If you are not aware, the decision has been made to remove the second fire engine and retained Firefighters from Oakham Fire Station on the 31/03/16. Removing the second fire engine and retained Firefighters from Oakham Fire Station will mean slower response times to emergencies, which will have a significant impact, putting life and property at greater risk in Rutland and surrounding areas. There is also a very high likelihood of the Heavy Rescue Unit (HRU) also crewed by Oakham retained Firefighters and used for incidents involving larger vehicles also being removed. You may be aware that Uppingham are now recruiting retained Firefighters…..! This is because they are under crewed and struggle to keep their fire engine “on the run” (available for calls). If the second fire engine at Oakham is removed, the fire engine at Uppingham in most cases will be the fire engine to cover Oakham when the first fire engine (Oakham’s first fire engine) is on a call. When Uppingham are not available it could be a fire engine from Melton or Leicester covering. We all understand that money has to be saved, but removing front line services in not the way. We all pay our council tax with a proportion of it going to Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Combined Fire Authority (check your council tax demand notice for details). We do not mind paying this as we all feel that if we are unlucky enough to be involved in an accident or a fire, with rapid response from the fire service hopefully the outcome will not be too severe. If the removal of the second fire engine goes ahead leaving a greatly reduced service, putting life and property at greater risk in Rutland and surrounding areas, do you think we will then be getting a discount in our council tax to reflect the change…? I doubt this very much, so we would be paying the same for a greatly reduced service. We cannot let this happen, we need to keep all the people of Rutland and surrounding areas as safe as possible and respond to emergencies as quick as possible. This will be your last chance to make your opinion count; I fear that if the second fire engine is removed there will be no chance of it returning. Please sign the petition.

This is a subject close to the hearts of many in Pembrokeshire. Many of us have had seriously unwell children who have had to travel over an hour to the closest hospital. This puts tremendous strain on us and our family's. My name is Jasmine McGinley, and two of my children were born prematurely. One at 27 weeks and one at 30. Both of my children were saved by our local hospital. Freddie, born at 27 weeks was the last baby born in our SCBU before the changes came into effect. If he was born only 3 days later he would of died after birth as he wouldn't of made the hour long journey. My other son, is now traumatised due to being away from me and his father for so long. This put tremendous strain on me and my family. If we could have been in a hospital only 20 minutes away he could of been with me. Everyday, we had to make a 3 hour round trip to see our son. This is not only stressful but also adds a huge financial strain. Shortly after being discharged from hospital Daisy, born at 30 weeks she was admitted into hospital with hypothermia, a virus and chest infection. Due to the services being taken away from us here in Pembrokeshire the local hospital did not have the equipment to help my tiny baby. A nurse stood by her side for 6 hours tickling and shaking her to stimulate her to breath and her heart to stop dropping because of the lack of equipment. This continued for 6 hours due to not having a local ambulance to transfer babies and sick children. The closest ambulance that can do so is located in Bristol. This ambulance covers from Ceredigion in west Wales to Oxfordshire. Twice within a week this ambulance had to make the long journey to collect Daisy. This is unacceptable as there is a local hospital that if we didn't face these changes she could of been treated in. We spent Christmas away from our other children due to being an hour and a half away. That in itself was heartbreaking. There are to many heartbreaking stories from our local people due to the services being cut. These changes are unacceptable and we need our services back. Please sign and support this petition to help save our babies and children. Thank you.

This is a subject close to the hearts of many in Pembrokeshire. Many of us have had seriously unwell children who have had to travel over an hour to the closest hospital. This puts tremendous strain on us and our family's. My name is Jasmine McGinley, and two of my children were born prematurely. One at 27 weeks and one at 30. Both of my children were saved by our local hospital. Freddie, born at 27 weeks was the last baby born in our SCBU before the changes came into effect. If he was born only 3 days later he would of died after birth as he wouldn't of made the hour long journey. My other son, is now traumatised due to being away from me and his father for so long. This put tramedous strain on me and my family. If we could of been in a hospital only 20 minutes away he could of been with me. Everyday, we had to make a 3 hour round trip to see our son. This is not only stressful but also adds a huge financial strain. Shortly after being discharged from hopsital Daisy, born at 30 weeks she was admitted into hospital with hypothermia, a virus and chest infection. Due to the services being taken away from us here in Pembrokeshire the local hospital did not have the equipment to help my tiny baby. A nurse stood by her side for 6 hours tickling and shaking her to stimulate her to breath and her heart to stop dropping because of the lack of equipment. This continued for 6 hours due to not having a local ambulance to transfer babies and sick children. The closest ambulance that can do so is located in Bristol. This ambulance covers from Ceredigion in west Wales to Oxfordshire. Twice within a week this ambulance had to make the long journey to collect Daisy. This is unacceptable as there is a local hospital that if we didn't face these changes she could of been treated in. We spent Christmas away from our other children due to being an hour and a half away. That in itself was heartbreaking. There are to many heartbreaking stories from our local people due to the services being cut. These changes are unacceptable and we need our services back. Please sign and support this petition to help save our babies and children. Thank you.

