We are supposed to live in a caring country where our health needs are looked after, irrespective of our financial position, free of charge from the cradle to the grave. Perusing the internet for nursing care for elderly people will uncover many examples of people not receiving the funding from the NHS for their health care that they have every legal right to expect. Many people have had to resort to expensive court action to force the National Health Service to fulfill its statutory obligations. This is not acceptable and is a national disgrace which needs to be addressed at the earliest opportunity. Please have a look at this useful website, it is crammed full of information and can provide help. http://www.caretobedifferent.co.uk/

This petition is a direct response to the perception that we cannot change the system which already exists. Even if it isn't fit for purpose, up to date with the modern world, or representative of most of the electorate. We can! The promise of parliamentary debate on any petition which reached 100.000 signatures was a brave manifesto promise by the conservatives, but without some significant changes in the way the commons work, these petitions will fall on deaf (or absent) ears. We live in an age of technology and information, many embrace it, many fear it. It is an age where almost everything you do is done on line. Whatever your personal feelings about it, the internet is here to stay, and has the so far untapped potential to allow YOU unprecedented control over YOUR life, and the direction of politics in real time. We have social media which is acting as a lightning rod, by allowing us to display our righteous indignation at policy's which we don't agree with, but with no effect whatsoever. How many would bother to sign a petition which WOULD be heard by those that create all of our futures? Internet petitions are branded "slacktivism" by the press, and yet many of us who walk in the middle of the road, or the "silent majority" fear taking part in any more pro active activism, because of the disproportionate response by the state to peaceful protest. Also in these austere times many simply cannot afford to take the time to participate in politics, except by signing these e- petitions, and going out to vote once every 4 or 5 years. At these times you are faced with a choice; to support one of 3 main parties, because it supports something which you are passionate about, even though you do not support all of the manifesto, give your vote to a fringe party, or like 45% of the electorate, not bother at all. If these changes were implemented then that would no longer need to be the way. At present there is no record (accessible to the public) of attendance in the commons except for voting figures. This is not acceptable, as the public must be able to see whether their MP has attended any debate which they have petitioned for, and for general transparency, as promised by every incoming government. All MPs are public servants, paid by the public purse, and, as we're reminded when we call HMRC, DWP, or any other government body, we are all customers of the state, and as customers we are entitled be listened to, and served well. We demand a certain level of service for our taxes,and as customers, as voters and most importantly as Humans, we demand the right to determine how we live, and have our voice heard! Its time to accept your "invitation to join the government of Britain" (This was the title of the Conservative manifesto 2010) "People have been shut out of Westminster politics for too long. Having a single vote every four or five years is not good enough – we need to give people real control over how they are governed. So, with a Conservative government, any petition that secures 100,000 signatures will be eligible for formal debate in Parliament". "The Big Society runs consistently through our policy programme. Our plans to reform public services, mend our broken society,and rebuild trust in politics are all part of our Big Society agenda. These plans involve redistributing power from the state to society; from the centre to local communities, giving people the opportunity to take more control over their lives". "Big Society; our reform plans require a social response in order to be successful. So building the Big Society is not just a question of the state stepping back and hoping for the best: it will require an active role for the state. The state must take action to agitate for, catalyse and galvanise social renewal. We must use the state to help remake society". The above are all excerpts from the Conservative party manifesto, printed before winning the 2010 general election. They all seem to say very much the same as this petition, and yet more and more of the people I speak to, feel the same as me, that they have less and less freedom, power and control over the way they are governed. Apathy is a dangerous thing because it shows a lack of hope. A lack of hope is acceptance of that which makes you unhappy. Acceptance of unhappiness is surrender. Once surrender has been accepted, it is irrevocable.

Despite a doubling in the demands on food banks in the past year, the UK Government refused to claim the UK's £22m share of a £2bn fund voted by the European Union in 2013 to tackle food deprivation across the EU. Instead, it has taken the minimum allowed sum of £3m which, despite the intention of the EU fund, it is using to prop up its already failing work programme. Labour MEP Richard Howitt, who helped negotiate the fund, said it 'defied belief' that David Cameron’s Government had 'sought to block a fund for the most deprived’. “The cost of this Government’s anti-European ideology, coupled with its bitterly felt cost-of-living crisis, is literally taking food from the mouths of children,” he said. This money would ease some of the current burden on food banks, as well as supporting the many other UK charities which help the homeless and those fleeing domestic violence.

