in seven wounded men. He died from wounds received in action on the 9th of May. On this occasion his gallantry was equally conspicuous in the manner he worked his machine gun. He was on this occasion wounded several times and died on the 12th May. He served his country nobly and died a hero’s death." It will be noticed that no award was made for the third plucky incident in the career of this noble Guernseyman. The V.C. has often been granted for such deeds. There are numerous V.C's awarded for far less brave acts, and although these recipients were courageous, the V.C. is usually awarded not only for gallantry but for the most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy." As an example of an oversite and in one case example, two VC's were issued to an Officer and a Private, for handling the same machine gun, the Officer was killed, the Private took over the machine gun and was eventually captured by the enemy. This one act was justified by the granting of two awards of the Victoria Cross. Yet Private Tongs earned a DCM for three acts of gallantry in the presence of the enemy which produced positive results. The V.C. Can be awarded posthumously and in this instance, my petition is purely to posthumously upgrade the DCM to the Victoria Cross, that was richly deserved, when Pvt. Tongs gave his life for his Country. The full story can be seen published by an independent organisation: - The Priaux Library in Guernsey Channel Islands. http://www.greatwarci.net/honour/guernsey/database/tongs-w-merville.htm London Gazette Issue 29180 published on 1 June 1915. Page 37 of 40 "For conspicuous gallantry at Neuve Chapelle on 10th March 1915. When he brought his machine gun into position under a heavy fire and silenced a German gun which had been doing much damage. On the 12th March, he rescued wounded men of the Royal Irish Rifles under heavy fire."

It's one thing to deny funding towards building the Tidal Bay Lagoon, in Swansea (A green and 100% renewable energy source). Further more, to announce the establishment are funding over 100 MILLION in to nuclear power plants in UK is frankly, below the belt. BUT, to dump the nuclear waste in wales, on the belly's of our shores is audacious, to the point of beyond belief. The British Government, YOUR GOVERNMENT, are planning to dump 300,000 tonnes of toxic waste surrounding Cardiff bay. This waste will the be carried through the strong Severn River currents outwards, towards the natural, beautiful, award winning beaches of the Gower peninsular, Swansea. Towards the Irish east coastal areas. The current will also take the nuclear infected water up stream to the heart of the river, where river banks, vegetation and marine life will also be affected. This NEEDS to be prevented. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOD FOR THOUGHT: During the the massive media speculation around the re-naming of the Severn bridge, Prince Charles was quoted: "Why weren't the welsh people notified and asked about this" To which he followed - "No wonder they are not happy". Naming a bridge is one thing, This is another level.

If you ever walked along Constitution Walk, behind the Gloucester City Museum and Library, you will have passed a mostly neglected area of public space consisting of a bowling green, redundant bowling club building and a sealed off public garden. With what appears to be a complete lack of vision the City Council is considering the sale of the space to developers, a space which has great potential to become a quiet, calming community garden right in the heart of the City Centre. Our view is that the garden also provides space for small community events such as mini markets, art and literature events, children activities, outdoor theatre, community picnics and mini sports events. In the past it has been used by the community to deliver numerous events: a book fair, a children’s’ summer play zone, an archaeology event featuring Phil Harding from ‘Time Team’, camp for Civil War re-enactors, a theatre and poetry day etc.

The psychological damage caused by this inhumane and cruel policy as revealed in the Observer newspaper on Sunday 5th August 2018 is irreparable and shames the United Kingdom. The hypocrisy of criticising the Trump administration for its immigration policy is breathtaking. It is shameful to be treating some of the most vulnerable and needy people in the world in this way. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/05/child-separation-migrant-parents-uk-hostile-environment-trump

Greenlight Environmental is a social enterprise employing around 100 local people in the West of Scotland and with almost three decades of experience providing recycling services. Many of their staff have been recruited through schemes to assist the long-term unemployed and these vulnerable workers are now being issued with redundancy notices. GMB Scotland is calling on the leaders of West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde and Argyll & Bute Councils to intervene and prevent the liquidation of the company and the redundancy of its workforce.

