The Coalition's astounding volte face for #50sWomen #StatePension created the swiftest, steepest 'Reforms' for the meanest State Pension in Europe *BY STEALTH*, for #50sWomen cohort. As a result, #StatePension #50sWomen are "grotesquely disadvantaged" - Frank Field MP, Chair, Work & Pensions Select Committee (Report 2016). #50sWomen had become "spreadsheet anomalies" - collateral damage - amidst the fallout from crash of the economy. Uniquely, their well-being and finances have been swiftly and stealthily annihilated: #BackTo60 - the return of their earned dues, in full - is what #50sWomen demand.

The UK must show itself to be above Trump's racism. To retain the invitation legitimises him and diminishes our country in the eyes of the world. We should be taking a principled stand against him, not welcoming him with a fanfare. Furthermore it is an embarrassment to HM The Queen, who lived through the second world war, to ask her to stand side by side with a President who's soft on Nazis and White Supremacists. Donald Trump regularly undermines values that our country holds dear - gender and racial equality, human rights, religious freedom, freedom of the press and preservation of the environment amongst others. He should not be given the prestige of a full state visit.

Brighton & Hove is a coastal city, meaning it must be on the frontline when it comes to tackling plastic pollution in our oceans. As 80% of marine litter originates from land, Brighton & Hove must do everything possible to stop this pollution at source. In 2016, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimated that by weight, there could be more plastic in our oceans than fish, as soon as 2050. Plastics are durable, strong and long-lasting – all positive elements until you realise that they will stay in our environment for up to an estimated 600 years. Over 300 million tons of new plastic are made every year – half of which is for single use plastic, such as packaging and convenience foods. In many cases, such as plastic straws, takeaway food containers and coffee cups, there are practical alternatives available that are either reusable or sustainable. It is estimated that there are over 5.5 trillion pieces of plastic currently in our global ocean and over 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into our seas each year. This equates to one refuse truck FULL of plastic every minute. Marine plastic leads to coastal / offshore dead zones, entanglement, death through ingestion, toxic transfer and, once degraded into microplastics, contamination of the food chain – including our own. We are quite literally eating the plastic that has ended up in our seas. Sign this petition so we can persuade the council to act on the issue of single-use plastic waste.

Bill to amend the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 will be debated soon. England and Wales brand young offenders criminals for life. The punitive and penal approach to the rehabilitation of young offenders and disclosers and retention of criminal records is vastly different to many other countries. Below is brief guide of how other nations treat criminal convictions. • Canada permanently deletes records of juvenile convictions once an individually turns 18 or after 5 years of turning 18. Murder, manslaughter and aggravated sexual assault are never deleted. Canada also has a pardon system that allows adults to appeal for their records to be suspended and not disclosed if an individual can show good character and rehabilitation since the offence. Also in the USA individuals can apply to have their records expunged; this is for citizens under 18 and varies from state to state. • Scotland does not disclose convictions if 15 years has passed or if an individual were 18 or over 18 at the date of conviction, 7 and half years, if an individual were under 18 at the date of conviction • Australia expunges juvenile convictions after 3 years of no repeat offending and has a pardon policy for adult convictions • In Spain, conviction records are not erased completely but are ‘cancelled’ in a process known as ‘cancelling a conviction record’. Once conviction records are cancelled, the individual will possess a clean criminal record. Therefore, the record of their convictions will be sealed in the Central Criminal Records Registry and is likely made unavailable to the police. To cancel a conviction record a period of time after having served the sentence must have elapsed (6 months, 2 years, 3 years or 5 years depending on the sentence); no further crime has been committed in the interim and civil compensation has been paid or the person has been declared without money. • Ireland. If 3 years has lapsed juveniles records are wiped clean. • In France for adults once the rehabilitation period has passed (depending on the severity of the conviction either three years for misdemeanors or five years for felony crimes, after the sentence was completed) the records of the convictions will remain on the system but will not show on the request of a record. In the case of minors and children, these are removed once the individual concerned has reached 18 years and/or three years from the date the crime was committed. • In Germany most adult convictions are deleted after 5, 10, 15 or 20 years, respectively.

Coventry Council are making the families of disabled children pay £600 a year for transport to and from school. This service used to be free, but now families are being forced to fork out. The wellbeing and education of disabled children is being put at risk. Disabled children should not be punished for going to school.

The UK is one of less than 20 countries in the world to recruit 16 year olds, it is the only country in Europe and the only permanent member of the United Nations. This groups ourselves together with countries with little respect for human rights such as Iran, Zimbabwe and North Korea. The army recruits the very youngest solders with the intention of preparing them specifically for front line roles- where they are over represented. This has been questioned by international charities such as 'Child Soldiers International' and needs to stop! The battlefield is not a place for our young teanagers!

Sandra McIntier is severly disabled and requires round the clock physical and mental care. If her husband was deported it would have devastating affects on her. Dale McIntier would suffer extreme mental health issues if he had to leave his wife without the love and stability that she needs. It would hurt our government purse to deport Dale. Tax payers would have to pay for his flight home and also round the clock care for Sandra. It makes no sense to deport a beloved husband who is a wonderful part of the community.

