Despite attempts to persuade him privately, Iain McNicol, General Secretary of the Labour Party, is refusing to budge on the cost of Youth Conference. Labour are already charging elected delegates £40 for their conference pass (seven times the national minimum wage for most young members), this is without provision for accommodation or travel, meaning in reality the cost of Youth Conference will come to £200 or more for most delegates. This is the first Youth Conference in two years and the first youth elections conference in three years. Delegates have been elected by the entire youth membership regionally to represent them at #YL16, the lack of funding to get delegates there is pricing young members out of democracy and only the Party can resolve this issue. Unless this issue is resolved, Young Labour's democracy runs the risk of looking like that of pre-universal suffrage Britain, in which only those with wealth will have the right (or ability) to vote; the Chartists, whose struggle led to the creation of the Labour Party, would not be impressed.

I have a tribunal appeal coming up 4th Feb 2016, after been found fit for work. Even though I had to take ill health retirement from my job of 17 years. Due to Psoriatic Athritis. All medical evidence was disregarded. The assessment process is purposely flawed to find people fit for work. It must be stopped as people are dying due to this. Please support me in my fight to end this governments agenda to destroy the benefits system. If anybody in the Halton area wishes to attend the tribunal, its being held at Runcorn Courts Halton Lea at 11am Thursday 4th Feb.

It is important that all disabled veterans are supported by the government as it is the same government that placed them in areas of conflict that has resulted in them requiring financial supports as a result of the injuries they received while serving their country this including loss of mobility, loss of their ability to maintain their basic personal care, ie such as washing dressing, nutrition. Please support this petition to ensure that those U.K veterans who have been left permanently disabled do not also find themselves financially disadvantaged due to the these changes. Ian Duncan Smith needs to remove this process, provide a fair system and be forced to support disabled veterans and not just on Poppy Day. It will only take a few minutes of your time, but a life time of difference to improve the quality of life for disabled veterans.

Increasing numbers of homeless people are being arrested for begging around the country. In 2013-14, 2771 cases were brought before the courts, a 70% increase on the previous year. Police use an archaic law which deems those found begging to be 'idle and disorderly'. Begging was made a recordable offence in 2003 against the strong criticisms of civil rights groups and homelessness organisations. Those prosecuted can be fined up to £1000 excluding court charges when found with just a few pennies. Those who have 'gathered alms' (that is, accepted money, food or other material goods offered to them) can be prosecuted under this same law with the same consequences. Some people are kept in cells for several nights. Although begging in and of itself is not an imprisonable offence, if the person is already on bail for another case a simple arrest for begging can lead to imprisonment. Those who are fined will inevitably have to beg more to pay off these fines, risking further arrests and fines, a punishment which stands out in its absurdity. Punishing the destitute for trying to survive is both costly and morally abhorrent. It is a waste of tax payers' money which is spent paying police who 'catch people out' in organised undercover operations, as well as on court cases to prosecute them. The minimum cost of bringing one case to the Magistrates' Court is £1000, meaning that in the year 2013-14, bringing begging cases before the courts cost the taxpayer at least £2.777 million. This is money that could be spent helping people rather than punishing them. Police also routinely move homeless people on under part 3 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act (2014) which gives police the power to confiscate property and exclude individuals from a particular area for up to 48 hours, with the officer also able to impose by what manner and route the person must leave. Failure to comply is a criminal offence which can result in a £2500 fine or 3 months in prison. Refusing to surrender your property is punishable by a fine of up to £500. The two conditions needed by officers to issue a dispersal order are firstly, that the constable has 'reasonable grounds to suspect that the behaviour of the person in the locality has contributed or is likely to contribute to (a) members of the public in the locality being harassed, alarmed or distressed, or (b) the occurrence in the locality of crime or disorder, and secondly, that the constable considers that giving a direction to the person is necessary for the purpose of removing or reducing the likelihood of (a) or (b)'. Given that begging is a crime considered 'idle and disorderly', the two laws in tandem essentially give police de facto power to exclude any homeless person from any area simply because they think it is likely that the person, being homeless, might beg there. The highly subjective definition of 'anti-social behaviour' as that which contributes or is likely to contribute to members of the public in the locality being harassed, alarmed or distressed reinforces this and even with the decriminalisation of begging, would still give police the power to move on any homeless person from any area simply because they believe doing so is necessary for the purpose of removing or reducing the likelihood of members of the public being distressed by seeing them. Seeing people forced to live on the streets is distressing to much of the public for good reason, but this compassionate distress means that under this definition a homeless person is considered to be exhibiting anti-social behaviour simply by existing visibly. The anti-social behaviour that causes the public distress is not caused by the homeless person however, but by the authorities' failure to provide people with shelter in a country that has 600,000 empty homes. As described by someone living on the street, being asked to move on when you have nowhere to go is like being asked to walk into a brick wall. These laws and their enforcement victimize vulnerable people who are already suffering the daily struggle of life on the streets or in insecure and unstable temporary accommodation. We believe that kicking someone for limping when it is you who cut off their leg is shameless and cruel. We believe that the government should be providing homes for the homeless, not handcuffs. We therefore call on parliament to repeal without replacement section 3 of the Vagrancy Act (1824), to amend part 3 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act (2014) to safeguard homeless people from its discriminatory use, and for an ultimate end to the criminalisation of homelessness by any and all other laws that may be newly concocted or dug up for this purpose. If you have an MP who may be sympathetic, get in touch with them to push this issue to parliament. We launched this petition at our demo at Brighton Magistrate's court on the 20th January.