In 2016, Marvin Rees promised us action on glyphosate – a toxic weed killer still used in Bristol despite its links to cancer and other health harms for humans and wildlife. Marvin said he would ban glyphosate and carry out a city-wide trial of alternatives. He said he would review the Council’s weed control contracts for housing and streets. The Bristol Labour party said it would “stop using harmful pesticides”. BUT none of this has happened – and incredibly, the Council now insists glyphosate is a “safe product” after angry parents reported the spraying of glyphosate outside a nursery school, just as the children arrived. It also told local media “there are no current plans to use alternative methods”. Meanwhile, the evidence linking glyphosate to cancer is growing. In a recent landmark case in California, chemical giant Monsanto has been found liable for a terminally ill man’s cancer, caused by a herbicide containing glyphosate, known as Roundup. Why the U-turn, Marvin? Bristol’s people, pets and wildlife deserve better. There are reports of glyphosate being sprayed with no warning near to school children, and of cats and dogs poisoned by licking treated weeds. To show our Mayor that Bristol citizens mean business when it comes to a toxic-free city, please sign this petition. Other local authorities including Edinburgh, North Somerset, Lewes and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham are starting to ditch glyphosate, why not Bristol?

These companies make huge profits selling electronic items, for example in the 4th quarter of 2017 Apple posted revenue of $52.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $10.7 billion. Apple sold 46.7 million iPhones during this same period. A lot of that profit comes from selling newer versions of an existing product to existing customers, with no consideration for the older product. These older products and broken or obsolete items invariably end up in the rubbish in the UK or being shipped overseas to countries like China, or more recently Thailand and Malaysia, who have no capability to properly recycle these items. These electronic items sit around covering vast areas of land slowly polluting the soil and ground water and causing health problems for local communities. These electronic companies promote and benefit massively from promoting consumerism, but deal with non of the consequences of our throw away society that they have helped create. These electronic items contain lots of plastic and hard to extract natural resources such as cadium or lithium. The extraction of these metals from the environment invariably leads to environmental degradation, we are then throwing these products away causing further long lasting damage to the environment. We then have to extract more of these same materials that are thrown away to keep pace with demand. It is time for the companies, who make such vast profits, to be held accountable for the environmental damage their products create. A tax should be levied by the British government on the profits of any of these companies domicile in the UK, to cover the cost of properly recycling and where possible reusing the various components of their electronic products.

This is important for us as we pay a license to trade and we have overnight free camping which sometimes our spot gets parked in and we cannot trade, we are paying a license to trade and the council license team seem to think it’s not their problem if I can’t trade! Which then means I can’t provide a service to all my customers who come to Polzeath for my pancakes!! I employ local staff, and my carbon footprint is zero, I live here, all year round. Please sign and share and let the council know why you think this is important to you and your families when you come to visit Cornwall.