In many countries including the USA and Spain British pensioners enjoy annual increments to their pensions just as their counterparts in the UK. But if you are unlucky enough to live in a number of countries including Australia, Canada or Indonesia, your pension is frozen for life. A recent example in the press highlighted the plight of two sisters. They both retired in 1982 on the then full pension of GBP 28.50 a week. One now lives in the UK and enjoys a fully indexed pension of GBP 113.10 per week. The other sister went to Canada and receives the same GBP 28.50 a week that she received in 1982. There are many war veterans living overseas who are similarly suffering. They paid their contributions in full during their working lives and they fought for their country. But who is getting the benefits they earned now? Many politicians have promised their support in the past but when it comes to the crunch the victims of this injustice are out of sight and out of mind. The pensioners are not asking for charity; they are simply asking to be treated fairly and given the pensions that they paid for. Had they paid the contributions to a commercial institution and been similarly treated that company would no doubt be in serious trouble. But the government is above the law and continues to be more concerned about winning votes than righting a wrong that has been perpetuated by successive governments. The wicked irony is that the cost of rectifying the wrong would be a fraction of the billions they are now collecting in fines from the crimes committed by banks. Another irony is that the people who are suffering constitute no burden to the state while they are living overseas. But should they be forced through sheer poverty to return to the UK not only would their pensions be restored in full but they would have access to all the state benefits and could become a much greater burden on the government. It all defies logic but unless the public recognizes the unfairness and shouts loudly enough for MP's to hear, the 550,000 pensioners will gradually grow weaker and fade away. Does anybody care?

Their is a lot of upset and disbelief which can upset a lot of families who may be in a chain of buying and selling and giving unnecessary costs to all those people involved just as we ourselves have found out this week, Solicitors , Packing, Removal people costs and items bought ready for the new home, in our case three families have bee affected by the actions of one of these horrible people.

Poverty is a fundamental part of society, even affecting Scotland. In particular, poverty affecting children was announced to be rapidly growing. Recent statistics show an increase from 1/5 to 1/4 children in poverty, meaning an approximate 260,000 children are officially classed as in poverty. Despite the lack of publicity on the issue, this epidemic affecting dozens of families nationwide, and we need your support to convince local MSPs to consider the small cause. Spare change of £5 per child to create a big change, taking hundreds of families out of the grip of poverty.

The Mural is an important both as a piece of Art and as a memorial to the lives of people significant in African, Afro-American, Caribbean and black British History. It reminds us (accurately) that some pharaohs were black. (If it is ever extended in size it could now usefully add a major Russian Novelist and an American President!). It would be a huge loss to us if we lose it and an insult to the many Reading Residents from Barbados, Jamaica, East and West Africa and elsewhere. Personally I am scots of Irish and English descent and I love that mural

I met my husband Kei Yamamoto while working as an Industrial Designer in Japan in 2009. We were married in London in October last year and we’re expecting our first child in July. In the past, our marriage, my 2 jobs, 2 properties and our substantial savings would have been more than enough to allow Kei to live with me in the UK. However, last year the government brought in draconian new rules which mean that if a UK Citizen like me marries someone from outside the UK, they are only allowed to stay in the country if the British Citizen has an income of more than £18,600 a year (the spouses income cannot be counted.) Alternatively, they must have had a whopping £62,500 of cash savings in a bank account for 6 months and more if they have children. Here’s the problem - I do earn well over £18,600 but my income comes from multiple sources - I work 7 days a week often for over 12 hours a day as a University Lecturer and as a Product Designer with 20 patents. I'm in the process of building the first prototype of one of my inventions, a revolutionary urban eco-vehicle involving 10 UK manufacturers and 3 Universities. Ironically, I've gone to great efforts to ensure every component of the vehicle is manufactured in the UK, supporting the British economy, industry and jobs. I also own 2 properties in London; we live in one, mortgage-free and rent the other. However, because of bizarre bureaucratic loopholes in the new rules, the UK Border Agency only take into account the income from my rent and ignore 3 of 4 of my other incomes, ignore our savings of over £16,000, which count as ZERO savings under the new rules and ignore both of my property assets. The rent alone isn’t enough to take us over the income threshold - even if I was forced to sell our home, which is against British law and common moral sense, we would still not have ₤62,500 for the 6 months required before the birth of our baby. We are a newlywed couple and I’m pregnant with my first child. Unless we can persuade Theresa May to overturn these incredibly unfair new spouse visa rules - which have been described as "inflexible" even by the Government - Kei will have to leave just a month before I give birth. If we appeal the visa decision he will still be forced out of the country for around 9 months when I need him most, leaving me to cope with a newborn alone. In effect, the government will make me a "married single mother" and deny my husband the chance to bond with our baby. Research has shown it is essential for the child's future emotional well being, for parents to form a physical bond with their babies. But I cannot leave the country with my husband - I'm pregnant so cannot fly and besides why should I be deported from my own country? I am British, my home, my family, my business combating fuel poverty and air pollution for Great Britain, my university lecturing commitments are all here and we are clearly not a "burden on the state" which are what these new rules claim to be for. As any expectant mother will tell you, the prospect of giving birth and looking after a newborn alone is terrifying. It is pretty terrifying even if your husband is with you - but alone? And my poor husband will be forced to miss the birth of his first child. It’s one of the most precious moments in anyone’s life and he’ll never be able to get it back. These rules are brutally cruel. They separate loving husbands and wives - and in some cases they tear families apart. They say that how much a person earns is more important than letting them be with the person they love. The Government are spinning that these new rules are "getting tough on immigration" but only 32,200 British citizens' spouse visas were granted in the year before the new rules - a tiny proportion of the total immigration figures. Spouse visas always have been, and still are, stamped "no recourse for public funds" - which means they have never been entitled to receive welfare benefits. These rules are cold, inflexible and unfair - and have brought misery to thousands of British families. Please sign this petition - not just for me, my husband and our baby, but for all the British families who are so cruelly kept apart under the new "tick box" rules advocated by Theresa May. According to the well respected research body, the Oxford University Migratory Observatory, under the new rules 47% of hard-working EMPLOYED British citizens will not pass the new financial requirement - including most civil servants and members of the armed forces. They estimate, because of these rules, 15,000 -16,000 extra British families will be split up or forced out of their country every year. Together, we can show Theresa May that the public doesn’t want this shocking violation against British families and that it’s time for her to rethink these rules. Other Heartbreaking Stories: http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories Skype Mummy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhHpaq4KBxY

