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investigation into the media bias surrounding the scottish referendumthis is extremely important this is Scotland's future we are talking about . its our oppertunity to start a fresh . the BBC is a definitive no supporter and this is clearly showing by the coverage and and lack of support for yes Scotland . theirs more publicity for better together the more they peddle the media and it has to.stop theirs less than 3 weeks before we vote1,347 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by scott glanville
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Reconsider removing tax allowances from ex-patsThere are hundreds of thousands of British Ex-pats around the world that have worked all of their lives in the UK and then retired abroad. They have paid their taxes in the UK for all of their working lives, many still paying today and should not now be penalised if they choose to emigrate. I also believe that it is 'uneuropean' in as much as it impedes the freedom of movement within member states by the population of the UK by effectively taxing them to leave. This policy punishes mainly those ex-pats that have served their country in the armed forces, police, NHS, fire brigade and civil service and shows that the UK government has no loyalty to it's most deserving of citizens.376 of 400 SignaturesCreated by Glen Allsopp
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Support for victims of sexual abuseBased on data from the ‘Crime Survey for England and Wales’ around 473,000 adults were victims of sexual offences (around 404,000 females and 72,000 males) on average per year from 2009-2012 (Sexual Offending in England and Wales, 2013). 90% of victims of the most serious sexual offences reported they knew the perpetrator, yet only 15 per cent of victims of such offences said that they had reported it to the police. Stating that it was ‘embarrassing’, they ‘didn’t think the police could do much to help’, that the incident was ‘too trivial or not worth reporting’, or that they saw it as a ‘private/family matter and not police business’. We must learn from the tragic case of Frances Andrade, who tragically died at her home in Guildford, Surrey in January 2013, just a week after giving evidence in court about historical sexual abuse by her former choirmaster. Her husband, Levine Andrade, 59, found his wife, known as Fran, dead at 8am on 24 January last year. He said, "Apart from the trial bringing it all back up she felt the defence barrister seemed to be attacking her personally. "It got her completely down and she felt completely defenceless. I think she felt she was not prepared enough for the trial. She was not expecting to be attacked personally and have to answer so many direct questions in public. Much more needs to be done to provide and promote professional high-quality support services to help victims move on with their lives. Only when victims have sufficient support can they make the choice to go through the criminal justice system. More importantly victims must have sufficient professional support to endure the often lengthy and protracted court process. In the policy 'Ending violence against women and girls in the UK' it stated that the government would part-fund 87 independent sexual violence advisers and pledging £1.2 million for 3 years from 2012 to improve services. The problem is this funding will end in 2015 and 87 part-funded ISVA's are far from adequate for the number of victims we have in the UK. We need to put this on the public and government agenda before the next elections.647 of 800 SignaturesCreated by Yehudis Goldsobel
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SUNDAY VOTINGClosing schools on Thursdays causes maximum difficulties for child care, disrupts education if an extra day is not put into the term time.18 of 100 SignaturesCreated by HUGH FRASER
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50+ women being crucified by the new pension rulesThis is an important issue whereby many women over the age of 55 particularly will suffer financial hardship through no fault of their own. There has been no proper planning or compensation considered for or this small minority of women which will suffer as a result. Many women over 50 find themselves living alone and had always expected to retire with a state pension at 60. The new legislation has not given woman a fair enough amount of time to prepare for such a major financial disruption to their lives.258 of 300 SignaturesCreated by Susanna Young
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Statutory Youth ServiceCurrently there is no statutory obligation placed on local authorities to provided a Youth Service via the respective Councils in the UK. Recently, this has meant that councils when faced with Government austerity cuts have chosen to cut vital services to our young people. Through these draconian measures many Youth Centres in the hearts of our communities have already faced forced closure and hundreds of thousands of young people now face a much reduced range of services, support, guidance and now lack access to opportunities to acquire critical life skills. Youth workers who have trained over three years to become professionally qualified are being put out of work after many years of loyal service. The young people in disadvantaged communities, in particular, are being harder hit by these measures. For many vulnerable young people their locally provided service is a lifeline and is a much needed supported pathway to a more productive, happy and fulfilled adulthood. Up and down the country young people, communities , supporters and their Youth Workers have been trying to resist these cuts - but a much louder voice is needed to ensure that services are put on a statutory footing - helping to prevent even more cuts and the betrayal of our young people in the future. With your help and public outcry we may be able to ensure our young people receive the necessary services, opportunities and support that so many so desperately need and rely so heavily upon. Please help.7,464 of 8,000 SignaturesCreated by Pete Sims
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Ensure Fairness in BBC Scotland's August 25th Independence DebateThe referendum on the 18th September is the most important decision that the people of Scotland could be asked to make. A great deal is at stake for both sides of the argument, and for the rest of the UK. Many of us believe that much of the Scottish and UK media has treated the Yes Campaign and pro-independence supporters with contempt and outright condescension. This petition is urging BBC Scotland to recognize the importance of giving both sides of the debate an equal opportunity to voice their arguments for and against independence.2,866 of 3,000 SignaturesCreated by Brian Nixon
