As evidenced by the recent online news reports featuring video footage of ducks in France being kept in disgusting conditions and obvious suffering, changes for the better are well overdue in this industry. I was served some fois gras to eat quite recently and it was a good, rich delicacy,.. but the suffering that the ducks must go through when it is produced in this manner, is unacceptable. If it can be produced by free range birds that are allowed a reasonable life span, with access to maize 24/7.....that would be humane. Any type of farming where the animals do not have a quality of life that is recognisably close to what it would experience in the wild (fresh air, space to roam, sunshine and things to look at, the ability to forage and associate with others of its species), should be banned and we should be campaigning to get this through in the EU parliament asap.

Many British citizens are being separated from their foreign spouses because they can not get their partner a visa unless they meet a very strict financial criteria and their partner passes an English exam. Meanwhile partners of European citizens automatically qualify for a U.K. spouse visa regardless as to income or English ability. Where British citizens have contributed to the economy of the UK through the tax system and other means, European citizens who haven't contributed the UK are given preferential treatment when applying for visa for their spouses. This isn't a fair system.

I believe this action will substantially reduce the number of 'cold calls' to households. Business callers are to declare their full names - first and second - plus the business or organisation they represent, and their formal position within it. I am fed up with cold calling as I am sure everybody else is. Cold calling is now something of an industry and some of these calls which tout for business are potentially fraudulent. How many innocent people have been scammed or duped over the phone, when they would otherwise have been spared this, if only they had been able to verify the identity of the caller? The concept of 'Name Is No Shame' equally applies to business letters written to members of the public and emails, where the full identity of the author has been withheld. Government it seems has done little if anything to stem the tide of unsolicited phone calls to the public; it is down to us to insist that they act. I am confident that if 'Name Is No Shame' becomes law and that it is mandatory for the business community to declare their identity in dealings with the general public, it will substantially reduce the number of 'cold calls' to households. Thank you.

Tower Hamlets has the fourth most expensive private rents in the country. But if you live here, you live amongst one of the poorest populations in the UK. The cost of housing is forcing working class people out of the borough. Landlords - including so-called social Landlords - are looking to make a fast buck, some have resorted to driving out existing tenants. We pledge to defend tenants against eviction. Tower Hamlets' housing crisis continues with 20,000 on the council waiting list 8,000 of whom live in accommodation unfit for habitation. This is forcing many, particularly young people, out of the borough.

This will not only end the treatment of addicts and recreational drug users as criminals, but it can also see an increase in revenues through taxation, a reduction of the government deficit by roughly £1.25 billion and a decrease in crime as seen in the US state of Colorado. The "Misuse of Drugs Act 1971" is a 43 year old law with a desperate need of an overhaul and needs to be repealed, if possible, in order to allow for a safer, better law regarding decriminalisation of illicit substances to be put in place. For information regarding the legalisation of Cannabis and decriminalisation of other illicit substances visit: http://www.clear-uk.org/ http://norml-uk.org/ And watch the documentaries: "The Culture High" and "The Union: The Business Behind Getting High".

Residents of Fleet and Church Crookham are alarmed and dismayed to learn that there will be severe and substantial cuts to the bus services in our area. Under these proposals Bus 72 will no longer go to Aldershot from Fleet, instead replacing the number 30 to Farnborough, thus preventing people from getting to work in Aldershot and children from much of Fleet being able to get to All Hallows School and Sixth Form college. There will be no buses between Fleet and Aldershot. The number 30 as well as going to Farnborough serves as a school bus service to Calthorpe Park School from Ancells Farm. Bus 77 is going to be cut, meaning that children will no longer be able to get the bus to Calthorpe Park School – this at a time when Calthorpe Park School is rapidly expanding. Getting to Frimley Park hospital will become much more challenging. Furthermore Pondtail, Crookham village, Zebon Copse and Quetta Park will no longer have any scheduled bus service at all, isolating many in these communities. This will be a severe disadvantage for elderly and disabled people in our area along with many young people.

This proposal has been leaked by the Guardian in its article ‘EU plans to scrap laws on clean air and waste recycling’ (Guardian, 11/12/14) @ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/11/eu-plans-to-scrap-clean-air-and-waste-recycling-laws These are quotes from the article: "...Another victim of the legislative cull is a flagship clean air directive intended to prevent 58,000 premature deaths – and many more respiratory illnesses – as well as saving hundreds of thousands of kilometres of forests, wildlife reserves and ecosystems from nitrogen pollution and acidification. “The EU should be cutting red tape, not cutting life expectancy,” said the Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder. “Thousands of people in die prematurely each year from diseases caused by air pollution. To withdraw this proposal would send a message that the new commission puts the interests of big business ahead of the health of European citizens....”