On 10 July, a recording emerged of Tory MP Anne Marie Morris using the n-word while taking part in a public discussion about Brexit. While attending an report launch event in central London, the Newton Abbey MP used the phrase “real n*****r in the woodpile” to describe a hypothetical scenario in which the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Despite using the highly offensive term, none of her fellow panellists - including other Tory MPs - reacted. Not one. Which is weird because most of us know that using the n-word is wrong. Don't we? YES, WE DO! So it's up to us to show Morris - and anyone else who thinks it's OK to use n-word in any capacity - that it isn't. To remind Morris and her ilk that there's no such thing as a 'totally unintentional' use of the n-word. That language is powerful, and so when you use the n-word - in any context, but especially while holding public office and in a public space - you inflict unimaginable trauma and pain on a significant section of the UK community. And this is unacceptable. Theresa May MP - you and your party have been accused of being callous, inhumane and out of touch with modern Britain. Now more than ever, we need you to be the 'strong and stable leader' you profess to be and take a zero tolerance approach towards those who seek to divide us as a nation. Sack Morris immediately. Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/tory-mp-racist-brexit-recording_uk_59638608e4b02e9bdb0e2c77

Jake Berry MP (Tory minister for the so-called Northern "Powerhouse") has advised cash strapped Wirral Council to use its own resources and reserves to help victims of the huge explosion that tore through the centre of New Ferry, Wirral earlier this year. 33 people were injured 2 seriously, many businesses were destroyed, a further dozen shops and services put out of action and 30 families displaced from their homes. With so much of the town centre destroyed, shoppers have stopped going to New Ferry and the surviving businesses are suffering from loss of trade and facing financial ruin. Insurance companies have been very slow to act and indeed reluctant to pay out (with nobody having yet been found guilty of causing the explosion), leaving residents and businesses without sufficient financial support with which to rebuild their lives. Many people are not only suffering financially, but also emotionally with depression and the equivalent of post-traumatic stress disorder. The government has shockingly refused to call the explosion a NATIONAL INCIDENT, what on earth does constitute a "national incident" then ? Despite pleas for funding assistance from local MPs, businesses and residents, the government has turned its back on this devastated community, citing rules and regulations for not offering any disaster relief funding to help those affected. New Ferry, Wirral - a deprived community in a Labour controlled authority - is being treated entirely differently to other communities in the UK that have faced similar, and seemingly less significant, disasters. Jake Berry's refusal of assistance is an absolute disgrace and makes a mockery of the title Northern Powerhouse. New Ferry should be treated the same as other communities that have recently suffered (as should every community in the country should a similar disaster befall them), and the rebuilding of its centre should be funded by the British government A.S.A.P If you agree that New Ferry (and every other community in the country affected by such an economically damaging disaster) should be treated fairly and given government support, please, please sign this petition, thank you

The rainforests of the world have been devastated in the last 50 years, 80% of the worlds rainforests have already been removed, This must stop now, millions of already endangered animals and insects will be affected and killed by this. Out future generations won't know what rainforests are if we don't act now.

There has been many suicides and attempted suicides at these car parks over previous years. At Bruton way yesterday 16th Sept 2017 and a death 9th Sept 2017 two within 7 days. One resulting in a 32yrs old man falling to his death and a 21yr old man being talked down and taken to hospital 6 days later

Every time MPs persist in this disgusting behaviour they cheapen our democracy. They trivialise the important issues that affect many ordinary people in the UK. I believe it is an important reason why politics and politicians are held in such low esteem by the general public. Our democracy deserves better than this.

Edward Colston was a Bristol-born English slave trader, merchant and Member of Parliament. Much of his wealth was acquired through the trade and exploitation of slaves. Yet we celebrate and commemorate him with a statue in our beloved city centre. He has no place there. Following the events in Charlottesville and the announcement that the Colston Hall will be renamed, it seems appropriate that his statue also be removed. Whilst history shouldn't be forgotten, these people who benefited from the enslavement of individuals do not deserve the honour of a statue. This should be reserved for those who bring about positive change and who fight for peace, equality and social unity. We hereby encourage Bristol city council to remove the Edward Colston Statue. He does not represent our diverse and multicultural city.

In a modern world where retail and consumer spending habits are moving towards online shopping, North Ayrshire Council is proposing to spend fifty five million pounds on purchasing a shopping centre that struggles to fill its retail spaces.

