British Gas owner, Centrica, is currently in talks with Cuadrilla to buy a stake in its fracking operations in Lancashire. By signing this petition you can send a clear message to Centrica that if it goes ahead with the deal you will consider switching your supplier (if you’re a British Gas customer) and may also advise friends and family to follow suit. Fracking – the extraction of shale gas through hydraulic fracturing of rock – has a wide range of potentially very serious environmental and social impacts. What’s alarming is that the areas under consideration for fracking cover most of the country. Despite assurances from the government and industry to the contrary, it’s impossible, no matter how stringent the legislation, to guarantee the integrity of shale gas wells. And any well failure can result in methane leakage and widespread groundwater contamination. Even if just a small fraction of the anticipated tens of thousands of wells fail – which they inevitably will – this will have disastrous, and potentially irreversible, consequences for our drinking water supply. Fracking also has devastating implications for climate change. The London School of Economics and Carbon Tracker recently warned that 80% of known fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground if we’re to have a fighting chance of maintaining a habitable planet (http://www.carbontracker.org/carbonbubble) – and that’s before we even consider shale gas. The government and fossil fuel industry insist that it provides a low-carbon transition fuel until we develop our renewables infrastructure. This is nonsense – support for fracking will reduce the sense of urgency and divert desperately needed investment away from renewable energy. And there’s nothing low-carbon about shale gas – the energy-intensive extraction process, and inevitable methane leakage, gives shale gas a potentially higher carbon footprint than coal. Furthermore, shale gas will be used as well as, not instead of, coal. In addition to all this, fracking uses vast quantities of freshwater (expected to become scarcer under climate change) and produces similar quantities of waste water, all of which must be transported in thousands of road tankers, thundering through our towns and villages and damaging roads which will need to be fixed at taxpayers expense. House prices have reportedly dropped 24% near fracking sites in America, and there are already reports of people struggling to sell their houses in affected areas of Lancashire. And as if all this weren’t bad enough, almost all experts now agree that fracking won’t even bring down our energy bills, as many initially claimed. Quite simply, fracking will be great news for the fossil fuel industry and those in government with family ties and business interests in it. It will be very bad news indeed for almost everyone else. Public opposition has put a stop to fracking projects in Australia and Europe. It has also caused extremely costly delays here in the UK. Fracking is such an expensive, high-risk and controversial means of generating energy that it doesn’t take much to tip the balance for investors between being worth the risk and not. By keeping up the pressure on government and industry we can, together, put a stop to fracking in the UK. If you want to find out more about the impacts of fracking, and some of the myths that surround it, the following websites offer lots of useful information: http://refracktion.com/ http://reaf.org.uk/news.php http://stopfyldefracking.org.uk/latest-news/ http://frack-off.org.uk/

It is obscene that in a country like the UK in the 21st century people should be going hungry and having to resort to food banks to feed themselves and their families. Most of us have so much; let's be compassionate towards those that have nothing. The government’s welfare cuts are hitting people hard. There are now 500,000 people struggling to feed themselves across the UK who are being forced to turn to emergency food handouts. This is five times more people than two years ago. In Hounslow the council-run food bank has started picking and choosing who they think deserves help. They’re turning away people they describe as having “chaotic lifestyles” or those who’ve been given “benefits sanctions” from the Jobcentre. http://www.hounslowfoodbox.org.uk/how-it-works.php No one comes to a food bank out of choice. Trying to divide people who are hungry into deserving and undeserving is cruel. We are calling on Councillor Steve Curran who is chair of the food bank to provide assistance to all those facing hunger in Hounslow.

Blood stocks need consistent new donors. Daily there are advertisements on TV, radio and papers. By making donors travel a long way blood stocks will be jeopardised. It must be expensive making all these long term employees redundant so how can this be cost efficient? Sometimes a service like this is not just about money. Unfortunately services in the rural areas are expensive. I do it for my mum who regularly receives blood transfusions. How will you feel if you or a relative needed blood and there was none of the correct type! There is no price tag on life!

