An estate agent in Bristol called CJ Hole has been sending out letters to its landlord clients asking "Are you getting enough rent?" and "How do you get more rent?" The letter they are sending to landlords explains that "with rents increasing every week in Bristol, it is highly likely your property is due a rent increase.” It goes on to say that “the demand from tenants is far exceeding the number of available properties and we have never seen such a buoyant rental market." It doesn't once mention the rights of tenants. The letter shows how some estate agents and landlords are seeking to cynically profit from the housing crisis in Bristol at a time when inflation has declined to 0.3% and deflation is predicted. I think there is no justification for increasing rents at a time when prices are actually going down. In addition, real average earnings have fallen by 8% since 2008. Such predatory rental practices are an attack on low income people and threaten the most basic of rights – the security of a home to live in. Bristol's housing supply has been described by an official report as "in crisis." In 2013 just 60 affordable homes were built across Bristol Please sign this petition if you want CJ Hole to stop sending these letters to its landlord clients and if you want your next MP to support rent controls, giving more rights to tenants and building more affordable homes. If you have experienced a rent rise you believe is unjustified please post the details below. I.e. how much was it, was it in response to improvements made by the landlord, and any other points you think are relevant. If you have seen similar letters from other estate agents, please contact me. We will compile a list of all responses and use these as the basis for a later action/petition. Read the full letter below: https://s.bsd.net/38degrees/main/page/-/11096902_10153147467450900_147746140_n.jpg

All over the country people are tired of politicians who promise one thing at election time when they need our votes and then go off to Westminster and ignore what their constituents really want. In a recent survey, 77% of us said we wanted MPs to put the views of their constituents first but only 27% of us thought they actually did. In constituencies across the UK, voters are fighting back by demanding all parliamentary candidates sign the MyMP pledge. This means any candidate who gets elected agrees to consult with and poll constituents on key parliamentary decisions and vote accordingly. We have a great opportunity during the election campaign to force our candidates to do politics in a different, genuinely democratic way by demanding they put the views of the people of Barnet first on issues like the NHS, immigration and living standards. If you live in the London Borough of Barnet, sign the petition and make sure your voice is heard over the next five years.

In the UK we have bishops in the House of Lords making decisions that could affect each and every one of us, these bishops are being influenced, not by us, not by society as a whole but by religion; the same ideology which influenced a group of religious men to fly planes into the world trade center killing thousands of innocent lives, the same ideology that for thousands of years has caused unnecessary death and suffering of innocent human beings. The only thing religion is very good at is conferring a sense of moral superiority on its followers and I will take no part in it; nor should anyone else that has any sort of individual morality; nor should our 21st century parliament, get religion out of the political decision making processes and as far away from the governing of the country as possible. If I created a religion right now and put in writing what I thought was right and wrong; I could even write a great load of mumbo jumbo proclaiming that I know all the answers, or I add some fiction in there about resurrection and healing powers. Well first people would probably say I’m crazy and I’d be sectioned; but what if over time people actually started believing it? And hundreds, even thousands of years into the future people start sacrificing their lives over it, wars break out because of it, governments changing their laws because of it and the entire sociological ideology of the world’s populous would have changed all because of a religion I could make up on the spot right now. Well, I needn't go on, I’m sure you get the point. We can listen and chose to abide by the rules of society but we don’t have to listen and chose to abide by the rules and fundamentals of anything else. Each and every one of us has our own morality and that is okay! If our own individual morality tells us that something is right or wrong then who is tell us otherwise? The government? The police? The church? A 2000 year old book written by a group of men with their own morals; I ask who influenced them? Who influenced their moral standpoint on things and why should we be dictated to by a group of men who aren't even alive anymore? Let’s say that the authors of the bible thought that murder was right, does that mean that through the ages our morality would in-fact change and not only would we believe this to be the case, it would be instilled into us, into who we are and our individual conscious would know no different. Just because a majority believe something to be right or wrong does not make it so. There’re people in the world that will look to others to influence them morally, the church is the biggest example of this, praying on the weak and feeble telling each and every one of them how to live their lives and they pay the price for it, every single religious person in some way pays a price; be it monetary or non-financial. Whether that be sacrificing their lives or donating ten percent of their hard earnings, they pay a price.

We want our MPs to put our views first, NOT the party agenda, the media, or the wealthy donors. We think it’s time our politicians genuinely represented us: the people who put them in power and pay their salaries. If enough people sign this petition, candidates in this election will feel pressured to agree to the MyMP pledge to vote on the big issues in the way the voters want. We can vote for TV show contestants online and from apps on our phones and the best organisations use consultation to find out what their customers think – the technology is already here to make democracy directly and easily available. There is nothing stopping MPs finding out their constituents’ view on the NHS, immigration, fracking, the NHS or going to war. MPs should all be harnessing this technology to listen to their constituents on the important issues. If candidates in the upcoming election (whether they're from any party, or no party) would pledge to represent us in this way, we could guarantee that whoever won the seat, the people would be listened to. It would free the winning candidate from the lash of party whips and give them a true mandate in line with their duty as an MP, which is to their constituents first and foremost. Will you put pressure on your local candidates and candidates across the country by joining this call for political renewal? Please sign the petition and pass it on.