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Save Keir Hardie HallThis September, historic yet run-down Keir Hardie Hall is being put up for auction. Most people today know it as a working men's club, but it was actually named in 1915 to honour posthumously of one of Britain's lesser known, but arguably most important, statesmen. Keir Hardie was unusual, both in his own era & our own: a politician who rejected the self-interested pursuit of power & money. His life's work was an attempt to bring about equality, justice and freedom for the poor and marginalised: men, women and children, regardless of ethnicity or religion. During the brutal years of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, ideas he advocated (universal healthcare; equality for women; universal state education; countries of empire being entitled to national sovereignty; state pensions; decent housing; employment rights & even animal welfare) were largely ridiculed. After the carnage of two world wars, successive governments were able to realise many of them. Ninety-nine years after Hardie addressed his final great anti-war speech to an audience in Norwich, we seem to have come full circle: Many of the benchmarks of late twentieth century civilisation are under threat -both nationally and globally. Ninety-nine years from now they may have been written out of history altogether. Our city, which appears affluent to visitors, is actually blighted by hidden poverty. It's of huge importance that Norwich City Council (run by a Labour majority with a strong Green opposition) acts now to ensure Keir Hardie Hall's historical context is not lost, whilst simultaneously helping to meet our current need for decent, energy-efficient, genuinely affordable, housing for all. Let's give this building a future befitting its past.546 of 600 SignaturesCreated by Lucy Howard
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Great Britain to help stop religious persecution in IraqBritain has unfinished business in Iraq, from the errors of 1914 to 1932 and the debacle of 2003 to the religious genocide against Christians and other groups right now.75 of 100 SignaturesCreated by mark dury
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Don't sentence Israel to deathThe sight of people crammed into bomb shelters, waiting for the scream of the rocket to pass overhead and praying their country's military defence systems hold strong, is now an everyday occurence in Israel. Yet there are currently active campaigns to weaken those very defences keeping these families alive day after day. A current petition asking the Prime Minister to stop the sales of British-made weapon-parts to Israel has cited the controversial Sayeeda Warsi who called the British policy on the Gaza crisis "morally indefensible". Yet there can be little more morally indefensible than an attempt to withold Israel's means to defend itself against a barrage of rocket attacks from a terrorist organisation with one clear aim - to destroy Israel and kill the entire Jewish population. There are claims that the anti-Israel petition to which we object was sent to over one million people in an email which opens with an evocative description of "men, women and innocent children being killed, injured and driven from their homes" at the hands of Israel. The deaths of so many civilians in Gaza is tragic and heartbreaking. But there is incontrovertible evidence to show that the innocent casualties would have been greatly reduced had Hamas not repeatedly used Palestinian children and civilians as human shields. It is widely accepted that Hamas is using schools and hospitals as rocket launch sites, and there is clear evidence to show that well over a hundred of Hamas' rockets have misfired and landed within Gaza. There is also absolute proof that Israel routinely warns civilians in Gaza ahead of any military attack on the area, by leaflet and telephone. There can be no doubt that responsibility for a great many unnecessary deaths rests within Gaza itself. The petition to which we object has cherry-picked messages only from anti-Israel politicians, like the very worst of the biased, propagandist media. There are many other politicians and respected figures who have spoken up in public support of Israel and who could equally be cited. Ex-Prime Minister and Peace Envoy to the Middle East, Tony Blair said: "If 80 rockets would be fired upon the citizens of Great Britain, no way I wouldn't be taking action. If an Israeli prime minister would fail to take action, people would say that this is unacceptable". What do you think would happen if Israel's weapons were blocked? What would happen if they lost their means to defend themselves from terrorists firing rockets into their country and tunnelling into their towns for the sole purpose of killing as many Israelis as possible? The death count in the Middle East would not be reduced. It would increase. But it would be Israelis dying. Jews instead of Arabs. The frightening and difficult question is whether Jewish deaths seem to be more acceptable to some than Arab deaths. The number of innocent people in Gaza who have been killed is sad and terrible. But the unequal comparison of numbers of Arab deaths versus numbers of Israeli deaths is being manipulated into an indicator of victim versus aggressor. In fact the only reason more Israelis haven't been killed is because of Israel's Iron Dome defence system, which shoots rockets out of the sky. Without their sophisticated defences a huge number of Israelis would have been killed in this current conflict. The frightening fact is that it seems a great many people would be happier if the Israeli death count were in the hundreds or thousands too. Over recent weeks there has been a sharp rise in open and violent anti-semitism across Europe and the rest of the world. This is the issue that campaigning organisations should be tackling. When they choose instead to add fuel to an already out-of-control fire, spreading half-truths and prejudice and adding to the anti-Israel and anti-semitic propaganda filling our newspapers and inboxes, they are contributing to an already volatile and dangerous situation. We therefore urge the Prime Minister to disregard the petition calling for him to withdraw support from Israel. If David Cameron bows to pressure to stop the sale of weapons-parts to Israel, he will be denying the right of the only democratic state in the Middle East to defend itself from terrorist attack. In the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel." You can contact us at [email protected] Any anti-semitic or threatening emails received will be forwarded to the police as appropriate.4,062 of 5,000 SignaturesCreated by Lizi Jackson
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Help the Yazidi People In IraqOn Sunday the town of Sinjar in Iraq fell to ISIS. This is home to the Yazidi people. (The Yazidi are an ancient people with distinct religious beliefs. Citizens of this religion are peaceful people who acknowledge all principles and humanitarian values and respect all religions,) Many of the people fled to the mountains to escape. They are now surrounded by ISIS, who have cut off any routes of escape. Many are thought to be children. Many have already been killed. We need to offer them support. This is a race against time to help these people. International communities need to act immediately. You can email Philip Hammond here: [email protected] I have set up a just giving page if you can help financially. I have chosen Christian Aid as they are one of the few charities on the ground at the moment. Please visit http://www.justgiving.com/owner-email/pleasesponsor/sally-newing-iraq251 of 300 SignaturesCreated by sally newing
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David Cameron why will you not publicly condemn Israel for slaughter of civilians?War crimes may have been committed, the country need to know the the British government are in no way complicit and condemn such actions.19 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Philip Wall
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