• Save Kew Gardens funding.
    Kew Garden is the largest oldest and biggest repository of plants and plant research in the world. The Governments and Defra's irresponsible action in cutting its grant aid and nudging it towards privatisation is a sacrilege, when we are dealing with the world's greatest. Rather our Government fund our own world ranking expertise than waste money on funding countries like India with overseas aid.It has achieved fame for being the world's greatest centre for botanical research, a place where the planet's rarest plant and tree species are preserved and studied. But now Kew Gardens, established more than 200 years ago, is set to become the focus of an international battle following an intervention by renowned biologist Jane Goodall, who has denounced a recently inflicted budget cut as "unbelievably stupid". Goodall, who carried out pioneering work on the behaviour of chimps, has written to the environment secretary, Owen Paterson, urging him to hand out £5m to restore the centre's budget in the wake of financial cuts imposed by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. "To read that 125 professional staff members are set to lose their jobs because of cuts in government funding is shocking," Goodall says. In an interview with the Observer, she revealed that she had made contact with several Kew scientists while researching her book, Seeds of Hope. "There is a tremendous feeling of anger and frustration there and I share it. This an unbelievably stupid thing to do. This is the mother of all other botanical research centres. Britain should be proud of it, not dismantling it. It is like tearing up the union jack. That is why I wrote my letter. I want my protest to go viral. I want thousands and thousands of people to protest as well." Last month a petition demanding the restoration of Kew's budget – signed by more than 100,000 people – was handed to 10 Downing Street, while 34 MPs signed an early-day motion expressing alarm "that vital international conservation work would be threatened should further cuts take place" at Kew.
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    Created by mick goddard
  • Democratic e-Consultations
    The government commission on Digital Democracy is investigating "the opportunities digital technology can bring for parliamentary democracy in the UK" and will make recommendations in January 2015 (Google "Commission on Digital Democracy" - on their site you can see all the submissions so far to the commission). This submission proposes a form of e-consultations which provides an approach to e-democracy that is genuinely democratic, with people rather than politicians controlling the process. It also may help to get more young people involved in democracy and provide a means of youth constructively expressing its views and perceptions (which were certainly very relevant in the fable of The Emperor's New Clothes!) Whereas e-petitions, e.g. as organised by 38degrees, go a long way in e-democracy, they can be dismissed as un-representative of the population as a whole. An "official" e-consultation mechanism would be less dismissible - it becomes the MP's job to convince his constituents to support his "party line" on each issue raised by himself or by others. If there is a "Silent Majority" then the proposed e-Consultations would help them to be less silent. The "campaign website" (linked to above) contains a draft detailed presentation of the idea, based on the principles of "liquid democracy", for eventual submission to the commission - comments welcomed. An outline of the proposal is- • Govt. consultation websites on which anyone can include their issue, e.g. a petition on which citizens can vote. • Any activist group (from a local community assoc. to Greenpeace or a political party) can include their viewpoint on any issue, including links to supporting evidence. • There is a web page listing all the issues, each linking to: A page on which all the viewpoints on that issue are listed, each linking to: a page presenting that viewpoint. • Like Google search results – what matters is the order in which entries for issues and viewpoints are listed on these web pages - their relative position. • All citizens have equal “units of influence” which they have delegated to activist groups which they think should be listened to. At any time they can change how their influence is delegated. • An activist group applies the influence units delegated to it - to vote on the relative position of issues and of viewpoints on the web page listings. • Thus each citizen directly influences which issues and which viewpoints are most strongly presented to their fellow citizens.