When claiming Tax Credits, the only options you have available to you are that of phone calls, and letters. I have recently been in touch with Tax Credits, and found to my great frustration that the only way the staff will communicate with you is via phone, or writing. This would be okay if the phones were answered in a timely manner, or that the post was direct to the department that it is intended to go to. I have had my post lost, I have had my calls unanswered, and have been cut off. And have now missed an important deadline. If there was a dedicated email address for the departments listed above, I would have had a paper trail, and not missed the deadline. I am not asking for personal emails to be known, just one where claimants can send relevant information through.

The government is drawing up plans to abolish attendance allowance (AA). Attendance allowance is a benefit payable to people over the age of 65 who have care needs, including difficulties with everyday tasks such as dressing and washing. This money can make all the difference between living and existing. Thanks to attendance allowance, older people with conditions like arthritis can pay for cleaners or someone to help with the shopping. It goes towards extra heating, or running a car. It’s not just about budgeting: they also gain some company from hiring help, and can pay for transport to get them out of the house. Without the benefit, many people will no longer be able to travel for their shopping, so they may be forced to use more expensive shops nearby. It will be harder for them to keep their homes clean. They’ll be faced with greater isolation. And loneliness and social isolation are harmful to our health: research shows that lacking social connections is as damaging to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day (Holt-Lunstad, 2010). All this may pose a hazard to both their physical and their mental health - and end up creating more of a strain on medical and social services. A 73 year old man I know was diagnosed with throat and larynx cancer and faced increasing immobility. He was unable to walk to local shops just 250 yards away without either stopping for a break every few yards or being taken by a friend. For longer distances, he had to travel by taxi. It was his attendance allowance which allowed him to pay for taxis and get out of the house in spite of his illness. Since then, he has been in hospital undergoing a tracheotomy and laryngectomy. He is considerably weaker than when he was admitted to hospital and will not be able to look after his home in the way that was once able. He will require the services of a cleaner and a carer to help him prepare meals, neither of which he would be able to afford without his Attendance Allowance. The government claims that local authorities will step in to fill the gap in provision created by scrapping attendance allowance. But in the face of sweeping cuts imposed on their budgets, local authorities may find that administering such an allowance is beyond their means. What guarantees will there be that local authorities will have sufficient funds to match the current rates? This is yet another swipe at the most vulnerable in our society, potentially depriving them of a quality of life that Attendance Allowance helps to provide. N.B.: Just to clarify this will not affect current claimants. The changes are planned to affect claimants from 2018 onwards.

PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE MY PETITION, AND KEEP SHARING. We demand the State pension is re-linked to male average earnings, or inflation, whichever the higher to protect the value of the State pension against means testing, this link should be restored. Britain's WW2 Veterans particularly, but of course all pensioners, including pensioners living overseas should be included, because they have also contributed to Britain's economy over the decades and State pensions should be increased as British prosperity increases, or inflation increases, whichever the higher. Without this Generations past efforts and sacrifices during WW2, none of us would be here today. I have drafted a petition standing up for our living WW2, Veterans, because we all owe our very existence today to the efforts and sacrifices made by this generation of pensioners during WW2.. BUT my petition also demands better State pensions for ALL pensioners, giving a level of State pension they can live on, including overseas pensioners whose pensions are "frozen". They have also contributed to the British economy over the decades. So instead of our Government throwing money into overseas aid that buys fancy cars for dictators, or benefits countries that don't need it, and stop other ways our government waste money... So far Government have refused to act saying there is no money, but there is plenty of money gets sent abroad for various things that could and should be spent back on us, the British people. Particularly we owe the WW2 Generation of pensioners everything we can give them, because they made the ultimate sacrifice, for us! We ask Jeremy Corbyn & Parliament to include woman who stayed at home raising families, and who have paid little or no contributions due to not doing "paid" work, but who worked hard at home bringing children up, raising families, and making sure their husband's had a home to come home to at the end of the War. Also remember the impoverished and neglected war widows.... Also the woman during WW2, who worked in the fields and the Factories, their efforts must not be left out! This Generation have given us everything. They fought for our freedom during WW2. Yet we give them nothing but misery, made to live on a pittance of a State pension. HOW MANY WORLD WAR TWO PENSIONERS ARE GOING TO DIE OF COLD AND/OR STARVATION THIS WINTER BECAUSE THEIR STATE PENSION ISNT ENOUGH TO LIVE ON. ?. Winter deaths claim 200 pensioners every day. Millions of elderly people in Britain today are living in poverty, having to choose between eating, and heating their homes because the UK's State pension is so low. Britain’s War veterans have been forgotten by this and previous Tory Government’s. We urge the Government to increase the basic State pension to at least £300 a week, and the State pension should have increases linked directly with male average earnings or inflation, whichever the higher. “OUR WW2 VETERANS FOUGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF EUROPE; THEY WERE SHOT & STABBED ON THE BEACHES IN NORMANDY””. WHEN THE WAR ENDED THEY PAID INTO THE SYSTEM THROUGH THEIR WORKING LIVES. AND WERE PROMISED “CRADLE TO GRAVE” CARE, WHICH THEY ARE’NT GETTING.... THEY LIBERATED FRANCE AND THE REST OF EUROPE – AND YET BRITISH PENSIONERS RECEIVE THE LOWEST STATE PENSION IN WESTERN EUROPE THANKS TO MARGARET THATCHER IN 1980, BREAKING THE LINK THAT KEPT STATE PENSIONS INCREASING DIRECTLY WITH BRITISH PROSPERITY... AND ALL THE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO HAVE MILLIONS TO SPEND ON LAVISH EXPENSES; AND THE GERMAN PENSIONERS GET FOUR TIMES MORE THAN UK PENSIONERS IN WEEKLY STATE PENSION. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”;

Mears helps the elderly to remain in their own homes. Elderly neighbours and relatives have found this service vital when they did not know who else to turn to. The cost is reasonable and the workmen are very good and caring.

Swindon Council plan to Decommission the following five children’s centres currently provided by 4Children service to achieve a reduction in the budget for this service  Drove  Moredon  Gorse Hill  Pinehurst & Penhill  Parks & Walcot East Instead, create a new family support service running from Penhill Sure Start Centre offering targeted help for families with vulnerable children Utilise the remaining four children’s centre buildings for early years’ education and wider community-based services The two family centres at Butterflies in Abbey Meads and West Swindon Family Centre are not affected by these proposals and continue to be funded in 2016/17 as part of the two year funding commitment made in 2015. This will also apply to the Ladybird Centre, Highworth Please also complete the consultation www.swindon.gov.uk/childrenscentres

For those with neurological-developmental disorders, including mild autism and autism without a disability, there are no specialised community services for adults with such disabilities. Social workers and doctors are dealing with those with more mild to moderate learning and neurological-developmental, including asperger syndrome and autism without a learning disability, but have no specialist resources, therapy, or idea on how to support these specific group of adults. I want all local social services and NHS teams through England and in all counties to give adults with autism and asperger syndrome an allocated social worker or doctor that is specifically specialised in long-term developmental disorders. But many people with this disabilities are ignored, given the wrong support, or are forgotton. So the all the government, social services, and MP's needs to implement specialised community teams for adults with long-term and mild to moderate developmental disorders, with specialised social workers, psychiatrists, and advocacy teams. At the moment, alot of high-functioning autistic adults get classed as having more emotional or mental problems, if they do not have a learning disability label on top of their autistic diagnosis - but many autistic adults are not mentally ill, they have a neurological developmental disorder. So the government needs to stop throwing autistic adults into the mental health sector teams and start opening up specialised teams through out the UK that only deal with autism related disorders, including asperger syndrome.. Some areas do have adult clinics for asperger syndrome and mild autism sufferers, but many areas don't - Derbyshire, as I know, do not offer specialised social services workers or NHS staff to adults with asperger syndrome. You can get diagnosed with asperger syndrome now, in Derbyshire, for example...but there are not specialised teams available, so some of us with asperger syndrome get allocated into the mental health system which is unfair, and this means we don't get the proper treatment.. So all local authorities needs to now step up and make it law that all counties must have specialised community teams through the UK and not just in certain parts of the country. So many adults with autism and asperger syndrome, especially those that cannot access learning disability teams, are being left out and not receiving adequate long-term support from their local nhs and social services team. Many autistic and asperger syndrome syndrome adults need more long-term and specialised support, in order to gain the community support that they deserve. This will mean that adults with asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism could access proper treatment and social care. If we could have proper social care teams and NHS clinics that offer specialised support tailored around all areas of the UK, then we could get the right to lead a normal and healthy life. This will improve the quality of families, adults affected with asperger syndrome and autism, and any money can be put into getting adults with aspergers/autism into a good cause.

