Our Trees and hedgerows are precious to us, they are characteristic of the area having been here for a very long time. Since Covid-19 hit there is even less need for a new bus, our roads In the stokes and surrounding areas at rush hour are practically empty and the busses that do run have even less passengers than before. Our hedgerows thrive with small birds and other wildlife. Where will they go? If the trees and hedges are removed there will be nowhere. This is not the behaviour we would expect of a local authority in an area so caring about its wildlife and trees. We question whether there’s even a need for this bus, the COVID-19 crisis is predicted to last years not months, what a huge waste of local council tax payer’s money. Surely our money could be better spent helping small businesses and families rebuild and adjust to our new post lockdown normal.

The expertise of teachers has been completely devalued by the unjust and incomprehensible reduction of subject grades and consequently, thousands of students nationally have suffered. Across the board, this reduction has been aimed at secondary schools, academies and sixth form colleges, whilst independent and smaller schools have received a disproportionate rise in top grades. This is blatant discrimination. It is a biased and unjustified action suggesting qualifications are now based on postcode and affluence, not ability. Potentially, highly knowledgeable and hard-working students, completely committed to their subjects, have had their futures obliterated by a skewed, unfair and inscrutable system. Furthermore, to lodge an appeal to the system that discriminated against them is simply unacceptable and students should not feel this is a reasonable way to receive their due results. We urge the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, to reinstate teacher assessed grades for A level with immediate effect.

It is a fundamental human right to have access to a fair and representative trial. But right now in the UK, there is a risk that the suspension of trial by juries will create avoidable stress for those of us waiting to get justice. Virtual trial juries would help to tackle the backlog of cases and make sure that people are given a fair and representative trial. Not having trials can have huge implications on those of us who face oppression and discrimination. The diversity of jurors helps ensure the justice system is fair and efficient by having more experiences and voices in the room. The risk of not having jury trials could have lasting impacts and hit certain groups who experience discrimination - like Black, Asian or other people of colour - harder.

Because I and I’m sure others are sick of seeing their offensive headlines every time we go into a shop. Today their “Death Express headline was utterly disgusting.

on the 19th of April, 1989, the people of Liverpool had barely had a chance to bury their dead. Four days after the Hillsborough disaster – the worst sporting disaster in British history, in which 96 people were killed and countless others were left injured and traumatised – the country's biggest newspaper ran a front page claiming, among other accusations, that Liverpool fans had "picked pockets of victims", "urinated on brave cops" and "beat up PCs giving the kiss of life". The allegations, citing comments made by South Yorkshire Police and a Tory MP, were provided by a Sheffield news agency. We don't not accept tabloid newspapers glorifying death especially when it's now Scotland it's time to stand up and get them out.

Hundreds of thousands of innocent animals - foxes, stoats, weasels, and hedgehogs - are killed on the Scottish moors every year. Why? So a small group of people can participate in the elitist sport of grouse shooting. The economic benefits of grouse shooting are tiny - but the environmental impact is massive. The ‘sport’ takes up huge swathes of the countryside and causes the deaths of huge numbers of innocent animals, which are caught in traps laid down by the shooters. The Scottish government have the power to fix this. Right now, they are considering what they should do about grouse shooting in Scotland. The answer is simple: ban the needless killing of hundreds of thousands of animals just so that moore grouse can be shot.

There has been over 8 accidents in the last 3.5 years and every day there are people exceeding the speed limit of 30mph it won't be long before there is a fatality and as residents we are very concerned that it could be a member of our family

Many hundreds of frontline healthcare workers have contracted Covid-19 and died. Details of the PPE fiasco that left them further exposed are now starting to emerge. The Government has committed £15 billion for buying PPE. Shockingly, three of the biggest beneficiaries so far are companies specialising in pest control, a confectionery wholesaler and an opaque family fund owned through a tax haven. Now, the Government has admitted that 50 million masks that they purchased from the opaque family fund “will not be used in the NHS” because of safety concerns. It means PPE which should be delivered to the NHS to protect frontline staff is now piled up in warehouses gathering dust. Why did the Government award vast amounts of public money to companies like this? And how many more of these contracts have failed to deliver PPE to the NHS? We don’t know. The Government is ignoring the usual rule that contracts should be published within 20 days. To prevent future PPE procurement failures and protect taxpayers’ money we need to uncover the truth of what really happened. Will you sign the petition and call on the Government to publish the PPE contracts?

