East Sussex County Council want to build a link road from Bexhill to Hastings to regenerate the local area. On both counts, they are misguided. A landmark study from the University of Toronto (The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion: Evidence from US cities, 2010), showed that building more roads (or widening existing ones) leads to more traffic. The more roads you build, the more cars you have. And with cars comes more noise, more congestion, and more CO2. Indeed the Department of Transport has gone on record to say that the new road will be a significant producer of carbon emissions. But that’s not all. The new road will border Combe Haven nature reserve - disrupting wildlife and adding noise and pollution to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This is bad for animals, and humans who want to enjoy the outdoors. And it will destroy the original site of the battle of hastings. And it’s been assessed as number 39 in the 40 priority road schemes in the country We don’t need this road. We call on East Sussex County Council to stop this project and invest in quieter, cleaner, more equitable public transport. Not only will this reduce congestion much more effectively, it will improve access for everyone, just just those with cars.

The forthcoming government cuts to the Science Museum Group's (SMG) annual funding will have a massive impact on the daily running of four of the UK's most visited Museums. Led by the Science Museum in London, the SMG also includes the National Railway Museum in York, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester and the National Media Museum in Bradford. Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum Group has stated that a further 10% cut in funding in the next round of government spending proposals meant "almost certainly" one museum would shut. Out of the four Museums the National Media Museum in Bradford has the least visitors annually and is the most at risk to closure. BBC News - Science Museum Group says cuts put museums at risk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22781573 Revealing interview with Ian Blatchford on Radio 4's The World at One: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1433319-science-museum-director-ian-blatchford-on-the-world-at-one-bbc-radio-4 The National Media Museum is a unique, world-class visitor destination and constantly delivers a range of inspiring events, exhibitions and galleries in one of the poorest Cities in the UK. The Museum gives visitors a rare opportunity to experience many world firsts and is home to over 3 million objects that track the history of photography, film, animation, television and videogames. The film and festival programme is an exciting offer that welcomes many award-winning filmmakers and artists to the UK. The Museum is the heart of the cultural community in Bradford and its closure would have truly tragic consequences for the cultural, economic and tourism offer of the City and the Region. The National Media Museum may have fewer visitors when compared to its family members in Manchester, York and London but at more than 500,000 visits in 2012 the Bradford attraction is still a popular visitor destination. There is no other public building in the UK that offers this combination of free galleries, temporary exhibitions, cinemas, events and workshops for all types of audiences - schools, families, students, community groups, photographers, film and television lovers, historians and enthusiasts - we can't lose this British gem of an institution. 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the National Media Museum. Millions of visitors have benefited from the heritage, knowledge and inspiration found within its walls. Don't let this institution close and allow these opportunities slip away from future generations. The aim of this petition is not to ask to save the National Media Museum and close another Museum within the SMG. All of the SMG institutions are vital to their Cities and area of expertise. The aim of this campaign is to highlight the individual support for the National Media Museum and Bradford and urge the government to not allow any of the Museums in the SMG to close their doors. The Bradford Telegraph & Argus newspaper also has their own petition to help save the National Media Museum. We have agreed to pool both petitions together so don't worry about which one to sign. We're both pulling in the same direction. And of course, as well as signing these petitions the best way to show your support is to pay the Museum a visit in the next few weeks. Visitor figures are its life blood. http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/

I wish to debate with Michael Gove because he is all too ready to rubbish teaching and teachers, yet seldom does he stand toe to toe and listen to the genuine concerns that classroom practitioners have. Please support me in my drive to try and get Michael Gove into the arena of public debate. I am only one teacher, working as hard as I can. I only want to be listened to by the Secretary of State for Education. Is that too much to ask?

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.

In times of austerity, the Queen should not be exempt from the cuts that affect people with far less money than she has. We're constantly being told by the government that we are "all in this together", however it seems that in every reform it's always the poorest who are hit the hardest. This year the queen was given a £5 million "pay rise" after a new system of paying the monarchy came into force.Apparently she owns all of OUR country's sea-shore! Meaning that she gets "royalties" for EVERY type of energy -oil,gas,wind,wave, - that crosses HER shoreline.Her annual tax-free government grant has been set at £36.1 million for 2013/14 and will rise accordingly every year. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/queen-handed-pay-rise-5-1806123 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1323228/Queens-38m-year-offshore-windfarm-windfall--owns-seabed.html The queen is estimated to be worth about £17 Billion - much of it made through wars around the world and the arms trade: in other words, she Profits from Human suffering - as all her ancestors have since 1066 A.D. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm6P5sDXs3k Yet at the same time people across this country are struggling to cope as the bedroom tax makes it harder and harder to make ends meet each month. The queen should pay the bedroom tax on her hundreds and hundreds of ornate and unused bedrooms - as a sign that we really are all in this together. Since I first instigated this Petition, we have had to pay 'William and Kate's decoration Expenses at Kensington Palace and also the increased Security Costs for the ever extending royal family Also, queenie has just been granted £76,000,000 for repairs at 'buck hice' (you and I will have to make do with Ikea and Homebase). I had to pay £120 per hour in order to gain MY pilot's Licence. I wonder how much Wills and Harry and Charlie and Stavros (Philips nickname in aristocratic circles) had to pay to get theirs'

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!