Evidence from other countries and from the only Fracking to be carried out todate in the UK at Preece Hall in Lancashire demonstrates the industry has a proven record of environmental failures. At Preece Hall, which was being Fracked by Cuadrilla in 2011, as many as 46 earth tremors and 2 official earthquakes were experienced resulting in the site being closed down. Evidence has also been considered by the governments own Environmental Audit Committee and as part of their 2015 report they concluded: "Despite the assurances from some that environmental risks can be safely accommodated by existing regulatory systems, an extensive range of uncertainties remains over particular hazards—to groundwater quality and water supplies, from waste and air emissions, to our health and to biodiversity, to the geological integrity of the areas involved, and from noise and disruption. Uncertainty about their significance is in part a reflection of the fact that fracking operations have yet to move beyond the exploratory stage in the UK. It is imperative that the environment is protected from potentially irreversible damage. • Fracking must be prohibited outright in protected and nationally important areas. • Full containment of methane must be mandated. • Fracking should be prohibited in all water source protection zones.

We call upon the transport secretary to: 1) Pledge his immediate backing for the Northern Powerhouse Rail programme including a new state-of-the-art 30-minute rail link between Manchester and Leeds – a ‘Crossrail North’; 2) Make an immediate commitment to at least £59 billion ‘catch-up cash’ over the coming decade to support the transport priorities being developed by Transport for the North; 3) Give Transport for the North the same powers as those enjoyed by Transport for London so that it can also raise private finance towards its own transport priorities. The government has announced its backing for the £31bn Crossrail 2 rail scheme in London just days after it has cancelled plans to electrify key rail routes, and rowed back on its long-standing commitment to electrify the trans-pennine link between Manchester and Leeds. Crossrail 2 was NOT in the Conservative Party Manifesto - whereas Northern Powerhouse Rail was! New analysis by IPPR North shows that over the past decade public spending on transport in London has been more than double that in the North – the North would have received £59bn more in investment over the last decade if it had received the same per person for transport as London. This is set to get worse, with planned public and public/private expenditure set at nearly £2000 per head, compared with £400 per head in the North BEFORE Crossrail 2 is taken into account. This is not just a matter of fairness. This is not special pleading. Transport investment needn’t be either/or. But lack of government spending on Northern transport is holding the whole economy back. Northern prosperity is national prosperity.

The report covers air pollution, fracking and the disposal of toxic and nuclear waster. These are all issues of huge concern to ordinary people. In particular, air pollution causes an estimated 40,000 early deaths every year in Britain and was declared a “public health emergency” in 2016. Doctors have voiced their concerns about this. The UN report's author, Baskut Tuncak, has said that he is "alarmed that despite repeated judicial instruction, the UK government continues to flout its duty to ensure adequate air quality and protect the rights to life and health of its citizens. It has violated its obligations.” Vulnerable groups were worst affected by air pollution, he said: “Children, older persons and people with pre-existing health conditions are at grave risk of mortality, morbidity and disability, with magnified risks among the poor and minorities.” (Source: the Guardian, 10th September 2017)

The Tyne and Wear Metro was once the jewel in the crown of public transport in the North East, the first modern light rail system outside of London. Now the trains are almost 40 years old, are increasingly unreliable, and are causing frequent delays and disruptions to passenger who rely on them. They urgently need replacing with modern stock and, if done correctly, the replacement could transform the operation of the system with huge economic benefits for the region. New trains will costs around £435 million. Other rail systems, such as Crossrail or Manchester Metrolink, have seen their new trains funded by central government grants. Nexus, who runs the Metro, have been told that funding for new trains in the North East will be from one of two models: either a government grant or a Private Finance Initiative (PFI). The Treasury will decide which option and could do so by November. Tyne and Wear Public Transport Users Group are calling on the Secretary of State for Transport to commit to funding new trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro through a government grant, as has happened elsewhere in the country. Forcing councils in the North East to enter into a PFI contract will ensure an expensive, inflexible, and complex deal for the taxpayer. This will tie the region into a contract for as long as 35 years, and could jeopardise ambitions to extend the Metro network to new destinations. This would be a disaster for our region.

