I've heard that Hywel Dda health board are to downgrade Bronglais. They'll stabilize patients in Bronglais, then fly them down to Carmarthen

This is important because after so many years of governments and police trying to shut down our scene we are still here and we still feel we are doing no harm. If you feel the same then please sign this petition and get this issue addressed by the people who can make a change.

Access to Work isn't a benefit and doesn't incur a cost to government - in fact it brings money into the treasury, yet Deaf and disabled people are having their support allowance capped or cuts made (meaning they can no longer afford to use qualified interpreters or the support they need). This places jobs at risk and has already resulted in job losses and demotions. People currently in work are potentially being forced out of work and onto benefits, which goes against everything the government is telling us they are trying to achieve. Deaf and disabled people bring a vast amount of skill and talent to our workforce that we can't afford to lose. We want to ensure that full support is provided, and people are enabled to gain, maintain and progress in their chosen careers. Personal choice and control needs to be handed back to the experts on Deaf and disabled access needs in the workplace - the individual Deaf and disabled people who use the scheme We want to ensure Deaf and disabled people are not subjected to a glass ceiling due to lack of support.

Investor-state rules could be used to smash any attempt to save the NHS from corporate control, to re-regulate the banks and to curb the greed of the energy companies, to name just a few areas. See here for more details: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/04/us-trade-deal-full-frontal-assault-on-democracy The rules are not enforced by courts but by panels. The hearings are held in secret. The judges are corporate lawyers, many of whom work for companies of the kind whose cases they hear. Citizens and communities affected by their decisions have no legal standing. There is no right of appeal on the merits of the case. Yet they can overthrow the sovereignty of parliaments and the rulings of supreme courts.

Winter Fuel Allowance is a non-means tested benefit. You only need to be a qualifying pensioner to be paid it. The allowance is paid whether you need it or not. There are a range of conditions that are made worse by cold weather. If you have a condition such as severe Raynauds's or Scleroderma the effects of cold weather can result in painful, swollen cold hands and feet. Being cold can quickly become life threatening due to possible complications such as poor circulation and breathing difficulties. Most people who suffer with autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and those with limited mobility need to take extra care in cold weather.The recent price hikes in energy costs is impacting on vulnerable groups. It is essential that warmth is maintained for people whose health is made worse by the cold. Extending this allowance won’t add much to the welfare budget and will mean less cost to the N.H.S. in the long term. We call on the government therefore to do the right thing, and the pay the winter fuel allowance to those who need it.

Recently, Jeremy Hunt lost his appeal against closing Lewisham Accident and Emergency. The law that protected it would be removed if Clause 118 passes. The Clause will allow the government to close or downgrade any hospital in the country, with barely any consultation of local people, if there is a Trust in financial difficulties anywhere nearby. They will be able to appoint an administrator to one Trust who will be able to take decisions to fast-track the closure of hospitals in another area - no matter how successful or popular those hospitals are - using the 'unsustainable provider' legislation that was designed only for insolvent Trusts. If it becomes law, this Clause means that *no* hospital will be safe, no matter how successful. Check out this link http://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/stop-hospital-closure-clause for more information. We will update you on further campaign actions you can get involved in. Please share on Twitter and Facebook.

To prevent the mass hunger strike planned for 7th November. After all haven't they served this country over the years when the British Government has needed to call on their services.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ENHANCEMENT OF OLD PORTSMOUTH'S HISTORIC ARCHES - SIGN THE PETITION ON THE RIGHT OF THIS PAGE PORTSMOUTH ARTches Arts & Crafts Quarter proposals are under attack from a group of residents who want to protect their own interests. The proposed plans will enhance the area for the common benefit of the people who live in portsmouth with the additional objective of increasing tourism. It will also provide more jobs and other opportunities. SEE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RodM9qLqA_k Any objection is a prime example of local residents trying to stop anything happening on there own doorstep and treating the surrounding area as their own back garden. Can you not see what a waste of space these arches actually are, at the moment they stink of urine where they are used as unofficial public toilets. Bring them back to life and then regenerate the whole seafront. By all means object to anything tacky going there but don't obstruct the Council every time they try and improve something or you will end up with nothing ! 91% of people (out of 380) citywide who attended the citywide public consultation WANT the ARTches and like the proposals. ENGLISH HERITAGE are really enthusiastic with their support for ARTches quarter proposals. To get the £1.9million (bid to national Coastal Communities Fund) needed they need planning permission. The ARTches arts & crafts project is also already supported by Partnership for South Hampshire 'PUSH' (who have put £40,000 towards it) and the 'Portsmouth Society'. The ARTches is supported by the Uni of Portsmouth Arts Faculty senior lecturer too and will help lots of local artists and innovators.

