Theresa May has just announced that she will spend £24m in the North. Unfortunately, it's going on cycling. While this is still welcome, it's hardly a priority. HS3 is such a thing; it's what a priority looks like, and sounds like, and is like. It's a priority. The Cameron administration pledged an 'HS3' link for the North. What they meant was a line linking Leeds and Manchester, electrified to run at about 140mph at most. HS2 is planned to reach 250mph. We need a line that runs at the same speed as HS2. Remember 'Northern Powerhouse'? That was just George Osborne's posh name for Manchester The North of England is not just Manchester. It's much, much more. We want HS3 to run into Liverpool and Bradford. And we want half of the trains into York and then north to Newcastle, and the other half to Hull. These cities desperately need a better service than the one they have today. And we also need a high-speed line from Manchester to Sheffield. Sheffield can't be overlooked anymore. The importance of connecting it to Manchester is really very obvious. There is already talk of a new road in a tunnel between the two cities. Why not make it rail? We can only see the real benefits if it is a high-speed line. And then it'll certainly be worthwhile. My parents used to live in Durham. My father worked in Middlesbrough, my mother at the University of Manchester. She had to commute from Durham to Manchester Piccadilly and back every day - and although there were no changes involved, it was piteously slow. I've travelled that line. It was slow then and it's just as slow now. And the trains are even more crowded, the M62 and the A-roads more packed. But there's no alternative. This is what we want to change. For the North to have more autonomy the major cities need to be connected together - certainly more than they need a high-speed umbilical cord to London. People say that 'it's grim up north' - and it's not true. But maybe that's from their experience of travelling from one side of it to the other. We need to build a Britain for the future. And we need a North for the future. Much more infrastructure and spending per head is located in London and the South East. It's time to redress the balance. We need a level playing field. This is more important than HS2. It will effect local business and economies in a bigger and better way. It will massively cut journey times between the fractured sides of the North. Communication between Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Hull would improve massively. The North would seem more united. And as for the many, many people that use the current Trans-Pennine line between Yorkshire and Lancashire, their journeys would be improved ten-fold. Bradford would be connected properly for the first time. Over 500,000 people live there, and it contains some of the most deprived areas in the North. It would benefit greatly from a high-speed service as its economy would improve and its people would be better connected. So that's what we want: a new, high-speed railway line from Manchester to Bradford, Leeds, and then a junction: Hull one way, and York (joining the mainline to Newcastle and Teesside) the other way. And we also want a high-speed link between Sheffield and Manchester. Except this: we don't just want these projects, we need them. Chris Grayling heads up the DfT, so he's our target for this petition. Come on, Chris, make it happen! This is our message to Theresa May: here you have a brilliant opportunity to show how you are committed to improving the North. Take it with both hands, honestly. You need us. Remember that. HS3 gives us a platform (not just a railway one, either) for working on that. Here we have the foundations of a proper, working, breathing North, a North for the future. We all just need to see it.

Deer Park Medical Centre is a GP Practice providing an excellent service to a large number of people in West Witney due to close on the 3rd November 2016. It is currently being serviced under contact to Virgin Care. Whilst many of us do not agree with the privatisation of health services, Virgin are undoubtedly providing a good service. Whatever it takes to keep this practice open must be done. You cannot seriously consider allowing it to close. Other GP practices in Witney are already badly overstretched and waiting times for an appointment are often measured in weeks. This is not the case at Deer Park, I am a patient and have never had to wait more than days, also they operate walk in clinics for urgent cases. Please don't use the people of West Witney as political pawns in this dangerous game.

I would like to understand why HRT is not free on the NHS. I would like to know as at the age of 29 year old I have to pay £8.45 a month for HRT as I have endometriosis when the contraceptive pill is free. I do have a prepaid annual prescription card that costs £104.00. But not every woman can afford this. Endometriosis awareness is very important. I started my period when I was 11. I didn't realise that they weren't 'normal.' If I had been made aware of the condition it may not have taken me so long for me to get diagnosed, as was one of the common side effects of endometriosis is Irregular and painful periods.

It is going to cost in excess of £5,650 per INCH!!!! and for what gain, just to get to the destination 20 minutes sooner. And as Bill Bryson says in his book: if you have 20 minutes to spare, what do you do - have a cup of coffee!

The current system of creating money through the sale of ever increasing layers of debt, and now, the BofE operating an unaccountable balance sheet which defies principle or prudence, is plumbing the depths of fantasy economics, is unsustainable in nature. It is starting to resemble a listing pirate ship liable to sink at any moment. Only Sound money can deliver a reduction of inequality, a sustainable future for the environment and the next generation and re-establish trust in government, creating a new united kingdom that everyone can believe in.

