• BBC apologise; Eurovision refugee tribute omission
    BBC is supposed to be impartial and to choose not to broadcast this part of Eurovision, which covers refugees is highly questionable, could be seen as politically motivated or even worse censorship.
    67 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Terezia Brunklaus
  • Stop Exploiting our Universities
    Already, fees for university are £9000 per year, and this is only for tuition. Students are leaving with massive debts which have the potential to loom over their heads for the rest of their lives. We are 15 years old. We want to go to university and we don't want to be repaying debts for the rest of our lives. We have a friend who came to school in tears, believing that she couldn't go to university as the fees are too monumental. We believe there are many others all over the country who believe the same thing, and we want to stand up and tell them, No More! We have been told we are the future, but soon the future will too expensive to materialise.
    7 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Boogie Thompson
  • Introduce a 'Walk to Work' Scheme for Footwear and Wet Weather Kit
    The 1999 Finance Act introduced the Cycle to Work scheme, a Government backed tax exemption scheme that allows employers to loan cycles and cyclists' safety equipment to employees as a tax-free benefit, which the employees can purchase at ‘acceptable market value’ at the end of the loan or hire period. The exemption was one of a series of measures introduced under the Government's Green Transport Plan to promote healthier journeys to work and to reduce environmental pollution. The scheme has proved very successful, with over 1 million employees participating. However, walking to work is also very healthy option for one’s commute. With even less manufacturing involved than cycling, with less embedded carbon associated with it, walking to walk can claim to be even better for the environment than cycling. Walking is obviously not an option for longer journeys, but for journeys of a few miles, a walk of up to an hour a day is a choice that can greatly improve health, take even more cars of the road and safe money on fuel or public transport fares. May 2016 is National Walking Month. In promoting this initiative the British Heart Foundation cites a ‘physical activity specialist’ as saying: "Walking is a fantastic way to keep active and maintain a healthy heart as it is fun, flexible and free.” Although correct on the health and other intangible benefits, regular commuting by foot in Britain cannot be described as ‘free’; it requires good quality, waterproof footwear and necessitates an investment in durable wet weather clothing. I therefore suggest a campaign to lobby government to amend the 1999 Finance Act to include a ‘Walk to Work’ scheme, whereby employees can gain benefits similar to those provided to cyclists by the Cycle to Work scheme, to acquire good quality, waterproof footwear and outer wear to make their regular walk to work more pleasant and beneficial.
    35 of 100 Signatures
    Created by C Hegarty
  • Decent broadband in rural areas such as Upper Ruxley, Sidcup/Dartford
    People in small towns and villages need internet just as much as people in big towns and cities. Decent broadband connection is essential for everything from paying bills to running businesses. Not forgetting of course that school children and college students need broadband access to do their homework. But for some places in the UK, the internet speed is either painfully slow or non-existent. It's time the government stepped up and fulfilled it's promise of decent broadband for everyone.
    10 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Ray Tibbles
  • Save The European Union Youth Orchestra from closure.
    These musicians are the future of our orchestras, pop band ensembles, film/tv soundtrack session musicians, pit players for ballet, opera and musical theatre shows and your childrens' future teachers and mentors. The great majority of classical musicians flourished from training orchestras such as these! Closing the orchestra down is ignorant and shameful. -- "EU has just cut every Euro of funding to the young musicians of the Orchestra (backdated to last October), without so much as an advance whisper? The consequences of this decision are incalculable: the destruction of one of the world’s greatest training orchestras, generations of young musicians denied unique opportunities, and the loss of 40 years of patient tradition, and one of the EU’s greatest arts organisations. This funding decision is simply the consequence of a change in the EU’s cultural funding policy. Two years ago it was decided by the EU that there was to be no more cultural funding for any single organisation. Instead, €1.45bn of cultural support over seven years (a 7% increase on the previous programme) was only allowed to be used on projects with a highly complicated partnership structure. The new Creative Europe programme has wonderful objectives. But it is project funding to encourage national organisations to get together to become more European, not core funding for what is the original pan-European organisation. This “one size fits all”-approach to cultural funding doesn’t work for an EU orchestra with members from 28 countries, and that we were being forced into the wrong funding box. “The European Union Youth Orchestra remains one of our most distinguished ambassadors … a potent symbol of our European Union.” (Jean-Claude Juncker, EU Commission President). “I was moved not simply by the beauty of the music they produced, but also by what they stand for: the EUYO perfectly embodies the power of being united in diversity,” (Juncker’s colleague Martin Schulz, European Parliament President). And here is Tibor Navracsics, EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. “The EUYO is remarkable - both for the outstanding quality of its performances and for its exemplary function … it inspires us”. And finally, the EU’s number one foreign policy politician Federica Mogherini: “This is Europe at its best … In hard times like the ones we are living, the EUYO sends a powerful message to all the young people of our continent: your time is now.” " >source: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/13/marshall-marcus-the-european-union-youth-orchestra-cannot-be-strangled See them perform: European Union Youth Orchestra - EUYO - Flashmob - Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - 23.08.2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOs72u5FjCE EUYO Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6, 'Pathétique', Movt I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lft2isVp0kk SHOSTAKOVICH 4th Symphony mov-1 (part 1/3) Vladimir Ashkenazi (BBC Proms 2006) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YVGZy2nsWA ---- Email: [email protected] Or send a letter or postcard to: Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, European Commission, Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200, 1049 1049 Brussels, Belgium
    87 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Stuart Rankin
  • Posthumous Knighthood for Bobby Moore
    Since the 1966 World Cup final, Bobby Moore has never been out of the football news. He was graceful on and off the pitch when he was alive, and his reputation has only been enhanced since his death. This is a special year, 50 years on from the 1966 Final plus the Queens 90th birthday - what a great year to award Bobby a posthumous Knighthood, and put a smile on British faces..... a lovely man, a great Captain of England, and a Knight of the realm!! Great.