A levy on Wiltshire Supermarkets could reduce parking charges in our town centres which would be a lifeline to the many small traders.

Currently funding is weighted on a per pupil basis where children identified as socially deprived receive considerably more funding and additional funding benefits (free school dinners & free uniforms). Under proposed changes the minister will reduce the per pupil funding at 81% of schools across Northern Ireland and reallocate the funds to socially deprived children. This will affect the budget schools have to operate with and put more pressures on PTA's and fundraising activities to close the already existing funding gap at schools. There is a lack of evidence to support the assertion that increases to funding of socially deprived children will improve their educational performance.

In 2012 Michael Gove scrapped homework guidelines that laid out how much homework schools should be setting. Let’s ask that we go a step further and scrap homework in primary schools altogether. Schools continue to operate under the false assumption that homework is necessary for children to gain a satisfactory level of academic achievement, and to pander to the pressure from parents who also operate under this misconception. The fact is that there is not a single piece of evidence that can show any correlation between homework and academic achievement, nor that shows any improvement in study habits. Yet many recent studies and reports have raised serious concerns about the well-being of children, their lack of physical activity, excessive time spent in front of screens, increasingly limited time for free play, and lack of time spent outdoors. Homework is an intrusion on family time, on children’s free time, and can be a regular source of conflict in the home. It creates unnecessary anxiety and pressure for children. Young children already spend enough time engaged in formal school work. To expect them to bring more of this home risks overloading them and turning them off learning altogether. They learn and develop in so many other ways. Time for free play, outdoor play, pursuing their own interests, and quality family time is essential for their development and well-being.

Kevin Donovan of Defend the NHS says the following: You may have read in the press or online (or more likely may not have heard) about the major health data collection exercise which the government has initiated. Under changes to legislation, your GP can now be required to upload personal and identifiable information from the medical record of every patient in England to central computer servers at the Health and Social Care Information Centre. Once this information leaves your GP practice, your doctor will no longer be in control of what data is passed on or to whom. And private companies will be able to buy your information for just £1 (ONE pound!). This information will include diagnoses, investigations, treatments and referrals as well as other things you may have shared with your doctor including your weight, alcohol consumption, smoking and family history. Each piece of information will made identifiable by uploading it along with your NHS number, date of birth, post code, gender and ethnicity. Health data has always been collected* but this time it’s different. NHS England – the body now in charge of commissioning primary care services across England – will manage and use the information extracted by the Health and Social Care Information Centre for a range of purposes, none of which are to do with your direct medical care. These ‘secondary uses’ include patient-level tracking and monitoring, audit, business planning and contract management. Why should we worry? It seems clear that one hidden purpose of this exercise is to lubricate the galloping ‘marketisation’ of our health service, for example to allow health insurance companies to make huge profits from cherry-picking low risk patients for health cover. Over time, and as in the USA, if we can’t afford a health insurance premium (which is very likely if we are poorer and/or have any condition which may be expensive to treat) we won’t get free access at the point of need to medical care. It’s a nightmare! GPs’ hands are tied. They have been told it’s an offence not to provide the data. But patients can choose not to do so. How? Read these articles. In paragraph 4 you can download an opt-out letter for you to complete and use (template opt out letters for patients to use). http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/your-practice/practice-topics/it/eight-weeks-to-inform-patients-their-data-is-going-to-be-harvested-gps-warned/20004562.article#.UlF8er5wbmR http://medconfidential.org/how-to-opt-out/ http://opendemocracy.net/ournhs/phil-booth/your-medical-data-on-sale-for-pound http://medconfidential.org/2013/nhs-9-who-gets-to-see-your-information/ We doubt that many people know what’s happening – especially older patients and/or those without Internet access – so please distribute this information widely to your contacts and urge them to take action NOW. It’s OUR NHS not the government’s to sell off to their friends in the City. Thanks