Luciana came to Scotland to work and left a young daughter behind with her parents. She sent 300-400 euros a month to her family. Luciana was murdered and her family cannot afford to get her body home to Romania. It must be horrific for her family to lose a daughter and her daughter to lose her mum. They should be able to get her back home to lay her to rest and I am hoping the Scottish government can pay the costs to fly her body home.

We have now been inspired by one of USA`s most successful environmental campaigns called Think Outside The Bottle. Because of this campaign, one of the biggest states – San Francisco successfully tackled the serious problem of plastic bottles littering the City. Many more states are now following their lead. “I took a train to Liverpool. They were having a festival when I arrived. Citizens had taken time off from their busy activities to add crisp packets, empty cigarette boxes and carrier-bags to the other wise bland and neglected landscape.” - Bill Bryson; ‘Notes from the Small Island’. Do we really want Liverpool to be described and perceived this way in the World? Being committed to the future of Liverpool, we had organized a similar campaign in our city, which will help to save Merseyside’s environment in both the short and long-term. We are getting citizens more aware of the problem of plastic bottles and their impact on nature, and reduce the amount of them littering the streets and parks of Liverpool. Getting our city cleaner would also help to improve its national and international image. It will also show Liverpool again as in the forefront of social and environment initiatives. Our aim is to bring together like-minded individuals and groups to form an association. We are going to organize a meeting with the council to develop a strategy to tackle the problem of the excessive amount of plastic bottles used and the litter they create. One of our ideas is to ban sale of drinks in plastic bottles below 0.6 l. in Liverpool, like it happened in San Francisco. This could be connected to proposal to mount drinking water fountains around the city - this seems to be very helpful not only for citizens but also for visitors. Furthermore, it can help city to reduce number of plastic waste and all cost connected. We believe this perfectly fit with the Mayor’s environment improvement campaign. We are now looking for the support of other groups and organizations. We hope that you will find the idea interesting and would like to join us on our route to make Liverpool an even better place to live, for all of us and for generations to come. If you or your organization would like to join us and create this campaign with us please sign the following statement.

Brazil's democratic government is investigating the torture and disappearances which took place under its previous military dictatorship, but so far the British government has ignored their request for access to British government paperwork. The Brazilian government has implicated the British government which trained them in the so-called "English system" which had been used on Irish prisoners. Ex-colonel Paulo Malhaes is quoted in their report as saying "psychological torture was best, and England was the best place to learn it”. At a time when there is rightful revulsion at further revelations of torture in the US the British government must stop the cover-up and come clean about its involvement in torture by the former Brazilian dictatorship. For more details see http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/10/brazil-president-weeps-report-military-dictatorship-abuses

Elections and Referendums should be held in a way that leaves the public with 100% confidence in the outcome. At the moment the system leaves worrying areas of uncertainty, areas in which Electoral fraud may be possible. Under the current system, once votes are made, ballot boxes are commonly transported at the "Discretion of the counting officer" they are often then unsupervised and/or by un-vetted transporters. They are often transported in ballot boxes that have not been fully sealed in a 100% fraud proof way. Often these boxes will be transported with only one single identifiable tag on that unfortunately does not stop the ballot box from being opened and closed. We advise transportation of ballot boxes should no longer take place. To remedy this situation we are now petitioning you to change the way in which the ballots are held which removes any requirement for ballot boxes to be transported. All Votes should be placed and counted in the same hall. The ballot boxes should be supervised 100% of the time and they should be sealed and closed in a way that they can not be opened in anyway whatsoever. The votes should then be counted in the same hall under constant supervision. Thus removing any chance of transportation fraud. The other key area that is open to Fraud is that every ballot paper should be numbered or marked in a unique way so that they are identified as genuine ballot papers. Currently this is only a guideline and not Law. It was reported during the Scottish referendum blank ballot papers were issued and accepted by the counting officers. When the Electoral commission was contacted about this they advised that the votes will have been accepted. Use of unique identification numbers or water marks on ballot papers should be backed up by law. No ballot paper whatsoever should be accepted if it does not have the UIN or watermark. This cannot be left to the discretion of the counting officer. This should be put in place as if there was ever a case of fraud or an accident involving ballot boxes there is currently no way of identifying ballot papers as being genuine or not. We hope that you will look into this as it is a matter of upmost importance. It is very important that the UK can have as transparent and fair and democratic voting system as possible that can ensure the outcome of future ballots can be trusted to be reliable and 100% fraud free. The public should not be in ANY doubt about the reliability of Elections or Referendums.

Many children walk along side and cross the road near this infant and junior school at dropoff and pickup times. Reducing the speed limit will make the road safer and less intimidating for the children.