After protecting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for almost six years, Ecuador is now planning to withdraw its political asylum, and eject him from its London embassy which would turn him over to the British authorities. Lenín Moreno, the newly-elected President of Ecuador, visited London last week to give a speech at Global Disability Summit on 24 July 2018. However, media reports suggest the actual purpose of the President's visit was to finalize a deal with UK government to withdraw its asylum protection of Assange. According to the Intercept's Glenn Greenwald, multiple sources close to the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry and the President's office have confirmed that Julian Assange will be handed over to Britain in the coming weeks or even days. The Backgroud: Julian Assange, has been living in The Embassy of Ecuador in London since June 2012, when he was granted asylum by the Ecuador Government after a British court ordered his extradition to Sweden to face questioning over an alleged sexual assault and rape charge. In 2017 Swedish Attorney teams visited Assange in London which resulted in all charges being dropped. However, Assange could still not leave the Ecuador Embassy as UK Police forces maintained a 24/ 7 presence around the building with orders to effect an arrest warrant for a minor charge of "failure to surrender," which carries a prison term of three months and a fine. However, the real reason for an arrest warrant would be to also effect an Extradition to America where he is facing federal charges for publishing classified information leaked by Chelsea Manning in 2010, illustrating atrocious war crimes. The leaked files included video footage of Reuters news reporters, and innocent bystanders being murdered by a US helicopter gunship. The footage was entitled Collateral Murder, and was immediately also widely published in media outlets all around the world. The Guardian, New York Times, The Washington post amongst many others have all made a fortune from the information that was published by WikiLeaks, but are not being targeted in any way by US government. Instead the US government have sighted Wikileaks and Julian Assange as enemies of the state, and have even called for his assignation by drone strike! In 2016, The United Nations ruled that Julian Assange was and had been Arbitrarily Detained at the Embassy and should be immediately set free with compensation, however this ruling has been totally ignored. Current Situation: Julian Assange, has not been online since March 2018, after Ecuador cut his communications with the outside world from its London embassy... no visitors, no phone, no internet connection. The Ecuadorian government took this decision after Assange tweeted in support of the Catalan independence movement exposing Spanish governments alleged human rights violations. According to Ecuador, Assange had breached an agreement to refrain from interfering in other states' affairs. In reality however, it is thought that America is currently applying 'significant pressure' on Ecuador, including threatening to block a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if Assange continues to be allowed stay at its London Embassy. He is therefore now unable to defend himself against any of the allegations that are being currently issued. It is completely unacceptable for the UK Government to knowingly allow and Extradition Process to happen, with the knowledge that US officials are seeking a death penalty. Julian Assange has provided us all with the privilege of gaining access to the Truth behind many of the world's most complex geo-political issues. Action: This issue is Urgent. Julian Assange could now be evicted at any time and extradited to America. Please Take Action and sign this campaign, and broaden the public understanding of this issue.

As social ecologists argue, the exploitation of nature is rooted in the exploitation of humankind. Fracking is again a demonstration of how financial incentives threaten to undermine our long-term existence on this planet. To pursue this path will mean greater pollution, degradation of the UK countryside (over half a million metres will be sacrifice to fracking wells) and the exacerbation of the already clear hazards presented by climate change. Environmental activists are campaigning and dying in countries such as Honduras to prevent industrial projects that will destroy scared areas of nature. In England it is time that we realise our responsibility as environmental stewards, in Leeds we must unite to challenge companies who are too short-sighted to see what is valuable. Preston New Road has already shown its opposition with 50,000 signatures, can we stand with them?

Increased supply and quality comes from competition and incentives, not from over regulation or divisive taxation policies. There's a hole in the bucket and it's not being refilled quickly enough. Private landlords are selling up in droves, thus reducing the pool of better quality homes available to rent. Private investment into much needed rental housing is being strangled, and this MUST STOP! National and Local Government policies are discouraging private investment into rental accommodation, especially in recent years. This is already negatively impacting housing development and the wider economy. If the supply of private rental accommodation continues to contract, demand will cause rents to increase and ordinary people will find it even harder to find flexible and affordable housing. Taxing suppliers, whether directly or by stealth, is always passed on to consumers. In this case, that means upward pressure on rents. There have been several forms of stealth taxes and indirect taxation applied to private housing providers. These include; the taxation of finance costs, increased Stamp Duty Land Tax, banning tenant fees and Selective Licencing. Government and Local Councils need to stop milking private housing providers like cash cows and reverse all such policies before further suffering is caused. Badly informed campaigning could also undo all the good things the Housing Act 1988 achieved. We urge Government to be mindful of this.

Wiltshire Council have closed St. Aldhelms play area citing it is too expensive to maintain, having neglected it (and other parks in the area and across Wiltshire) for a sustained period of time. It is a hugely important amenity which is well used by children of all ages, and must be saved for the community.