Why should it be the hard working people who always have to stump up? Let Government stump up for a welcome change!!!

On 29th March, Citizens UK will be holding a public debate for the West Midlands mayoral election, where they want their 1,000 delegates to be able to meet the potential mayors. But - the 1,000 delegates aren't being allowed to meet the Green Party, Ukip or Lib Dem candidates - they are only inviting Labour and the Tories! The BBC found this shocking and hard to understand, and featured the issue on BBC WM this week. It is accepted by broadcasters in the UK now that Ukip, the Green Party and the Lib Dems are all major political parties and they have been invited to every debate in this campaign so far - dozens of them - with the one exception of the Citizens UK event. In an ironic twist, Citizens UK even used James Burn (Green Party) and Beverley Nielsen (Lib Dems) as part of the advertising for their event held on 19th November 2016. Originally Citizens UK actually invited Liberal Democrat candidate Beverley Nielsen, but after the Green Party complained to their board about unfairly being excluded, Citizens UK outrageously *withdrew* their invitation to the Lib Dems, as if somehow that was better! This is an incredibly wrong-headed way to handle being called out for being undemocratic. Citizens UK are claiming their event is not a debate, but a "private event" that the public can't come to. This simply isn't true. Tickets to this "private event" are freely available to the public - get yours here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/west-midlands-citizens-mayoral-assembly-2017-tickets-30131646566 And even if it were a "private event", surely a grass-roots organisation who claims to champion democracy and equality, that welcomes diversity and speaks up for the most disadvantaged should be inviting all the candidates, not just the establishment, white middle-aged men. To exclude the only woman, the only candidate from the Black Country and the only young candidate, is bizarre at best. If you support democracy, please sign this petition. Citizens UK: please live up to the ideals you claim you stand for.

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.

NHS bosses in Colne Valley are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail - but there’s a £91m funding gap in West Yorkshire and this may affect the five specialist stroke units and several mental health services. It looks like big changes are on the table. Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, Jason McCartney, to stand up for the NHS in the Colne Valley. So far, it doesn’t look like he’s said much. But if thousands of us sign a petition asking him to demand the NHS gets more funding, it’ll show him that he needs to speak out.

NHS bosses in Bedford are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail -but there’s a £311m funding gap for Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire and Luton. The plan outlines proposed major changes to specialist hospital care in order to ensure those services are 'financially sustainable'. It looks like big changes are on the table. Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, Richard Fuller, to stand up for the NHS in Bedford. So far, it doesn’t look like he’s said much. But if thousands of us sign a petition asking him to demand the NHS gets more funding, it’ll show him that he needs to speak out.

NHS bosses in Lewes are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail - but there’s a £864m funding gap for Sussex and East Surrey. The plan is short of important detail on how it'll close the funding gap without cuts or closures to services. But it looks like big changes are on the table. Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, Maria Caulfield, to stand up for the NHS in Lewes. So far, it doesn’t look like she’s said much. But if thousands of us sign a petition asking her to demand the NHS gets more funding, it’ll show her that she needs to speak out.

NHS bosses in Weaver Vale are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail - but there’s a £900m funding gap in Cheshire and Merseyside which could lead to cuts in A&E and mergers with hospitals in Liverpool. It looks like big changes are on the table. Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, Graham Evans, to stand up for the NHS in Weaver Vale. So far, it doesn’t look like he’s said much. But if thousands of us sign a petition asking him to demand the NHS gets more funding, it’ll show him that he needs to speak out.

NHS bosses in Thurrock are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail - but there’s a £630m funding gap across Mid and South Essex. Three hospitals and potentially two of the area's A and E’s could lose services. It looks like big changes are on the table. Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, Jackie Doyle-Price, to stand up for the NHS in Thurrock. So far, it doesn’t look like she’s said much. But if thousands of us sign a petition asking her to demand the NHS gets more funding, it’ll show her that she needs to speak out.

NHS bosses in North Bury are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail - but there’s a £1bn funding gap across Greater Manchester. Services in paediatrics, maternity wards and care for people with learning difficulties could all be reduced. It looks like big changes are on the table. Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, David Nuttall, to stand up for the NHS in North Bury. So far, it doesn’t look like he’s said much. But if thousands of us sign a petition asking him to demand the NHS gets more funding, it’ll show him that he needs to speak out.

NHS bosses in Croydon are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail - but there’s a £828m funding gap across South West London, and the A and E’s in the area are “under review”. It looks like big changes are on the table. Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, Gavin Barwell, to stand up for the NHS in Croydon. So far, it doesn’t look like he’s said much. But if thousands of us sign a petition asking him to demand the NHS gets more funding, it’ll show him that he needs to speak out.

NHS bosses in Derby North are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail - but there’s a but there’s a £355m funding gap, and nearly 500 hospital beds across Derbyshire could close. It looks like big changes are on the table. Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, Amanda Solloway, to stand up for the NHS in Derby North. So far, it doesn’t look like she’s said much. But if thousands of us sign a petition asking her to demand the NHS gets more funding, it’ll show her she needs to speak out.

NHS bosses in Redditch are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail - but there’s a £336m funding gap and two hundred community beds are earmarked for closure across Herefordshire and Worcestershire. It looks like big changes are on the table. Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, Karen Lumley, to stand up for the NHS in Redditch. So far, she’s spoken out for funding for one local hospital but it's a bigger problem than that.