This is the biggest attack on the NHS you've never heard of. For the last few years the news has been full of winter and summer crisis in the NHS, with A&E's closing their doors and ambulances unable to discharge their patients.(1) Now the Chief Executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, has created a plan to solve this by CLOSING more A&Es. He thinks if you close hospitals people will stop using them. (2) Called Sustainability and Transformation Plans he has split the country into 44 areas - called 'footprints'. Each 'footprint' was told in late December last year that they must have a plan by 30th June this year to completely change the way the NHS works. To work they have to be able to prove they can clear their massive debts within a year. To do that they have to close services and sell land and hospitals. Has a hospital closed near you? Is it under threat? Simon Stevens says that to make the NHS affordable we, the public, must get used to no longer having a major hospital within easy reach. This was planned in 2013, but shelved until after the 2015 election as being 'politically sensitive'. It looks like the STP has taken that off the shelf and that is very bad news. In 2013 there were 140 full A&E hospitals in England. We could be be left with between 40-70 A&Es. Closing A&Es is very bad for your health. (3)   There is a link to TTIP. Jeremy Hunt hired Simon Stevens to take over NHS England in 2014. Before that he was President of global operations for United Health of America where he was a lobbyist for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. He didn't oppose it. He fought to open up public health services like our NHS to US private health corporations. We know TTIP and the NHS are top campaigns for 38 degrees members. (4) Now he's in charge of our NHS! He is driving through a change which will eradicate our NHS and replace it with a US style health service. These new organisations could even be run by US corporations, holding the budgets and deciding what care will be provide and who can get it. This is what the Sustainability and Transformation Plans are doing to our NHS. See blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2016/08/05 and Updates, below. TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE THIS A MILLION SIGNATURES FOR THE NHS! We think this is the last big battle to save our NHS. If you want it to be there for your children and grandchildren in their time of need then fight now. (6)   BECAUSE WHEN IT’S GONE, IT’S GONE https://youtu.be/0HyL-riKqqc (1)  http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2015-01-07/hospital-alerts-whats-the-state-of-your-local-hospital/ (2) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/simon-stevens-nhs-will-be-unaffordable-without-radical-reforms-10099433.html (3) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2200339/NHS-Cuts--Savage-consequences-revealed-pensioner-waits-6-hours-ambulance.html (4) http://healthcare-competitiveness.com/wp-content/uploads/Medtronic-UnitedHealth-Group-want-to-export-U.S.-health-care.pdf (5) http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/nov/11/uk.publicservices (6)https://youtu.be/GHkzmCL-uNE Also:- https://opendemocracy.net/ournhs/deborah-harrington-madeleine-dickens-and-caroline-molloy/hunt-and-stevens-leaving-their-dirty Another dreadful week for Jeremy Hunt: https://opendemocracy.net/ournhs/caroline-molloy/you-don-t-have-to-be-brain-surgeon-to-know-hunt-is-wrong-this-week-everyone-d I've also grouped them together on a page here: http://bit.ly/NHSfootprints Find out which 'Footprint' you are in by scrolling down to the map here:- https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/stp-footprints-march-2016.pdf http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2016/08/05/tory-plans-for-nhs-privatisation-released-during-parliamentary-recess/

Gina Miller has suffered abuse and threats of violence from hateful people who do not understand the situation, and do not care to learn. We want Ms Miller to know that we will not stand for this bullying. It is not representative of the best British tradition of tolerance and acceptance of the rule of law, free speech, and due process. We will continue to oppose all forms of hatred and it is a testament to Ms Miller's character that she persevered under such tremendous pressure. The lies and bias in tabloid newspapers, on social media and propagated by bots has convinced some individuals that Ms Miller has obstructed democracy - but we fully understand that the opposite is true, and are forever grateful to her for this. Thank you Gina! https://files.38degrees.org.uk/items/files/000/000/111/display/brexit.gif

According to the Huffington Post Boris Johnson accuses the Ukip voting as 'a peasants revolt'! Therefore, he clearly sees us all as peasants. because of this he should resign as the mayor of London.

Why have a session in which the PM is meant to be held to account when she/he is permitted to side-step questions to avoid providing a clear answer? An unanswered question is as useless as an unasked question!

I’m calling for a change in the rules so that people with dementia are specifically eligible to apply for a Blue Badge, which means easier trips to the shop, the doctor’s or the hospital for dementia patients if they choose to apply. “I hope the Government will consider this change.” The final decision on who is eligible is up to local councils. But Government provides guidance can prove crucial in earmarking badges - and dementia is not on the list of criteria. Charities say some local authorities give blue badges to people with dementia while others enforce much tighter rules. Although the person with dementia may be able to walk the required distance that exempts them from being issued a Blue Badge the person has to be helped in and out of their vehicle, and guided, they can be unsteady on their feet and suffer dizziness/confusion as to where they are because of their dementia. This means that, e.g. they cannot be dropped off while a driver goes to park, because they are in danger from wandering off or walking into the road. Campaigners say the disease can be as mentally and often physically debilitating as other illnesses. The number of people with dementia is set to rise from 850,000 this year to over two million by 2051. Alzheimer’s Society national campaigns manager Sam Gould said: “Many people with dementia gradually lose their ability to walk and perform simple tasks as their condition progresses. “This means activities that many of us take for granted, like visiting the shops or attending GP appointments, can become physically challenging and make some journeys daunting. “We support the call for people with dementia to be able to access the Blue Badge scheme, as this could mean that more people with dementia are able to continue doing the things they enjoy and maintain their independence for longer.”