The House of Lords is an anachronism and is stuffed full of politicians cronies and buddy pals sent there as a reward for services rendered to them that is not necessarily to the benefit of the electorate. We need an accountable second chamber to curb the excesses of the elitist Commons who have lost touch with the electorate.

The Hunger Project have shown that poverty and hunger decrease when a country's population is educated. Investing in education in developing countries, and offering businesses incentives to do the same will lead to more educated citizens, a better quality of life and a decrease in the 805,000,000 people who currently go hungry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq80vZJ8n2k

In June 2014, the Government introduced charges for using the Child Maintenance Service. To apply for a maintenance assessment it costs £20.00, with no guarantee any maintenance will ever be received. To then have the maintenance collected, more charges are imposed on both parents. The paying parent pays an extra 20% on top of their maintenance assessment and the receiving parent has a further 4% of their maintenance deducted. This means on an assessment of £100, the paying parent actually pays £120 and the receiving parent only gets £96, with the government taking a total of £24, not including the application fee. So far the charges have totalled over £8.5 million and are rising to a staggering £1 million per month. This money should be supporting the future of children and going towards essentials such as clothes, healthy food, books, education and heating. The charges are designed as a deterrent for using the Child Maintenance Service and it is feared that thousands of children are not receiving maintenance as a result. Even the government’s own research predicted 100,000 fewer parents would make maintenance arrangements because of the introduction of charges. Where maintenance is received it is often at a lower amount, either because parents feel pressured to accept a lower payment rather than use the Child Maintenance Service and face charges, or because they use the service and have money deducted by the government. The new system also puts extra pressure on relationships between parents, particularly when there is a history of abuse and/or violence. Studies have shown how essential child maintenance is for lifting the growing number of children living in poverty out of that desperate and disadvantaged situation. The charges are due to be reviewed at the end of the year so now is the time to call on the government to end this unfair tax on single parent families. Sign the petition asking the Minister for the Department of Work and Pensions to end all charges for the use of the Child Maintenance Service.

It is another, very sorry state of affairs, that yet another NHS surgery, is being forced to close down, due to rising rents, NHS cutbacks and-frankly-a total disregard for the welfare of thousands of patients and their RIGHTS to expect and receive consultation(s), treatment(s) and professional care, from our GP's. So, Our practice is being forced to close, in March 2017, so that all of its patients shall have no other option but go 'elsewhere' to register with another surgery. As you are all, likely aware, a Doctor/Patient relationship is dependent on trust and familiarity. Doubtless, this relationship shall be compromised-particularly to the many of older and/or those with more serious ongoing conditions. Furthermore, the dread of such serious change might actually have a detrimental effect on some patients' already fragile health. At the very least, chaos bodes. Please ask yourselves this question: with yet another closure, where can the patients go? Surgeries are already at bursting point and the Government seems bent on privatisation, which means that ANYBODY who depends on their local surgery is at risk of substandard health care and therefore, deteriorating conditions, BECAUSE THEY ARE CLOSING THE ONE PLACE WHICH PATIENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO RELY ON. Two years ago, I had extremely serious health problems. Had it not been for the NHS, I would have died. My Doctor, at surgery, was immeasurably important in galvanising the correct treatment and/or medication, so vital in turning the illnesses around. Not once but three times. In short, were it not for my GP's locale and readiness to accept the critical treatments needed, I would have died. So, how many more like examples of the necessity of local surgeries are there? If it is something you cannot associate with yourself, then-BET YOUR LIFE-you know somebody that it has happened to. Therefore, I am urging you all, for the well being of yourself, your families, friends and those who desperately NEED your wonderful surgery, please sign this petition to stop the closure at Union Row. Furthermore, I urge you to focus on not only your health but that of the NHS itself. PLEASE DON'T LET THIS PASS YOU BY. ONE DAY, WE SHALL ALL NEED THE NHS.

People who are refugees are people and deserve dignity, respect and support to maintain the basic human needs of having adequate shelter.

The cuts to funding will hinder people with learning disabilities, who want to live independently, as well as homeless projects, potentially creating a Postcode lottery. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dwp-disability-cuts-supported-housing-mencap-womens-refuges-homeless-hostels-a7309466.html#gallery Ministers say it is needed for efficiently, but picking on vulnerable members of society, will only increase problems further down the line. Steps to tackle corporate tax dodging would be a better way of making these savings. As someone who is disabled myself, I feel very strongly, that people like us should be able to live independently, and contribute to society, and not be made to feel we are being cast out. Growing up, I was made to feel a second class citizen by peoples attitudes, and have felt we have made a lot of progress through coverage of the Paralympics, being a great example.

Voter engagement is crucial for our democratic process especially for people who often fail to register or participate in elections. Millions of voters will feel further disenfranchised if their registrations are ignored in this matter of national importance.