The continued exclusion of overseas pensioners from up-rating adjustments to their State Pensions means that the real terms incomes of those affected falls year-on-year. Over time this leads to hardship, poverty, loss of independence and loneliness. Some individuals have been forced to return to the UK, away from loved ones, just to get by. This policy also creates a barrier to pensioner emigration from the UK, as the prospect of a frozen pension means that many feel they simply couldn't afford to do so. Given the countries involved are largely in the Commonwealth, those in British Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities are disproportionately impacted. There is no dispute about the entitlement to receive a State Pension overseas. All British pensioners who have made the required NI contributions during their working life are eligible. The issue at stake is whether that pension is universally uprated or not. At the moment, the government's policy is inconsistent and unfair, with half British pensioners abroad getting up-rated and the other half excluded. This creates crazy anomalies i.e. uprating in the USA, frozen pensions in Canada. It is time for reform to give all pensioners the full state pension they deserve, wherever they live, and to end this injustice once and for all. A positive, and easily affordable, step forward would be for the Government to include all pensioners in the 2.7% State Pension up-rating to be granted this year, by withdrawing the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Regulations 2016 currently before parliament. CASE STUDIES: Anne Puckridge Former college lecturer Anne Puckridge, now 91, lived and worked in the UK all her working life, paying mandatory NI contributions throughout this time. In 2002, aged 77 she finally retired and decided to move to Canada to be with her daughter and grandchildren who had moved to Calgary in the 1990s. Fourteen years on, Anne, who served as an intelligence officer in the Women’s Royal Navy in the Second World War, is struggling to live on the frozen £75.50 a week rate, she was entitled to when she moved abroad. Anne now feels that she will be forced to move back to Britain, because her pension will no longer cover day to day expenses and she is increasingly reliant on her daughter to get by. Anne says: “It’s the small things, and the injustice, that is really getting to me. I value my independence, but I can’t go on living on the breadline and I don’t want to inflict this on my family. As well as ever-increasingly poverty, I feel a sense of stress and shame, which is affecting my health.” Abhik Bonnerjee Abhik Bonnerjee, now 73, moved from India to Glasgow in 1960. He worked in the UK for 38 years, in shipbuilding, steel manufacture and the food industry. He owned an Indian restaurant for 6 years. Abhik returned to India in 1997 and reached the State Pension retirement age in 2008 when it was paid at £87.30 a week. Having made all the required NI contributions, if Abhik still in the UK today he would get £115.95, 28% more. The decline in his real terms income has left Abhik concerned about losing his home. He now feels he may have to move back to the UK. Abhik says: “The current situation makes me very, very angry. The government are scaremongering… [The Minister] says it will cost a lot of money but it is only a tiny percentage [of the pensions budget]. The government should be doing more, especially for Commonwealth countries and MPs can’t explain why they are not.” Rita Young Rita Young, 78, lives in Peterborough in the UK. She retired in 2002, aged 67, having enjoyed a long career in market research and as a community volunteer. Rita’s son moved to work in Australia some time ago and now has a family there. Since being widowed Rita has wanted to join her son and grandchildren in Australia, but has felt unable to do so due to the prospect of a frozen pension. As she gets older Rita finds daily life increasingly difficult, especially as she doesn’t have a family around who she can call on. She is deeply saddened that she is not able to be with her family during the later stages of her life, and feels that it is a complete injustice that had her son moved to a different country (e.g. France or the USA) she would be able join him with a full UK pension. Rita has spoken at the National Pensioners Convention about the issue and is very active in her community. Rita says: “I worked and contributed to my State Pension all my life. It doesn't seem fair that the government can just stop uprating it because I want to be with my family.” Geoff Amatt Geoff Amatt from Abergele in Wales reached 100 last year. Geoff contributed to the UK economy all his life and fought for his country during the Second World War. Geoff’s daughter Jean emigrated to Calgary, Canada more than 40 years ago, yet Geoff was unable to follow in the knowledge that his State Pension would be frozen at the rate of leaving the country. £29 per week at the time. As a result Geoff has been separated from his two grandchildren and two great grandchildren throughout his retirement. He has lived alone, largely dependent on the state for care, since his wife died seven years ago. Jean says: “Frozen pensions are unbelievably unfair. Canadians get their pension uprated in they live in the UK yet we don’t offer the same for those moving in the other direction. The government is keeping families apart and I worry about my father left all alone in Britain while we’re thousands of miles away.”