The proposals were developed in consultation with the local community, prioritising feedback from rough sleepers at the group's weekly Love Kitchen. Love Activists hope to gather 1250 signatures to force the council to debate the proposals at a full council meeting. Reasoning/Rationale: 1. In May, the Supreme Court ruled that when local authorities make vulnerability assessments, a 'homeless person' should be compared with an 'ordinary person who is at risk of becoming homeless'. There is no doubt that any homeless person is 'significantly more vulnerable' than an ordinary person, therefore everybody living on the street should be assessed as being in priority need. The judgement also made it clear that while councils are often under huge financial strain, this must not be used as an excuse for avoiding their legal duties. To guarantee duty of care and legal obligations are met, all local authorities must provide permanent housing for anybody living on the streets. 2. Housing first pilot project had a 70% success rate in Brighton & Hove - helping 7 out of 10 people with high support needs into accommodation. 3. Extended winter provision: additional services provided over a period of time e.g. every night from November to March. If the material resources exist to provide shelter from a severe weather emergency, economic arguments against keeping the shelters open are not as powerful as the humanitarian ones for opening them. (Copy & pasted from 'Homeless Link') Humanitarian Response: SWEP should be applied responsibly to prevent death at all times; 3 consecutive nights at zero or below is the minimum requirement. Local authorities should consider factors such as wet weather and wind chill, snow coverage and duration of extreme weather when looking at provision. Preventing deaths on the streets is the aim of the protocol, so if this demands more beds and a longer response the local authority should do everything it can to prevent harm to individuals. Economics cannot change the weather any more than economics can determine people's relative vulnerability to each other. 4. It doesn't have to be severely wet to have a severe impact if you're sleeping on the streets. Severely windy, wet weather is an emergency, as is extremely hot, dry weather. Homeless Link offers advice and guidance to BHT, St Mungo's and Brighton & Hove City Council. Currently their minimum definition of severe weather is when the temperature drops below zero for three consecutive nights. (Copy & pasted from 'Homeless Link') There is no strict definition of what counts as ‘severe weather’. Local authorities should proactively identify any weather that could increase the risk of serious harm to people sleeping rough and put measures in place to minimise this. This includes extreme cold, wind and rain. It is important not to presume when, or in what form, severe weather will occur. Sleeping rough is never comfortable, but the suffering is exacerbated by all elements It doesn't have to be severely wet to have a severe impact if you're sleeping on the streets. ('Homeless Link') http://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/site-attachments/Winter%20provision%20guidance%202015-16.pdf 5. If this doesn't happen there will be no truly affordable places to live and more people will inevitably become homeless. 6. This would make use of empty properties, keep people safe and avoid waste of tax payers money, private money and time spent on security, policing and court costs. (Copy & pasted from 'Homeless Link') In addition to the direct risk associated with severe weather, local authorities should work alongside other local statutory and voluntary services to identify and mitigate actions taken during severe weather that can increase risk for those sleeping rough. For example, people may choose to sleep in riskier places, such as in bins, where they can find cover. They may also enter buildings or property illegally, or increase their substance use as a coping mechanism. 7. No single authority can successfully move to implement all of these measures, because if they 'move first', their service capacity would risk being overwhelmed by people migrating to that local authority. Therefore, we must work towards implementing these measures nationally. [email protected] twitter.com/loveactivists_ facebook.com/loveactivistsbrighton

We think there are 10.2 million hypothyroid patients in the UK so this is a significant number. The NHS won't prescribe (see research links on Prezi below) anything other than Levothyroxine because Levo costs £26 a year and T3 costs £1300 per patient per year. This is a case of mindset myopia because our research indicates that the long term cost to the NHS and taxpayer is much higher through prescribing extra medication and hospitals referrals required due to associated conditions such as high blood pressure, heart problems and mental illness etc. The lack of interests from GPs has pushed many hypothyroid patients to self-medication because they are fed up of feeling ill. This means patients are taking strong hormones with no supervision. My Prezi contains the full list of links for the research to put my presentation together - http://prezi.com/0ljwmhl87lnv/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share