The World Health Organisation's Declaration of Human Rights talks about everyone having the right to clean air. This development thus infringes upon the basic human right because it will have a 24/7 burn-off of gases. With Stocks Hall Nursing Home not 100 yards away, football pitches where hundreds of children play right next door, and houses looking onto it, vulnerable people, children and families are under threat of losing this basic human right, not just in the surrounding area but further afield too because of prevailing winds and underground water courses and extensive old coal mine workings. Strange odours already exude from the existing tip and can be smelt in the area, so obviously these emissions, with an unknown cocktail of chemicals, will adversely affect public health. People in the area have not been notified because of a loop-hole in the law as it is a national infrastructure plan rather than a local plan the latter of which would go through normal planning application processes with proper consultation. So local people have not had much time to raise objections before the dead-line of 11.59 p.m. on Friday, February the 28th, 2014, but the feeling of opposition is strong that there is a rising tide of protest.

We have a brand new, gleaming hospital which people cannot reach because it is not on a bus route. Many of the services based there: physiotherapy, falls prevention, community dieticians, are geared towards people who are frail and cannot walk long distances. 500m might not seem a long distance for most people, but on a zimmer frame or crutches it is forever. Parts of the hospital are empty because local GPs do not want to move to a building which their patients cannot access. The plans for this building always included a bus stop, but what we need now is a bus which will actually stop outside the hospital door. There is a cross party consensus that this needs to happen urgently. Please add your voice so the Mayor of London understands how important this is. Thanks.

Pollution, even from Defra approved stoves, invades neighbours' homes and has a significant, detrimental effect on their well-being, especially those with conditions such as asthma. Neighbours are unable to open windows and vents and it is impossible to remove the accumulative pollution. There is no safe level of particle emissions.

In the area that I live in north Wales there is a large network of by-ways principally due to old drovers and other historical routes. These are now all open to motorised vehicles and are being destroyed by large numbers of trail-bikers and off-road vehicles. This use is unsustainable, dangerous, unregulated, uncontrolled by the police or local authority, and is resulting in significant damage to the countryside and our historic heritage. Furthermore where large numbers of vehicles are frequently used the routes become too dangerous for other user groups and so walkers, horse-riders and cyclists are excluded.

The BBC are shutting down debate in a profoundly undemocratic way. If they don't open up their website to all comments they will be accused of bias in favour of the British establishment. The people of the UK deserve a fair and democratic national debate, and the people of Scotland deserve the right to ask questions and discuss opinions. If this situation was happening in Syria or Ukraine it would quite rightly be criticised as unjust by the BBC, yet they practice this gagging of their own people in the UK. It really is a shameful way to behave.

We, the undersigned, are students, alumni and staff of Royal Holloway, University of London concerned about the recent pay rises awarded the Principal Paul Layzell. In 2012-2013, Professor Layzell was awarded an £8,000 pay rise of 3%, which he is yet to justify and we still do not know whether he was in receipt of a pay rise in 2013-2014.

Green Fields and Wild Life habitats will be lost forever. Local people want to preserve the countryside for future generations, their wishes should be respected, the Localism Act should be honoured. Impacts on local communities are being ignored by Planners who have complete dis-regard for others, value of land is at a premium, greedy people are making money at the expense of the environment and the people that live there.

The Jam Butty Camp has provided generations of Salfordian school children with the experience of a holiday by the sea, many of which would have never had the chance of a holiday under normal circumstances. Over the years it has supported our City and so when under attack we come to its aid and in turn support it. The camp is just as much a part of Salford as the Civic Centre you all inhabit, and should be protected at all costs. The purpose of this facility is just as relevant today as it was when it was first set up, and by the councils own admission the City and its people are suffering from the austerity cuts, and for many children this will be the only chance they have of having a holiday away from City life. This camp holds a special place in the hearts of many Salfordian's and should be immune to the Councils cuts on the grounds it provides a special service to Salford which is priceless.

We need to commemorate those people who helped others by their selfless efforts to improve the lot of the many.