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    Created by Richard Hopkins
  • Glenda Jackson for Prime Minister
    The political climate is currently so bad traditional labour voters have been voting Ukip or EDL as a protest vote; racist, far right extremism as opposed to Ed Miliband. That's the sickening truth! People would rather UKIP were in charge than Labour. Why? Because Miliband has failed to inspire any faith or belief in the British public. But someone else on in the labour party has. And that person is Glenda Jackson. The people need somebody they can believe in, somebody they can trust, and that is what she has demonstrated herself to be. In her recent speech in the house of commons, she stood up for the welfare state, she stood for those who are suffering, and her stand has not gone unnoticed. The apathetic, disenfranchised but otherwise good people of this country stood up and took notice. They shared that video clip, indicating a glimmer of hope and inspiration to take an interest in politics. She was telling the truth, she was saying something I agree with. She was standing up for me and you. The only female Prime Minister we ever had in this country was a moral abomination. The current government are following in Thatchers ghastly footsteps, and if we keep following that path who knows what hell we'll end up in. Let's bring in another woman, a strong and intelligent woman who clearly cares about this country, who cares enough to stand in a room full of toffee nosed tories and tell them how it is. If Glenda Jackson were a labour candidate for Prime Minister, she would have my vote. Would she have yours? Sign this petition and lets show them how we feel about her, and about the future of the labour party being in the hands of somebody we believe in.
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    Created by Naomi Yates
  • To secure a piece of land for the community
    Please see the body of the petition
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    Created by Amal Basu
  • Open an inquiry into the sale of Royal Mail by the UK Government
    This is a public service, created by the hard working people of the UK in past generations, which has been sold off to make money for the government - but sold at a low price to ensure the certain people and agencies made money on the sale of the shares after going private. This is illegal, against the wish of the people, and a complete sham from a government who are supposed to represent and work for the will and welfare of the people. A full investigation should be held, and those who are found to have made money by insider knowledge held accountable.
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    Created by Simon Zielonka
  • Stop the snoops
    More time is needed to ensure proper laws are discussed and agreed. We do not live in a policed state... Maybe there is law firm out there that would take on a mass case of legal challenges by the public to force telecoms companies to destroy the data now and thereby force the government into proper dialogue with people they are representing!
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    Created by Pete Hanley
  • Commonwealth Games: Please address sustainability concerns
    Glasgow 2014 has touted how sustainable the Games are, yet there are glaring inconsistencies in the way the Games have been organised.[1] The Commonwealth Games is a showcase for Glasgow. Right from the beginning sustainability has been a key issue for the organisers. Yet they chose to partner up with BP [2]. In recent months Glasgow has been the focus of a high profile campaign by Friends of the Earth Scotland on air pollution [3]. The City has the worst record for air pollution in the UK next to London and the 5th worst in Europe [4]. Part of the Games policy was to introduce low emissions zones around venues. This policy has just been dumped [5]. In the run up to the Games, Glasgow City Council has rolled out charging points around the City for electric cars. 'Sustainable Glasgow has installed new charging sites in the city centre and at sporting venues around the city. In total, the new sites will be able to accommodate 22 cars at a time. 'The council itself has 36 electric vehicles including four Nissan Leaf pool cars and two electric street sweepers. Two of the Nissans have been branded with eye-catching Sustainable Glasgow artwork. ...Electric vehicles help reduce air and noise pollution. Making Glasgow a more sustainable city makes it a more pleasant place to live, which benefits residents, visitors and businesses alike.' [6] In view of the above, why then has BP been invited - as a partner - to provide fuel for Glasgow 2014 Games vehicles? [7] Dirty fossil fuel companies like BP need sporting events and other high profile events in order to legitimise their brand. Its the same strategy that tobacco companies used to use. Its called 'Social Licence'. [8]. Tobacco advertising is now outlawed and the writing is on the wall for dirty fossil fuel companies. There is no room in sport for dirty oil. Lets sent this message loud and clear to Glasgow 2014. 1 - http://bit.ly/1sxhwIU 2 - BP GETS SET TO FUEL THE GLASGOW 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES http://bit.ly/VKidnr 3 - Air Pollution: A Silent Killer http://bit.ly/TSKDKi 4 - Glasgow has highest level of toxic pollution in UK http://bit.ly/1mIWqHY 5 - Glasgow 2014: Low emission zones promise 'broken' http://bbc.in/1sxhIYx 6 - Glasgow to offer free charging for electric cars http://bit.ly/1je1d3j 7 - BP joins sponsors of 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games http://reut.rs/1qjGutZ 8 - Obtaining a social licence to operate – a challenge for the industry http://bit.ly/1negam1
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    Created by Barry Dalgleish
  • Stop joint enterprise
    By having laws such as this we are on a slippery slope towards a controlling state who is fearful of a particular group of people. If there are problems with gangs then we need to find out what those problems are and deal with them in a fair and humane way, not just lock them up and throw away the key!