It's around 8am on a dusky day in July 2016, and I'm standing on the far platform of Tain railway station, gazing out into the misty depths of the Dornoch Firth. The previous night I had come up on the late train - the 21:06 - from Inverness, though there's also a midnight service north. That left from Platform 7, which, intriguingly enough I had to walk across a car park to reach. Very few rail journeys start with a walk through a car park. But, increasingly often, many, many journeys from Wick and Thurso to Inverness involve a walk across a car park. This walk culminates with getting into a car and, well, driving down the A9. And why is this? There is a perfectly good rail line linking Thurso and Wick with Inverness, via the commuter towns of Dingwall, Tain and Invergordon, with four trains up it and down it each day (only one on Sundays). Many people marvel at the beauty of the line - it traverses all kind of landscape; the Beauly Firth, the Dornoch Firth, the Cromarty Firth, the mountains of Sutherland, Loch Fleet, incredible seascapes, marshy vistas, and vast tracts of peat bogland (the Flow Country). The line also connects with the NorthLink ferries north from Scrabster, near Thurso, to Orkney, and many people use these each year. In fact, I do. It's why I was at Tain in the first place. At Dounreay, on the north coast near Thurso, there used to be a nuclear power station. As this is decommissioned, things are transported out to Sellafield by rail. There's also timber extraction going on near Kinbrace en route - and the trees could be transported by rail. So why are people not using the line as much? Unsurprisingly, it's to do with the service. Things have become very unreliable. Delays and cancellations occur very frequently. Stops are often omitted at some of the line's busiest stations - including Thurso and the recently-reopened Beauly and Conon Bridge - to make up the time lost. The chronic problems behind these occurrences are caused by a combination of missing infrastructure and absent crew members. Out of these two, the infrastructure is the biggest problem with the line. But why is this? Well, the line is single track for its whole length, aside for some 'passing loops'. This is where there are two lines, or 'double track', but only for a short distance (think road 'passing places'); and there are loops at Muir of Ord, Dingwall, Invergordon, Tain, Ardgay, Lairg, Rogart, Brora, Helmsdale, and Forsinard. Otherwise, the train's can't pass each other. Because of this, delays can build up, causing a knock-on effect that leads to cancellations and skip-stopping. The stretch of railway between Inverness and Dingwall has only one passing place, at Muir. But this line is shared with the service to Kyle of Lochalsh (for Skye) and sees 13/14 trains per day in each direction (7 on Sundays). That's nearly 30 trains a day; and the constraints provided by the lack of track on the Far North Line, in particular between Inverness and Muir, mean that many, many of these are delayed, or cancelled. And so we return to Tain. My train northwards arrives a couple of minutes late. Not much of a delay, though we manage to pick up more and more delays on route, so that we end up around 15/20 minutes behind time on reaching Thurso. This makes commuting between the towns and villages on the southern section of the line and Inverness very difficult. And it also severely affects the northern end, too; because Thurso serves the ferry services at Scrabster and Gills Bay to Orkney. People need to be able to make their connections; being shunted out into a taxi at Wick doesn't help with things. But there is a solution. Until 1966, there were six miles of double track between Clachnaharry - to the west of Inverness - and Clunes, near Kirkhill. Since this was ripped away, this bottleneck has become worse, and worse, and worse. This is the solution; the Lentran Long Loop, as it's become known to the Friends of the Far North Line (or FoFNL). But why the name? Well firstly, it would go through the Lentran are. And secondIy: in railway terms, a 'dynamic loop' is a passing loop that's long enough to allow two trains to pass without stopping. For example, there's a couple on the main line south of Inverness, and there's one on the line from Glasgow to Barrhead and Kilmarnock. Having the Lentran Long Loop would improve services massively. Scenic tourist trains could run. An hourly service would be possible to Tain. The line could become a major freight corridor. But, more important than all of those: the trains could run on time. The ball is in your court.

ITS OUTRAGEOUS IN TODAYS SOCIETY TAX PAYERS ARE FUNDING THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND POLITICIANS TO DRINK ALCOHOL AND BUY THEIR FOOD AND DRINKS AT SOMETIMES LAVISH MEALS INCLUDING CHAMPAGNE. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU MET A MP WHO OFFERED TO PAY FOR YOUR PINT AT THE BAR?

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It will continue the movement against tax-havens which promote inequality and tax-evasion. It is hypocritical that these islands deprive other countries of tax-revenues and then immediately turn to the same countries to bail them out of a natural disaster. Hopefully if these islands are spending their own money, they will employ locals rather than importing expensive outside "consultants/experts".

Recent background: 1. In August ’16 Government gave a policy statement in relation to the Sugary Drinks Industry Levy that Key component of Childhood Obesity Strategy is to promote diet drinks. It was no.1 in a list of ‘12 Things You Should Know’, published on the government’s news website. The ‘reformulation’ of products, which currently amounts to replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners, was to be extended to other products deemed too high in sugar, regular yoghurts are among the cited foods. Questions challenging the policy were blocked at the Health Matters Live event in November ’16. Citations of studies and reviews that concluded not enough was known about the safety of sweeteners, were removed from a Wikipedia site on Sugar Taxes. The effect of the strategy has been an escalation in the use of sweeteners by manufacturers, and it is not immediately clear, when choosing items from the shelves in supermarkets, that sweeteners are being used where once they were not. Products may not be described as ‘diet’ or ‘with sweeteners’, other than in smaller print on the ingredients label. (Neotame and advantame may legitimately be used without any mention on the ingredients label.) 2. In January ’17 a Government Health Report announced that for success there needed to be zero price promotions on ‘unhealthy’ products. To use the same example, regular yoghurts are classed as ‘unhealthy’, artificially sweetened ones as the ‘healthy’ option. The effect of this move is to limit the affordable choices for poorer families wanting to give their children a healthy balanced diet with less emphasis on sweet things, but with no artificial sweeteners. All have the right to make informed healthy choices. The right to an informed choice is being eroded. More can be found from this link https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-petition-stop-promoting-sweeteners-children-now-pamela

This affects the towns of Barton, Bottesford, Brigg, Broughton, Crowle & Ealand, Epworth, Kirton in Lindsey & Winterton. We believe its important to support volunteers in our community as our unpaid Town Councillors are and in doing so oppose slashing their numbers in half by cutting 67 volunteer posts. These volunteer councillors are people from all abilities and backgrounds who freely give up their time to come together to do their bit to make our towns better places for the future. Democracy and accountability are important, cutting these numbers wont save money but will harm the councils ability to function fully and support the communities as they do now.