In 1913 Emily Davison ran in front of the King's horse and was killed, in what was probably the most historically memorable event of the movement for Women's Suffrage. Emily Davison should be remembered, as should all women who campaigned for women's suffrage in the early 20th Century. The place where she made her stand should carry her name so that her sacrifice will always be remembered

E-petition: Save 1,500 healthy trees in Trafford Trafford Council plans to destroy 1500 healthy, mature trees at a cost of £1500 each. Here is the proof: http://snipurl.com/277kq1q (perhaps predictably, this page no longer exists, but we do have the original document if anyone wishes to see it.) And after local campaigners referred to a page on the Council’s website called The Benefits of Trees, the Council swiftly removed it from their website. We, the undersigned, believe that this is a terrible waste of £2.25 million of public money, destroying trees at a time when the nation’s nature and wildlife is suffering due to our lack of care as a society, and because of short-sighted policies such as this. Trees add value to our homes and neighbourhoods, provide habitat for birds and insects, and it is proven that they increase our health and wellbeing. They also provide valuable protection from pollution - protection that cannot be achieved by tiny saplings. Therefore, we demand that Trafford Council: (1) Urgently reviews its tree policy and pledges to keep healthy trees in place, unless they are demonstrably dangerous. (2) Reinstates the page on their website which outlines The Benefits of Trees. Relevant links: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/21/uk-species-struggling-wildlife http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/22609000 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22671186 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/21/trees-linked-with-human-h_n_2505267.html http://www.keeptraffordgreenandclean.co.uk/trafford-council-the-benefits-of-trees/ LATEST NEWS [8th June 2013]: The Council have been asked about this by a reporter from the Stretford & Urmston Advertiser and are denying that they want to chop down 1,500 trees. Here is the link to the document which gives that figure and which also states that it costs £1,500 per destroyed tree: http://snipurl.com/277kq1q Let's see how long THAT document remains in place! We have downloaded a copy just in case... (it's entitled "Trafford Council Tree Management Policy")

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.

I am one of the B.E.S.T. petition team. For years, I suffered severe anxiety, poor health and suffered infertility as a result of doctors not diagnosing me with Graves disease. Even after my condition was recognised, I received appalling treatment. I was given unnecessary Radioactive Iodine treatment, which resulted in a range of unpleasant side effects. It took me five years to find an informed GP and Endocrinologist to provide me with the T3 hormone treatment, which now means I can live a normal life in mostly stable health. I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Huge numbers of people are being left to suffer severe, debilitating symptoms because thyroid and related autoimmune and adrenal dysfunctions are not being diagnosed or treated. Not enough of our GPs and endocrinologists are versed in these issues. For example, Eric Pritchard MSc has just recently written a paper that estimates 300,000 UK sufferers are on the wrong medication: http://tpauk.com/news/8639-medical-negligence-within-endocrinology-are-you-a-victim-- Tens of thousands of sufferers are being prescribed anti-depressants and other unnecessary drugs. Many are left unable to work and are forced to exist on state benefits. Medical practitioners are not being correctly trained to deal with these disorders which are affecting a huge number of people and costing the state millions as a result of misdiagnosis and incorrect treatments. There are hundreds of websites and support groups throughout the world dedicated to these conditions, with sufferers pouring out their stories of how long it has taken to be diagnosed, or receive the correct diagnosis, or receive the correct treatment: http://tpauk.com/ and http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/index.html are UK based. A worldwide organisation is http://www.thyroidchange.org/evidence.html Despite the thousands of daily posts and cries for help on these sites, endocrinology seems to neither listen, nor act. The specific reasons for the petition and particulars of the review we require are here http://tinyurl.com/knh5dpp Ultimately, we are calling for the education and training of medical practitioners to be urgently improved so that diagnosis and treatment of these conditions is effective. A timely and radical review would be welcomed by an increasingly knowledgeable and empowered public, as well as by those doctors currently struggling to provide what they know to be the most appropriate treatment for their patients. WE NEED OUR HEALTH BACK.

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