Urgent action needed before the current ban ends on Monday! My name is Nichola. I have lived in my home in south London with my daughters for ten years. In May, my landlord gave me a Section 21 no-fault eviction notice, giving us three months to move out. We are devastated. I was furloughed for a while and receive housing benefit, but have managed to keep on top of rent. Sadly this hasn’t been good enough for my landlord who hasn’t given me a reason – they just want me out. The government has suspended most evictions over Christmas but they lifted this in September, so we have no option but to find alternative accommodation. But moving isn’t an option. Benefits would only get me a 1 bedroom flat, which is unacceptable with two girls, one of whom is about to start her GCSEs. And I can’t move away from my mother, who’s recovering from a stroke, or my daughters’ father. The local council can’t help – they’ve just sent us to letting agents who are demanding an above average income and the details of someone who earns more than £50,000 to guarantee the rent. Single-earner households are excluded from the rental market. And I’m a key worker, so I’m one of the lucky ones. There are thousands of others who have always done the right thing but the government has shut down their workplace, and hasn’t provided enough support to cover the rent. They too face homelessness when the courts open back up after the government’s Christmas truce. I spoke to Generation Rent about my experience - they estimate that homelessness could treble as a result of coronavirus. While the latest surge of infections threatens to overwhelm the NHS, the government must do all it can to keep people in their homes. He’s running out of time to keep that promise and keep us in our homes with He needs to act now to give renters and the wider public the protection we need during the pandemic

Jubilee Swimming Pool is a well-used, much loved and vital community resource for local health and wellbeing. It provides leisure facilities within walking distance for all demographics of citizens in Knowle. It is a heritage building and a unique survivor of formerly common Bristol swimming pools. It represents the last remaining operational 1930s (Baths Committee approved) swimming pools in Bristol. It is a place where people meet, share experiences of learning to swim and keep fit and healthy. A variety of classes are held here and there are elderly swimmers at the pool who still use it, decades after learning to swim there as children.

On a hot day like this, I can cross the road, jump in the sea without a seconds thought.  I don't need to plan weeks in advance, hire expensive equipment and be at a specific place at a certain time. Who actually wants this? It takes the whole fun out of it. I can't believe I live in a town populated of almost 90 thousand people and no permanent disability access to the sea!  Hastings has always been about inclusivity, and being able to take a dip on a sweltering day like today is a very basic human right. There has already been great interest in this idea from many people in the Hastings area and people have come forward to say it has always been a dream to go in the sea whenever they want. With your help we can make these dreams a reality.

Glyphosate is used by Edinburgh Council as a weedkiller. Edinburgh City Council sprays Portobello's streets, pavements, parks, playgrounds, cemeteries and green spaces in an effort to control weeds. Research shows that pesticide use has multiple harmful effects on human and animal health, and causes environmental pollution and degradation. Although available data can be contradictory it seems sensible to use the precautionary principle, and avoid spraying chemicals in our environment unless they can be shown to be safe. Children are more at risk than adults due to their behaviour, for example, investigating nature, crawling and playing on grass and spending time in areas such as playgrounds and parks where pesticides are used. Dogs and cats are particularly vulnerable too due to their close proximity to the ground. There have been 3 successful lawsuits against Monsanto, which brought glyphosate-based herbicides to the market in the 1970s, and there are many more cases going to trial. Nineteen countries have already either banned or restricted the use of glyphosate, and 5 more have plans to do so imminently. Many towns and cities across the world have made the decision to go pesticide-free, using methods such as hot-foam, flame weeding, scraping, acetic acid solution and accepting a certain level of ‘weediness’. Edinburgh Council have already agreed to stop spraying pesticides in Balerno after the locals ran a successful campaign on the grounds of health concerns for animals and people. We call on Edinburgh City Council to put an end to all pesticide use in Portobello, using safe alternatives instead, to protect the health of people, pets, wildlife and of our environment. References: * Weedkiller use in Scotland: https://theferret.scot/glyphosate-weedkiller-cancer-councils-scotland/ * Countries that have banned Glyphosate use: https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/toxic-tort-law/monsanto-roundup-lawsuit/where-is-glyphosate-banned/ * Monsanto sued over cancer claims: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/13/monsanto-cancer-trial-bayer-roundup-couple * Pesticides - risks of use: https://www.pan-uk.org/key-issues/?fbclid=IwAR1zDqJmDQZMULOhs5YUhFWPhG3wc_Fr73RoDFDIUpJINQbPjbY2y6DQRVI