Because access to books matters. Reading changes lives!

UK Democracy is not well served by the present system and MP's who wish to make a greater contribution to our society will have to work harder for their constituents in their 2 terms also the abolition of the 'Whip' system would increase the MPs responsibilty to reflect the opinion of their constituency as a whole .

UK Supermarkets: Please Commit Zero Support for Zero-Graze Dairy Units: For cows, for people, for the planet For the attention of: Sainsburys – CEO Mr Michael Coupe Lidl – CEO Mr Christian Hartnagel Aldi – UK CEO Mr Matthew Barnes Morrisons – CEO Mr David Potts Tesco – CEO Mr Dave Lewis Asda – CEO Mr Sean Clarke Waitrose – Managing Director Mr Rob Collins Petitioning Chief Executive Officers of UK leading supermarket chains: declare zero support for zero-graze dairy farms. What are zero-graze dairy farms? Recently planning application was sought in West Sussex for four zero-graze dairy units. These are large sheds where cows live inside all their lives and are fed with processed cattle feed. They never go out onto pasture – in fields – and they never eat grass – in fields. For more information about the above plans, see the objections from Dean Farm Trust: http://deanfarmtrust.org.uk/threat-of-new-zero-grazing-farms-act-now/ VIVA also has information about intensive farming and zero-graze industrialisation on its website here: http://www.viva.org.uk/dark-side-dairy/intensification-and-zero-grazing CIWF has more information on their campaign to 'keep cows in fields' here: http://www.ciwf.org.uk/our-campaigns/dairy/ Why should zero-graze dairy farming be stopped? While elements of zero-grazing are already common in the dairy industry, for example cows are often kept in sheds and fed specific diets over the winter months, these more industrialised farms are a shift away from any outside space or grazing whatsoever, keeping cows in intensive factory farm conditions all year round. Many people are already choosing to go vegan due to the inherent cruelty in the dairy industry, many vegetarians also avoid cow milk due to animal welfare standards in the dairy industry. As we know, cows are kept almost constantly impregnated, milked to within an inch of their lives and repeatedly have their calves taken away from them. While many people already boycott this industry, milk is still part of the daily diet for most and I hope all of us, vegans and non-vegans alike, can agree that it is not desirable for dairy farming to become even more intensive and even more industrialised than it already sadly is. What can we do about it? As well as rightly tackling and protesting every individual planning application for zero-graze industrial farms as they arise, it would also be productive to tackle the demand side of these businesses. If the major supermarkets in the UK publicly declared that they would not purchase milk from zero-graze dairy farms due to animal welfare and public health concerns then hopefully fewer businesses would be motivated to build these factory farms in the first place. This petition is therefore aimed at the Chief Executive Officers of the major supermarket chains in the UK and calls upon them to make public declarations to keep cows in fields and not to support the factory farming of cows in zero-graze industrial dairy units. Consumer Power! Waitrose, for example, already have commitments to monitoring their supply chain of dairy produce and to ensuring that cows are allowed to graze naturally for a certain period in every year. If all supermarkets were to publicise a similar stance and specifically boycott produce from zero-graze dairies then perhaps the incentive to further industrialisation in this area of agriculture could be curbed. If enough customers demanded such a commitment, the major supermarkets may consider making it. This petition would aim to encourage the supermarkets to make such a commitment; please sign and share.

It has been decided without consulting local people, to rename our Academy, "The Waid", when a new building opens next year. Local people are outraged. A former Deputy Rector, now aged 96, who help to educate three generations of students is deeply saddened. Whilst the future is important, we should always learn from the past. The Waid Academy has set and produced the highest standards of education. It has served the East Neuk for 130 years. It opened on 6th December1886 and was financed using a bequest left by Lt Andrew RN. It's purpose was to to provide secondary education for the East Neuk of Fife. Most of the people who still live in the area, plus other who left for pastures new were students there and received a top class education. "The Waid Academy" is their's, In these uncertain times,we all need something to cherish, our "Academy", fits the bill perfectly.

The County Council has a legal duty to provide waste disposal free of charge for waste created in the household and through this delegated decision the Conservative leadership is ignoring its legal responsibility to the communities of Staffordshire. The Council should use its discretion to charge directed to business traders and identify these specifically to charge for waste generated from their commercial activities. These new charges have been hidden in County Council paperwork from two years ago and did not receive any meaningful public scrutiny. Further the Council took felt sufficiently concerned about their legal position that they obtained specific advice and concluded that “consultation….is not necessary.” The County Council has a duty to consider the impact of any decisions a cabinet member takes and of particular note is that they acknowledge that the charges will have a detrimental effect on the most vulnerable in our community stating clearly the “…greatest impact on low income households.” They have pressed ahead regardless with this discriminatory practice. Secondly, the Council acknowledge that there could be “a small increase” in fly-tipping. We think they have underestimated the increase in fly-tipping which is costly to clean up for the District Council. The Council think that people won’t be tempted to put soil, hardcore and plasterboard in their own bins. We think residents are likely to try and avoid these charges and this will mean less recycling. The Council do not care that they anticipate “some complaints” in the short term because they believe the issue will blow over and we, the residents of Staffordshire, will continue to accept their ill-considered and flawed decision making to the detriment of communities. All quotes from http://moderngov.staffordshire.gov.uk/documents/s87805/Review%20of%20Household%20Waste%20Recycling%20Centre%20non-household%20waste.pdf