"Displaying intelligence" and "Enjoying reading and writing" are not grounds to dismiss a person with a disability who has clearly stated that they are unable to go about day-to-day living unaided. Denying this benefit to anybody who has been on DLA is in direct breach of basic human rights, and the rights of the disabled in particular. To cause futher stress to people with mental and physical limitations who may well be already battling with suicidal thoughts is tantamount to potential genocide of a vulnerable group of people. If not a war crime, it is most certainly premeditated murder.

Our Government are supposed to be a democratically elected Government working for and on behalf of the people of our nation. In reality, we have a wannabe Mafia, hellbent on privatising our NHS, privatising our schools and destroying our welfare state. In 2012, Justin Tomlinson, the Tories’ Swindon North MP, voted to prevent disabled children from receiving at least a two-third higher rate of universal credit. His vote to block this increase is one that will seriously hurt some of the poorest children in this country, for example, those who are deaf, have cerebral palsy or even Down’s Syndrome. In addition, he's reaffirmed his cynical approach by supporting the cuts in ESA. The title ‘Disabilities Minister’ can be confusing. People can be forgiven for believing that this job is one in which the holder will be an advocate for the disabled. However, he's failed on that, and as such, should resign his position in Government immediately. If you or I were to so inept in our jobs, we'd be sacked. Let's give him the opportunity to do the right thing and resign.

Jo Churchill, MP voted through the cuts to the ESA (Employment Support Allowance) for new claimants in the WRAG (Work-Related Activity Group). It is hypocritical for Jo Churchill to be gaining positive publicity by participating in this organisation's fundraising event for people who may be left worse off by this bill. Headway's Chief Executive states: "Making cuts to benefits for disabled people who have been independently assessed as being unfit for work will cause unnecessary hardship, leading to isolation and anxiety, and potentially increase their long-term dependence on state support." https://www.headway.org.uk/news/national-news/government-forces-through-esa-benefit-cut/

No-one asks to be disabled. My partner has MS and was working right up until the disease struck. She bravely endures her disability, like many people do. Her ESA is a vital element to provide assistance and a small measure of Independence in a life, without which, would rapidly become completely joyless. Many other people rely upon this, too. This is not the action of a humane government.

The refuge is a safe place for women who's lives have been shattered by rape, sexual assault and domestic violence. Without this safe place, which although only short term, provides much needed breathing space. Not only that it shows these people that not everyone is out to hurt them. The removal of funding for these vital services, gives abused women the message that no one cares and it is ok for them to be abused. Is this a good message to send out across Cumbria?

Our high streets are being taken over by betting companies whose business model is to create and exploit gambling addictions. This isn’t about placing the odd bet on a football match or horse race. Bookies use their electronic gambling machines to filter out that casual crowd: they’re looking for people with the potential for a serious gambling addiction. Fixed-odds betting terminals feed a dependency just as powerful as drugs or alcohol. Their high speed games, with stakes as high as £100 every twenty seconds, mean you can easily lose a month’s wages in under an hour. Eventually you realise you’re not doing it for the money – you’re doing it because you’re physically addicted to the rush. I’ve lost numerous jobs because of electronic gambling. I’ve lost two properties through failure to keep up with mortage payments, I've amassed £100,000s in debt, I’m separated from my wife and children, and I’m trapped in a situation where I can’t rent accommodation because my credit score is so low and I haven’t enough money for a deposit. Now I’ve got special blocks on my computer that stop me straying onto a betting site – I even had to disable them to set up this petition. We can do something to change the tide of misery and reclaim our high streets. We can sign this petition.

It can not be right in a civilised and fair society that children should be placed in poverty and disadvantaged because of the failure by successive governments to effectively manage the British economy.