Currently we are doing far too little to help reduce the effects of climate change and we can't wait until a change of government to make the necessary changes. Since the latest election we have gone backwards and this is outrageously irresponsible of a government that is there to protect it's people.

Some say there is no alternative but Rochdale Borough Council could use just a portion of its £169.6m in useable reserves to avoid making the £37m worth of cuts over the next two years. Even the Government suggest that ‘local authorities lessen the impact of budget cuts by tapping into their huge reserve pots’ – Telegraph, 31st August. We call on the Labour group on Rochdale Borough Council to take these steps whilst councillors go out into the communities, workplaces and trade union branches to build support for a no-cuts budget and have a genuine consultation with the people of Rochdale. They could then make an appeal to other Labour councils to do the same, making the Tory government’s savage cuts unworkable. Jeremy Corbyn said in his election campaign that councils should stand together against the cuts. This is the direction that the Labour Party must go in to end austerity and safeguard our public services.

Vast amounts of energy customers are having to pay significantly more for their energy and this largely includes the vulnerable who for differing reasons fail to make adequate credit score. The cheaper plans should be available for everyone not just those who have been able to keep a good credit score. Many of those vulnerable are cutting back on heating as a result and don't put the lights on. The energy companies should be offering those not making the credit score the opportunity to pay a deposit to draw down on, but currently they are not doing this! Further by not allowing customers to move from prepay meters many customers who are increasingly less able will have problems loading the prepay tokens with energy which is usually capped to £49 with some suppliers.

The speeding that occurs around March on a regular basis,is criminal,dangerous,selfish,and ignorant.I ask the council to acknowledge this,as they have denied it recently,despite several examples,complaints,etc. And a major accident on Norwood Road. Do we want a loss of a life before something is done? I suggest this may happen if the council, Mr.Barclay, or the Police ,do not act.

Because too many game changing goals are given (witness the equaliser by Chelsea against Everton on Saturday 16th February) in error that a camera would clarify. If cricket, rugby, tennis, American football etc etc can clearly benefit from it why not soccer? I emphasise, only in the penalty areas.

NORTH Herefordshire MP Bill Wiggin has been accused of helping tax-avoiding hedge funds set up shop on 'sunny offshore islands' in a recent edition of Private Eye. This should not be allowed because it can cause a conflict of interest & lead to bias in favour of companies they work for usually big corporation there should be a level playing field not just for the wealthy MP's are supposed to represent everyone in Society not just the privileged few!

Not only does this affect the staff at the 02, it will also have an affect on the customers who expect their vehicles to remain safe whilst spending time at the 02. This is a customer relations crisis in the making and needs to be urgently addressed to stem the flow of vehicle related crimes

My daughter has a life long incurable disability. She did not choose to be so disadvantaged. She was born with the condition and her fiance has the same impairment. Both have autism, are highly intelligent, and like 90% of other people on the autistic spectrum are unemployed. The DWP placed them both in the 'support' group. This is a curious name as neither actually receive any extra assistance, financially or practically. It basically means they are 'unemployable', which is not great for self esteem. Neither chose to be out of work, on benefits and to live in poverty. What stops them, like others with disabilities, getting a job is employer attitudes, an individual's health, lack of experience and job opportunities, a review by the house of lords found in 2015. They were planning to get married this year and we were all looking forward to the day. It would have been a small family occasion, but something to celebrate. Even this small piece of happiness has been smashed by the latest revelations in the Guardian. Under the Tory welfare 'reforms' - I think the word 'changes' is more appropriate - if they marry, they will be moved over onto universal credits, which are less generous than the tax credits and ESA they currently receive. So much for the Tory endorsement of strong families. They have very little money now. Married, that would be even less. The hypocrisy amazes me. Iain Duncan Smith's speech in the summer of 2015 made the point that if the government wants to reduce the employment gap for those with disabilities, then support and financial investment are vital. Instead, these cuts are driving some of the poorest households into further poverty and penalising people who are too disabled, or sick, to work.

Question Time is BBC's flagship political programme. If, like me, you grew up with a passion for politics, or a little bit worried about the state of the world around you, you might have tuned in on a Thursday. You might also have expected it to represent the views of people in the UK. But it doesn't. *Black women have appeared just 16 times in five years, and 12 of those appearances have been made by Diane Abbott.* Please read this David Lammy article - he puts it better than I could: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/04/question-time-britain-ethnic-minorities-bbc-diane-abbott-chuka-umunna