    116 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Rob Everitt
  • Contol rental prices in the UK
    So today as a family we were informed that our rent is increasing in line with current market value. Basically the estate agent's want to make more money and our landlord wants more return from his investment. We have no choice but to accept or we'll have no where to live and we've made this our home. We are not able to have a voice, we are at the mercy of powerful letting agents and landlords. Is this all really fair without any consultation? How do they expect families to find money when cost of living is constantly rising? Do you not think this is ludicrous considering we aren't well off enough to buy a house but our rent is more than a mortgage. Regulations need to be introduced to stop letting agents charging over the odds and pushing families further into poverty. I think it is really unfair and they need to be stopped. If he increases it further we just will not be able to afford to live here. This issue isn't just having an affect on us but on friends and family of ours who also rent and have been forced to submit to rent increases. We have no choice as we don't want to be out on the streets but is it fair to pray on the vulnerable for financial gain? There's a shortage of social housing as it is but more people will be in need of it is we're pushed out of rental properties as we can't meet the high rents. Please help me take this forward to prevent this happening to other families. We won't be able to fight our rent increase this time as we need a roof over our head, even if it means our quality of life is reduced but we will be out on the streets if this happens again. We want the government to: 1. Bring rents under control: Introduce rent controls that ensure rents are set at affordable levels, and that increases don't force tenants into poverty. Rents should be determined by the quality, size, location and facilities of the home. Rent controls are the norm in most of Europe and were used in the UK until the 1980's.
    15 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Rachel Coles
  • Reinstate Kenny Baileys full benefit entitlement
    Kenny Bailey suffers from severe memory loss problems and is paralysed down one side of his body, he has suffered a stroke, the result of this meant that he lost the right side of his head, following a DWP fit for work assessment the DWP told him he is fit for work. His benefits have now been cut and he loses £156 per fortnight. DWP have told him he must now seek work, this guy can not work or play with his family, DWP failed him by stating that he can walk 200 yards unaided and is able to get up from the chair. For this guy to attend appointments he needs to write every appointment down or he would forget where and when his appoints are. Therefore the DWP should re-instate the full entitlement of benefits to Kenny Bailey and offer him a full apology following the misjudgement of a DWP medical.
    53 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Craig Weekes
  • Sir Lenny Henry for the new BBC Unitary Board
    The BBC, like the NHS, is loved by the British public, Following the new White Paper published on 12 May 2016, We need to be ensure that the BBC strategy is shaped by people who care about public service values, are trusted by the public and have a track record of champioing diversity and inclusivness. Sir Lenny Henry fits all of these criteria and should be invited to join the new Unitary Board.
    5 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Tom Butler
  • Ban Dangerous Pesticides in [North Lanarkshire
    The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to start a campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign
    17 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Gail Jeffrey
  • Make padded envelopes and bubblewrap recyclable
    At present, recycling facilities for such materials are very few and far between, and do not exist at all in many areas of the UK. Many people frequently receive parcels sent in padded envelopes, or containing bubblewrap. Such materials are then usually sent to landfill or incinerated, adding to greenhouse gas emissions.
    8 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Alan Yearsley
  • Ban Dangerous Pesticides on and around Canal & River Trust Waterways
    The use of glyphosphates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children the animals we share our community with, and natural habitats are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs, all the flora and fauna and aquatic life on and around the waterways, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to start a campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign
    8 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Flora Wilcox