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    Created by ilona harding
  • We demand a National inquiry into peadophilia at the Home Office
    Children should be protected from everyone especially from those who believe they will never be caught or convicted.
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    Created by John Garrett
  • A more relevant Vehicle Road Tax system
    Cars today [2014] are essential, this may because local transport is lacking or the many reasons why so many Brit's commute. Many cars have only one occupant. Cars have become Egotistical Status symbols. They are lasting longer and longer and are now so cheap to buy (pre-owned) the UK has a log-jam problem and a serious parking problem. The current Gov's Road Tax system is abused and should be geared to the smaller car whilst penalising i.e. - HUGE 4x4's used totally out of context.
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    Created by Mike Kelly Picture
  • Save Askham Bog Etc,near York
    As Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s first ever nature reserve, Askham Bog has special significance. In fact in 1946 the Trust was created with the purpose of looking after the site which was bought to save it from development. A brief summary of the issues relating to the proposals is as follows: Askham Bog supports an exceptionally high biodiversity with healthy populations of numerous nationally rare species, and the only regional populations of many others. Particular rarities include gingerbread sedge carex elongata (largest population in England), numerous water beetles and the fen square-spot moth diarsia florida. Askham Bog has been recognised as an exceptional habitat for two centuries. It is highly valued both by the population of York and by a national and international community of naturalists and ecologists. Just two miles from the city centre it offers a peaceful place to walk and enjoy nature. The importance of the site is entirely dependent on the integrity of the local water table and it is exceptionally sensitive to any disturbance of that. We are concerned that these housing proposals will irreversibly damage the hydrology of Askham Bog and its special interest will be lost. There has been no information presented to indicate that this will not be the case. We are also concerned about the huge increase in recreational access on to the reserve. There is highly likely to be unmanaged access from a range of locations, particularly from dog walkers and young people. Whilst we welcome large numbers of people on to many of our sites, Askham Bog is too small and fragile to cope with this high volume of unregulated access. We therefore consider that the site should not be allocated for development and that doing so would result in significant loss of the important wildlife features of the site. This allocation is therefore contrary to the Council’s own policies regarding the protection of biodiversity and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. http://www.ywt.org.uk/news/2014/06/12/help-save-york%E2%80%99s-wildlife http://www.ywt.org.uk/York
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    Created by Bruce King
  • Help stop this proposed Anaerobic Digester plant from going ahead here in our lovely market town.
    Within the recognized "stink zone" of 1 km there are 4 schools, a pre-school nursery, a nursing home, our rugby and cricket fields, two small food-producing companies and half the houses and shops of Whitchurch!   There are huge problems throughout the UK with the food-fed ADs because of the all-pervading smell they give off 24/7 including the ones at Cannock, Rothwell, Cannington, Plymouth, Cumbernauld and Farington.  And not far from us at Harper Adams University the digester has collapsed twice causing massive digestate discharge covering the road, fields and polluting the river and two boreholes contaminating water supplies. We do not want  to suffer the smell or the inherent threats to local wildlife from seepage and spillage.  The applicant, which is a huge coldstore and warehousing company, is prepared to put our Town at risk for the sake of the massively subsidised AD  rather than pay Scottish Power to upgrade the electricity supply required for its industrial expansion.  The Environment Agency has already said that the Company should look for a different site but the local planning Committee is nevertheless prepared to support the application! There is a website set up with full details. WWW.whitchurchad525.co.UK Help protect our market town. Thankyou
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    Created by Katie Prince