• GET and CBT are dangerous treatments for ME patients
    This will not only save the NHS millions but will save many thousands of people with ME untold harm and suffering and hundreds of premature deaths. CBT is a ‘scam’ therapy that is wasting vast sums of money. Patients are being misled because the short-term fix offered by CBT does not have a lasting benefit, says leading psychologist Oliver James. CBT is no more effective than placebo in treating anxiety or depression. Oliver James says proponents of CBT have ‘mis-sold’ the treatment to policymakers and the public, who are wasting their time. CBT is largely ineffective for the majority of patients. The management strategies making up the bulk of the ‘treatments’ on offer by the National Health Service in the UK — “CBT and Graded Exercise” seem absurd to patients and carers given the problem on the ground. ME Research UK CBT/GET is not only hardly more effective than non-interventions or standard medical care, but many patients report that the therapy had affected them adversely, the majority of them even reporting substantial deterioration. We conclude that it is unethical to treat patients with ME/CFS with ineffective, non-evidence-based and potentially harmful "rehabilitation therapies", such as CBT/GET. Dr Michael Maes and Dr Frank N Twisk http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19855350.................“GET is not therapy – it is simply the enforcement of an opinion rather than a treatment based upon any scientific examination of a patient’s pathology and treatment of that pathology. …..Graded exercise programmes may be significantly dangerous to many of these ME patients” Dr Byron Hyde.................“The whole idea that you can take a disease like this and exercise your way to health is foolishness. It is insane.” Dr Paul Cheyney.............CBT and GET are at best useless and at worst extremely harmful for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis patients. Patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis, particularly children, have suffered gross and barbaric abuse and persistent denigration as a consequence of the beliefs of certain psychiatrists who are attempting to control the national agenda for this complex and severe neuro-immunological disorder. These psychiatrists are shown to be clearly in breach of the first tenet of medicine --- first do no harm--- in that by their words and deeds they have wreaked havoc in the lives of M.E. The Hummingbird Foundation for ME http://www.hfme.org/meandmistreatment.htm
    1,338 of 2,000 Signatures
    Created by Michael Evison
  • Better Care For Carer's
    There is a lot of Isolation for these Carer's, I am a Carer in Pembrokeshire and I am struggling to access GENERAL Support for Carer's my, Wife suffers with Fibromyalgia, M.E and also I look after my Mother In Law who has a severe Heart Problem and I am the Chairperson for a support group for those who suffer with these life changing Illness these affect family members and Carer's
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    Created by Gary Yates
  • Referendum on Public Spending
    For too long politicians from all the major parties have publically stated they would not sell or privatise areas of public spending on the run up to elections, only to then do so once they are in office. They clearly cannot be trusted. If any area of PUBLIC spending is going to be privatised, then it should be THE PUBLIC who decide, not politicians. It should be the public who have the last say on the matter. If it is the PUBLIC's money that is going to spent, then it should be the PUBLIC who decides how it should be spent.
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    Created by Joshua Cooper
  • Please Bring Back the iPod Classic
    This is important because there are still many people that want their entire music collection on one device without the constant distractions of the notifications we receive constantly on a connected devicee. Considering the profits you make Apple, could you not, in this instance, think about keeping this section of valued customers happy, even if the revenue levels are not meeting your bean counters' approval.
    12 of 100 Signatures
    Created by C Brown
  • Campaign for an Armed Forces Veterans Medal
    Currently veterans receive a pin and yet many of them served during a time when there were few operations in the world. It is felt that a pin does not recognise this valuable service but the award of a medal gives formal recognition. There have been other National Defence Medals awarded to at least three commonwealth countries so the issue of expense should not be an over-riding consideration. When you see a veteran at a parade such as Remembrance it is very difficult to distinguish them from other members of the public. We should be proud of our Armed Forces and in particular those that have served previously. The medal shows that a service person has contributed in a valuable way to their service and this is only right for a nation that uses it's Armed Forces to punch well above it's weight in the world arena.
    114 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Steven Walker
  • Cymraeg ar ddeisebau Gymreig / Cymraeg on Welsh petitions
    Mae'r Gymraeg yn iaith swyddogol yma yng Nghymru, ac o bwysigrwydd mawr i'r rhai sy'n ei siarad. Pan mae'r pwnc trafod yn benodol i Gymru, mae'n gywilyddus i'n hiaith ni cael ei heithrio. Cymraeg is an official language here in Wales, and of great importance to those of us who speak it. When the topic is specifically about Wales, it's humiliating for our own language to be excluded.
    169 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Steve Blundell
  • Make B&Q give a fair contribution for using photos of the Christmas Lights at 1 Longford Road
    B&Q have refused to make any contribution towards this cause, despite being contacted and invited to do so. They are using photos of the amazing work done by these volunteers for their own commercial gain without any concern about how they are exploiting a fundraising activity for a much loved local cancer care hospice. Other local businesses have donated towards the display and their products are being shown as if they were from B&Q. ******************************* IMPORTANT UPDATE ******************************* B&Q have responded to the petition and made a donation of £8,000. Please read the statement below from Colin and Alex Colin, Alex and all the team who help with the 1 Longford Road Christmas Lights are delighted that B&Q have finally accepted the moral responsibility to support the charitable cause the lights are in aid of. We are truly grateful for the initial payment of £8,000 and hope that B&Q, who have only made this gesture following over 3,000 people signing the online petition, will honour all that people have asked for and fully match the donations made by the general public. We would like to thank everyone who has signed the petition to date, and would encourage people to continue to sign the petition to help remind B&Q what the people have said on this. Alex, Colin, Sarah and the rest of the team would like to thank everyone who supported putting pressure on B&Q to make a donation and of course to B&Q for then donating £8,000. A great result for Dorothy House! Many of you supported the call for B&Q to match contributions made by the public but some of you felt that B&Q had now done their bit, albeit after your demonstration of support. The various messages have got through to B&Q so, everything considered, we are backing off from pushing further and concentrating on what this is all about and that's bringing a smile to faces and raising money for a great and deserving cause, Dorothy House. We must also mention that the Daily Mirror who ran the B&Q promotion in question are donating £1,000 for which we are also very grateful.
    3,785 of 4,000 Signatures
    Created by Jon Hubbard
  • Get the BBC to cover the VIPaedophile scandal
    Exaro News, The Daily Mirror and The Sunday People are exposing a massive establishment cover up of paedophiles in very prominent positions. Most recently, current and former police officers have talked of a number of operations into peadophile networks being shut down as they got to close to VIPs. By not covering these stories in its mainstream broadcasts, the BBC in its silence is part of the cover up. Only by getting this story out into the highest profile news broadcasts will there be enough momentum gathered to bring these VIPs to justice. "This is about kids being raped by those in power that included politicians of all sorts" Ex-Met Officer of 30 years' service.
    188 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Stephen Davies
  • FOIS GRAS the delicious end, does not justify the means. Time to change....
    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.
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    Created by HILARY DUNK
  • A fairer UK visa system for spouses of British citizens
    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.
    2,455 of 3,000 Signatures
    Created by Mathew B
  • Name Is No Shame!
    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.
    10 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Richard Kemp
  • Defend Private Tenants in Tower Hamlets
    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.
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    Created by Neil Cafferky