Local residents, including senior citizens, those who rely on benefits, less abled people and small business outlets in the area depend on this office for service and trade. Post Office management say that the office is not making a profit for them so it can be sold to someone who can make a profit from it! No crown (main) post office can make a profit as it is a public service and (apart from postal orders) do not sell anything on their own behalf. Every service they provide is on behalf of an outside interest (such as the bank of Ireland) royal mail, or a government agency. Since 1987, one thousand one hundred and twenty four crown post offices have closed (and innumerable sub-post offices). And now there are only 376 crown offices left in the whole of the uk. Post Office management wish to rid themselves of a further 76 crown offices as a means to creating a profit, but past history indicates that this policy is doomed to failure. Previous hosts of former post offices include wh smith (who, it is said, are not renewing the contract on the franchishe's they took on where the lease is now expiring ), chemists, kebab outlets etcetra, now they have indicated that betting shops might be a good venue for a post office. Councillors have indicated that post offices could be located in libraries, this was before councils began to close libraries, then they said that police stations could have a counter in post offices, then the decision was made to close more post offices. Everything that the union has done to accommodate changes in the post office in order to maintain jobs and save offices from closure has not satisfied senior management. They are like turkeys voting for Christmas, their employment will cease along with all the staff they employ. the difference is that they will walk away with a very handsome golden handshake etcetera (as many senior "managers" have in the recent past) whilst the loyal staff end up on the dole.

Our MP's should lead by example. If I was caught doing a dishonest, or criminal act I would be expected to resign my position. His constituency voters should have the final say on whether he remains an MP.

A&Es all over the country are under threat - from Hartlepool in the North to Margate in the South. But the full extent of the impact of closing A&E departments is still unknown. Evidence from Newark showed that when their A&E closed, death rates jumped by more than a third. * When NHS chiefs decided to close Newark A&E they promised that more lives would be saved. However, the opposite to this has happened - more lives have been put at risk and death rates have increased. We can’t let these closures happen across the country. We need a proper investigation into the impact of A&E closures before any more are closed or downgraded. Dr Clare Gerada, Chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners agrees. ‘The Newark data revealed by The Mail on Sunday points to a close association between A&E closures and mortality. It is clear the provision of emergency care is in crisis across the whole of the NHS. Before any further closures are contemplated, there must be a full, independent assessment of their impact on patients and on the system as a whole.’ * If the recent ‘backdoor’ privatisation of the NHS wasn’t enough, the unjustified closure of our A&E departments is a step too far. * Shocking proof A&E closures cost lives, Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2323141/Shocking-proof-Accident-Emergency-closures-cost-lives-Death-rate-jumps-THIRD-department-closes.html

This is about the richest 1%. This is about the gap between the rich and the poor. This is about doing the right thing by leading by example.

This campaign highlights that, despite recent legislation, there are those with frankly backward mindsets who seek to carry on discriminating against and undermining the basic human rights of individuals who wish only to express their love for each other in a formal institution, in exactly the same way as heterosexual couples. These people seek to destroy human rights of a minority group in society, resonating with wider global issues that are ongoing in Russia and Uganda, where individuals are being lobbied to be maimed or killed because of their sexuality. We should engage actively to stop this disgusting treatment in this country and our locality to the best of our efforts and abilities.

The Meads in Bridgwater contains common ground which would have belonged to a Lord of the Manor. This land was used by 'commoners' to graze their livestock and is enjoyed today by many. The land is relatively untouched and is home to a diverse range of wildlife including Daubenton and Pipistrelle bats which are endangered species. There are also nesting birds of prey amongst other wildlife forms. We believe that this land should remain untouched by any developments especially that of a housing estate.

The Ritz Hotel has paid no Corporation tax for 17 (seventeen) years. Along with several other corporations the Ritz have used existing tax laws to avoid paying corporation tax. This is a more long running tax avoidance issue than any other company has been involved in. This entirely legal tax avoidance use series of tax reliefs to reduce its bill to Zero. While the country tries to manage by cutting back the welfare budget, the Ritz are happy to continue to avoid paying tax in the UK.

The legal age for students to leave education is being raised to 17 and soon it will be 18. Starting from this September students are required to continue to some form of education for another year, however in Gloucestershire parents are still required to pay the £300+ (in some cases) for their children to continue on at school, even though they have no way of leaving education. Usually the lower stage of secondary school is free transport provided by the council, however now that students are required to stay on longer, this should also be provided free of charge.

Currently, any Healthcare Professional causing the negligent death of a patient is not legally obliged to be Open, Honest & Transparent with bereaved relatives or to refrain falsifying the deceased patient’s medical records. Please sign http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/34926 Robbie's Law gets it's namesake from Robbie Powell, who died an unnecessary death at the age of ten, 22 years ago. Due to this loophole in the law, at every turn his death has been swept under the rug. His family and thousands of others have endured years of grief, injustice and frustration. Robbie’s family continues to campaign 22 years on, not only for justice for Robbie, but to ensure other families don't have their grief exacerbated by the dishonesty of the medical profession. Please sign http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/34926