The people of this country would have more faith in our political system if politicians were held to account in this way. The distinction between parties would become clearer. We would achieve genuine, much needed, political reform. It would minimise those individuals using our political system for their own financial gain thus reducing corruption.

Lord Marlesford's litter bill is still working its way through Parliament, but if it is passed it will allow councils to fine the registered owner of a car for a littering incident. Until that is agreed though, the litter camera approach will only work if you can actually identify an individual, which makes it practically impossible. It will help to reduce the disgusting and very alarming amount of litter that is thrown onto our roads every day.

The Sri Lankan police has a long history of human rights abuses and vicious attacks. Amnesty International’s latest annual report into Sri Lanka alleged that unlawful detentions and torture by security forces were carried out routinely. Since 2007, the Scottish Police College has trained thousands of Sri Lankan officers - including some senior commanders. But training has failed to protect human rights in Sri Lanka. Siobhan Reardon, Amnesty International's programme director in Scotland, said: “Human rights campaigners and family members of people subjected to enforced disappearance were threatened and arrested, and fatal attacks on religious minorities went unpunished.” Also a UN report commissioned by secretary general Ban Ki-Moon found that as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed in the last months of the civil war in May 2009, mostly through indiscriminate shelling by Sri Lankan security forces. The police training reform project is funded by the Foreign Office (FCO), was supposed to embed "international standards in police training." But a recent FCO report found instances of torture, deaths in police custody, police abductions and instances of suspects shot and killed as they attempted to flee. The current contract will end on 31 March 2015, but it could be renewed. Police Scotland should not enable human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. Please listen to the Scottish public, Tamil community and human rights campaigners. Please sign this petition and stop Police Scotland enabling human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. Tamil Solidarity and a number of diaspora campaigners support this petition.

The reason removing the three feathers is important is because it's traced back to Edward the Black Prince; oldest son and heir to Edward III of England and therefore no connection to the native land. Having the feathers is a statement of English oppression and ownership - I find it offensive that it's being used instead of daffodils, leeks, the Red dragon or the Saint David's cross. Y rheswm mae'n bwysig cael gwared o'r tair pluen yw oherwydd ei fod yn olrhain yn ôl i Edward y Tywysog Du ; mab hynaf ac aer i Edward y trydydd o Loegr ac felly tydi o ddim yn cysylltu efo'r wlad enedigol . Mae cael y tair pluen yn ddatganiad o ormes a pherchnogaeth Saeson - Dwi'n gweld hi'n sarhaus i ei ddefnyddio yn lle gennin Pedr, cennin, y ddraig Goch neu y groes Dewi Sant .

Fracking causes devastating effects, affecting every sector of public life, from health to agriculture, to tourism and the environment. Places such as the USA, or Australia where Fracking has already happened have seen a complete degradation of normal life; taking a shower brings your whole body out in a painful red rash, you can light your water on fire, you can't sleep for the noise of the machines and worse, the division of communities due to the manipulation of the Fracking companies. The effects of Fracking are truly endless, with long term effects still being uncovered. We want a ban on Fracking because we love our families, our friends and where we live. Many people have become seriously ill when Fracking companies have started drilling near them. There are many stories of heartache, from someone's wife who has cancer to a mother's young son with severe asthma. Under no circumstances is it acceptable to put communities through the ordeal of Fracking for the sole reason of extracting fossil fuel from the ground. With the effects of the Climate Change becoming worse, this is not the time to invest in Fossil Fuels. If we do not change our habits the repercussions of Climate Change will affect every single person on this earth. We should therefore be investing in renewable energy, not in polluting practises such as Fracking. By signing this petition we make it the duty of our politicians to ensure that Climate change is curbed and Fracking never happens in Northern Ireland.

Assessing value for money in sixth-form education, a recent report published found that academies are able to spend an average of £1,598 more per sixth-form student than sixth-form colleges. The report gives two explanations for this. The government provides funding to academies to meet their VAT, insurance and capital costs in full. Sixth-form colleges, on the other hand, must redirect funding away from frontline education to meet these costs: the average sixth-form colleges pays £335,000 per year in VAT alone.

The forthcoming Leaders' Debate presents a vital opportunity for the voting public to hear how the different political parties would act in government over the next five years, if given the power to do so. Among the millions of children and young people who are affected by government policies every day, one group in particular rely more directly on government than any other – the 68,000 children in care*. For these children and young people, too-often invisible in political debates and without a vote of their own, the state has a special responsibility. Anyone seeking government office, not least hoping to be Prime Minister, takes on a ‘corporate’ responsibility for all children in care. We believe it is our duty as voters to hold our politicians to democratic account for their role as corporate parents to these children. If we don’t, who will? This General Election should be the first in which the nation publicly asks its politicians how they will live up to their responsibility to be good parents for our most vulnerable children. We call for the Leaders' Debate on 2nd April (and other leadership interviews) to include one simple question to all parties: ‘What will you do for children in care?’ *There are 68,000 children in care in England.

David Coburn is a sitting MEP representing Scotland. He has brought shame to his country and his party. These racist comments are unacceptable and should not be tolerated.