Without my car, I'm not safe. I use my vehicle to get to work, the supermarket, the shops, the cleaners, the hairdressers, to visit family, to volunteer, to do everything I need to do. Without my car, I cannot get about. I cannot safely walk to the bus stop, and should I use public transport I have no guarantee that my mobility will remain long enough for me to get to my destination or even get home. I've been stranded in city centres and other places because I used public transport and then wasn't strong enough to return to a bus stop and get home. Many people with motability vehicles rely on these to get by. Without my car, I couldn't work. If I can't work, I can't pay my rent. If I can't pay my rent, I don't have anywhere to live - disabled people are facing these choices today. Many disabled people have 'mild-moderate' support needs. That means, social services cannot afford to help them in this climate of cuts and their only way forward is disability benefits or a motability vehicle. Without the motability vehicle, we become vulnerable. We can exert ourselves, get weaker, get to a place where we become more reliant on the state, cannot work, cannot socialise and collectively cost more in healthcare. That argument doesn't matter though. What matters is that collectively we have a right and a need to access a full and equivalent life and bit by bit rights are being stripped away. Re-evaluate and stop removing people's motability cars.

The Practice Group plc (a private company) has been running The Willows Surgery in Lower Bevendean along with four other GP surgeries in Brighton and Hove. At the beginning of this year they announced that they would no longer be running their Brighton and Hove surgeries after June (this already follows the closure of two of the city's GP surgeries last year). This announcement has left a huge hole and The Willows is now threatened with closure. Lower Bevendean is in a somewhat isolated area on the outskirts of Brighton. It is an area of mostly low income households and is made up of largely council and ex-council housing. The surgery has just under 2,000 patients and all have been feeling extremely anxious since the news. No-one wants to see their GP surgery close down! If The Willows were to close patients would have to travel outside their local area to see a doctor. The nearest GP to Lower Bevendean would be a long trek up and down a hilly area and as a large number of The Willows patients are elderly or disabled or in poor health they would not be able to manage the extra travel to see a Doctor. Even if travelling wasn't a problem, the nearest GP surgery simply has not got the capacity to take on an extra 2,000 patients. So realistically patients would have to travel a lot further to register with a new GP. As there seems to be no 'highest priority' scheme in place, the elderly and the less able bodied will be the last in the race to find a new GP and will find themselves having to travel the furthest. We've heard reports of elderly patients in tears as they are so worried about what will happen if their doctor disappears from their community. The less frail residents are angry. Why must they travel across the city to see a doctor? How is it possible that an NHS GP will vanish from the neighbourhood because the private company who were running the surgery decided that they wanted to earn more profit from us? In order to keep our NHS public we need to fight the 'behind our backs' privatisation of our health services! We need to make sure that our health service is about people and not profits! The community in Lower Bevendean need your support in their fight to stop the closure of The Willows GP Surgery. The community of Lower Bevendean needs to have local access to a GP and they require NHS England, along with Brighton and Hove CCG to ensure that a GP service will continue at the Willows Surgery !

Please Read Carefully....Thanks :) I live with chronic depression, associated anxiety neurosis and constant suicidal ideation too, which is unbearable at times,however,these are just labels forced upon me by mainstream psychiatry. I despise being labelled,especially when I feel these are wrong,inappropriate or clinically incorrect,so I'm constantly up against 'the system' (ironically who I've worked for too,in a number of specialist mental health roles,hence my anger at being labelled so seemingly randomly,by a string of locum/passing through psychiatrists who barely know me as a real and wholesome person at all), but I do my best to get by daily with support from friends,former workmates and my army comrades too. I intend to petition Caroline Lucas of the Green Party,to simply realise how essential these services are.There are increasing numbers of suicides daily, particularly where people suffering with PTSD issues are concerned,including all forces veterans and equally as important,as many civilians too, that's a fact sadly. One suicide today is one too many, so let's all fight to stop this now!!

It is a sacrilege and a disgrace to have so many empty buildings (paid and subsidised by us the tax payers) when they could be used for greater good. KCC do the right thing and open up your empty buildings to the homeless now!!!