The issue of homelessness has escalated locally, with an estimated 61, people sleeping rough locally as of October 2016 (roughly 20% of the total estimated rough sleepers in Wales). As a result of the inadequate services available some people have set up an encampment in the grounds of the former Groves school, a listed building. This building is close to residential housing and the camp is of concern to local people who fear that hygiene and safety practices are compromised. The individuals living on the site and elsewhere in Wrexham are in desperate need of a long term solution. In the short term there needs to be regular emptying of the skip and portaloo that the council have provided and access to the site in the event of an emergency. There are many groups and individuals in the area taking an interest in this issue and it is only fair that they are all able to hear the council's response to these issues in the interest of openess and transparency as should be expected from our elected representatives.

Most of our media being owned by a handful of tax dodging billionaires who register themselves as living abroad and use their power to spread a divisive right wing neoliberal agenda makes a mockery of the nation.

At present the Royal Navy supplies Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus to help at times of natural disasters. This is a military casualty ship. not totally suitable for such work which will retire in a few years time. A UK hospital ship would fill an ongoing need, demonstrated by recent events in the Caribbean. In addition she would promote British values world wide. What better time than now to begin work?

Both Peter Bone MP and Christopher Chope MP took turns in camping out in the House of Commons to ensure that they were first in the queue to present their Bills. Between them they submitted 73 Bills proposing the introduction of new laws. Their actions have prevented other MP's from presenting their Bills that would have had any chance of being debated up until November 2018. This important because this has stopped and MP from presenting their ideas for new Laws. Because of their behaviour your MP has been prevented from representing your interests .

DWP are allowing companies that are assessing disabled people for PIP to classing the ability to push ones self in a wheelchair or the ability to control a powered wheelchair the same as being able to walk more than 20 meters. They are doing this to stop disabled people from getting the High Rate Mobility PIP This means disabled people are losing their Motability cars and scooters-powerchairs, taking away their interdependence and leaving them housebound. Over 60% of assessments are overturned on Appeal, but the Appeals can take up to 1 year to be heard. DWP are saying they are doing this to save money, When in fact they are spending more money on dealing with Appeals. Disabled people have the rights to be treated with respect and dignity and not like 3rd class citizens. Disabled people rely on their cars and powerchairs to have the ability to lead a normal life as much as they possibly can. Many have had to give up work and go back on benefits because of it. I am asking Guy Opperman MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to do the right thing and put a stop to this barbaric act of injustice against disabled people..

I stand with all those charities and community groups that provide transport for a social purpose and community benefit. They enable people to live, learn and work independently, to stay fit and active, to access vital public services and participate in their community. This type of transport provision is Britain at its best with communities doing things for themselves and it must be cherished, protected and nurtured. I want the UK Government to work with its counterparts in the devolved nations to commit themselves to making sure that nobody suffers as a result of its proposed changes operator and driver licensing. I want them to commit to fully understanding the impact of their proposed changes so they can decide whether all this upheaval is worth it and choose another path or decide how they can support those communities most affected, especially our most vulnerable and isolated citizens.

As you may be aware, there are already numerous methods of blocking access to pornography where parents wish to do so. A block at the ISP level takes what is and is not blocked out of the control of parents, with potentially dangerous results. Video chat sites aimed at teenagers and certain social media sites are (as identified by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, CEOP) some of the places paedophiles go to prey on children, but as these are not 'adult' in nature they will most likely not come under the block. Parents being told their internet connection is being filtered for adult content to protect their children will therefore believe their children are 'safe' when they are in fact being left exposed to serious risks. The emphasis should be on educating parents about dangers like these, helping them to set up their own restrictions so their children are protected, and highlighting the fact that no blocking software or filters are a substitute for parental supervision. Restricting access to information based on blacklists and filtering at the ISP level represents a severe curtailment of civil liberties. Such practices are typically employed by governments wishing to restrict access to information and ideas they find threatening or undesirable (the aforementioned People's Republic of China being a good example). Prime Minister Cameron took the opportunity to also state that certain 'extreme' fantasy material (involving no illegal acts) would now be made illegal in all of the UK, signalling his intent to restrict access to material that is currently legal. Sure enough, one week later it was revealed that the ISP filtering may cover far more than just pornography; categories of materials that may be blocked include violent material, extremist related content, anorexia and eating disorder websites, suicide related websites, alcohol, smoking, and even web forums and so-called "esoteric material" (see http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-07/27/pornwall). I would urge you to carefully consider these points when and if these issues are debated in the house. The CEOP previously identified other priorities for protecting children from abuse such as finding ways to monitor hidden and encrypted networks, and greater inter-country law enforcement cooperation. I believe these approaches should be selected in preference to the measures mentioned by the Prime Minister, measures that will ultimately fail to catch the most serious perpetrators and are themselves open to serious abuse.

Upon learning that families who decline to move away from their community & their lives will be declared - "intentionally homeless!" For the families this now means - withdrawal of promised support; loss of housing rights position; & most shockingly - potential loss of custody of their children!!! This is no way to treat British citizens, so I implore anyone who reads this petition, to sign it & send it across their networks, in order to help the traumatised families. Lets make sure that the lessons of past tragedies aren't repeated here; not now, not ever!!! Thank you.

Thornton Heath resident Seni Lewis died in a mental health hospital after he was pinned face-down by 11 police officers until he stopped breathing. We must stop the use of excessive force that killed Seni and too many other mental health patients like him. Steve Reed MP is bringing a new law to Parliament. It will create accountability and transparency in the mental health services and tackle the unconscious bias that means too many members of our black community are treated differently. No one else should suffer like Seni did, and every citizen from every background should feel safe when using NHS mental health services. We need YOUR help to get Seni’s Law onto the statute books. Show your support for Steve Reed’s new law by signing the petition and asking your friends and family to sign too. We’ll keep you in touch with the campaign. Together, we can make our mental health services safe and equal for everyone.

The County Council has a legal duty to provide waste disposal free of charge for waste created in the household and through this delegated decision the Conservative leadership is ignoring its legal responsibility to the communities of Staffordshire. The Council should use its discretion to charge directed to business traders and identify these specifically to charge for waste generated from their commercial activities. These new charges have been hidden in County Council paperwork from two years ago and did not receive any meaningful public scrutiny. Further the Council took felt sufficiently concerned about their legal position that they obtained specific advice and concluded that “consultation….is not necessary.” The County Council has a duty to consider the impact of any decisions a cabinet member takes and of particular note is that they acknowledge that the charges will have a detrimental effect on the most vulnerable in our community stating clearly the “…greatest impact on low income households.” They have pressed ahead regardless with this discriminatory practice. Secondly, the Council acknowledge that there could be “a small increase” in fly-tipping. We think they have underestimated the increase in fly-tipping which is costly to clean up for the District Council. The Council think that people won’t be tempted to put soil, hardcore and plasterboard in their own bins. We think residents are likely to try and avoid these charges and this will mean less recycling. The Council do not care that they anticipate “some complaints” in the short term because they believe the issue will blow over and we, the residents of Staffordshire, will continue to accept their ill-considered and flawed decision making to the detriment of communities. All quotes from http://moderngov.staffordshire.gov.uk/documents/s87805/Review%20of%20Household%20Waste%20Recycling%20Centre%20non-household%20waste.pdf

Unilever owns PG Tips, the UK's most popular cup of tea. Let's call on them to remove ALL plastics from tea bags - it is usually polypropylene . Teabags won't completely biodegrade if they have plastic in them. People in Britain drink 165m cups of tea EVERY day -with 96% of those from tea bags. That adds up to billions of pieces of plastic. As a market leader and the recent purchaser of Pukkha teas which doesn't use plastic in its tea bags, Unilever could help make a positive difference to the environment by removing plastic now. Polypropylene is a plastic and 20% is not a small or insignificant amount when multiplied up by the millions and millions of tea bags used daily around the world. All of these plastics remains un-degraded in the environment. There have been many campaigns to keep plastics and micro plastics out of our seas, highlighting the harm they do to marine life. But the same is true of plastics on land as they can cause harm to birds and small mammals. We need to keep ALL plastics OUT of our environment. I believe that it is possible to use another material that is biodegradable - plant or fabric based. In fact, I understand that there is already one brand of conventional teabag which is polypropylene-free made by Jacksons of Piccadilly, so it is technically and practically possible. Lets make our environment plastic free and fully compostable with a change to the materials used in our tea bags.

Tonight on the day the Welsh Government published a white paper on the future of the Welsh language BBC's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight posed the question "is the Welsh language a help or hindrance to the nation ", this was followed up in an item where the presenter suggested the Welsh language was a hobby and invited a contribution from an individual with a long track record of trolling the Welsh language. A review would enable the preparation of a documented audit of all items relating to the Welsh language and would be able to establish if indeed there is an issue with regards how the Welsh language is portrayed and to assess what editorial systems are in place to ensure editorial fairness.

Let us not create a world that is in turmoil for the sake of our kids and future generation. All decisions that lead to war created separation, new waves of violence, fascism and misery, Displacing millions of people from their homes. Surely peace will be prosperous for all and will bring people together.

This is important because the government should not be able to force a family to relocate especially if one spouse is married to a UK national. This puts stress on the expectant mother and is completely unacceptable. We support her right to stay in the UK.

Since the introduction of the Bedroom Tax, affected tenants have been forced to make a series of cutbacks in order to survive on a lower income. The Department for Work and Pensions estimated that 75% had to cut back on their expenditure on food, 46% reduced the amount they spent on heating and 33% spent less on travel. These are cutbacks that are not necessary - the harshness of the Bedroom Tax is the reason for such measures. 14-25% reduction in housing benefit is a large chunk of income to lose, especially when this money is essential to pay bills. Those losing housing benefit struggle to increase income levels after the tax; 50% of affected tenants wished to do this, by either finding employment or increasing their hours at their current employment, yet found difficulty in being able to do this.

MPs wages NEED capped, The whole of our country/public services are struggling while the people who are making them struggle enjoy a £1000 pay rise, It is completely UNACCEPTABLE how our dedicated nurses/doctors/police etc work their absolute hearts out for a bang average wage while MPs are raking it in, Minimum wage £7.50 per hour while in 2015 it was reported the PM would receive £149,440 Per year and cabinet minsters £141,505, That is completely unacceptable when a our nurses barely see a tiny percentage of that! its time to change what our priorities are, and it most definitely is not and should not be making sure people who are cutting funds to our NHS still live the high life. I was working for a company because i was 20 i was getting like £5 something an hour and i have my own house, i couldn't continue doing it, just goes to show the difference in peoples wages.