We the undersigned call on the Mayor of London to support us in the creation of a UK HIV/AIDS Memorial. HIV/AIDS disproportionally affected gay men but also new African communities; people with haemophilia; prisoners and injecting drug users. It influenced the whole nation by forcing us to confront deep rooted prejudices and ask questions about equality, difference, religion, morality and identity which hit at the very core of our values as a people and as a nation. There is currently no memorial to those who died in London in contrast to most other major cities affected including Amsterdam, Auckland, Barcelona, Berlin, Brighton, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Dublin, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Kiev, LA, Madrid, Manchester, Melbourne, Montreal, Moscow, Munich, NYC, Paris, San Francisco, San Salvador, Sydney, Toronto, Vienna and Zurich. We want the Mayor of London to support our campaign for a national memorial in the city, by meeting with campaigners and helping in practical ways to find a location, funding and wider support. Why Now? 1) 2017 is the 50th Anniversary of the passing of the Sexual Offences Act 1967 which partly decriminalised sexual acts between two men in private and aged over 21. 2) 2016 is the 20th anniversary since the widespread use of the life-saving anti-retroviral therapy that arrested the number of deaths and literally, allowed for a new awakening. 3) New communities are examining and documenting their unique histories for future generations to make more sense of their own lives and to make secure as well as more grounded, their identities and narratives. The National AIDS Memorial in London aims: • To pay tribute to the men, women and children who died in the UK • To remember the struggles of those living with HIV as well as those who took on the challenge to treat, support and campaign for those who were affected by AIDS. • To acknowledge an almost forgotten period in British history • To form a linear historical path between the past, the present and the future for all the communities in the UK who bore the brunt of the epidemic. • To remember those worldwide who perished and who continue to live with HIV, the majority of whom still cannot access treatment This campaign is being led by GMFA (Gay Men Fighting AIDS), in conjunction with the UK HIV sector. @AidsMemoryUK; #AidsMemoryUK

The Hellifield Flashes are a series of large natural ponds in an an area of unspoiled open grazing, just a mile or so distant from the Yorkshire Dales National Park and seperating the villages of Hellifield and Long Preston. For centuries the Flashes have been a place of rural tranquility where sheep may safely graze and people can wander, picnic, and enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the countryside. The Flashes are also famed for their bird life providing, at certain times of the year, sanctuary for at least 4,000 migratory birds.

We feel the proposed restrictions are a threat to local 'non convenience' businesses who offer leisure activities with a longer stay time than the one hour proposed limit. Our local salons, coffee shops, restaurants, clothes shops, bars and other shopping outlets fear, that the restricted parking would deter visitors from spending time using a number of facilities in the village; causing the local economy to suffer as a result. We do feel that the parking congestion in the village needs to be addressed, but do not feel that this is the answer. Please support us in our campaign to put a stop to the proposed restrictions BEFORE THE COUNCIL MEETING ON TUESDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2016, and keep Tickhill the eclectic place that visitors love to spend time in.

This important because lives of other road users are in danger, and people get killed, and the driver has shown complete disregard for his responsibility and care of his vehicle. If you are not concentrating on your task of driving, accidents are caused, they don't just happen. Texting and scrolling and watching videos is very very dangerous

It is important to empower young people who are at risk of developing mental health problems by providing knowledge, support, advice and guidance for them to seek help from the right services. It is important to remove inequality of opportunity and seek to enable sufferers to participate fully in society without fear of rejection.

We miss our family! Our children miss their grandparents! And we're not the only ones... My family and I are British citizens but my husband originates from a non-EU country where his immediate family (mum, dad and sister) still live. We have two young children and would like for them to see their grandparents at least once a year as we are a close family unit. As non-EU and non-Commonwealth citizens they need to apply for a visa to come to the UK - not to live, but to visit us for a short holiday. This is something that many people from diverse countries have to do each time they want to see their family in the UK. The problem is that our visa application system is complex and expensive to use and authorisation or denial of a visa seems often to be an arbitrary decision, based on tenuous facts. If a visa is not granted the fee is non-refundable, the paperwork is not returned to the applicant and there is no right of appeal. Visas are being denied left, right and centre to immediate family members of British citizens and families are being left to suffer, far from each other. In fact British citizens are being penalised more than their European counterparts, as a European resident living in Britain can bring their extended families over for a visit, any time they like. We are not saying this shouldn't happen, but that British nationals should also be allowed to bring their families over for a visit, without recourse to punishing visa systems that deny even immediate family members entry to the UK, even for a short stay, even when being hosted by their own family and even when they demonstrate strong finances to support themselves. These are people who cannot access benefits or work whilst here, who cannot access NHS services and who contribute to the economy through tourism - they pose no risk and should not form part of any "immigration statistics" for they are not immigrants, but visitors, or tourists. We feel it is unfair and an infringement of our human rights to be denied access to our family - my husbands mother and father - and we call on Amber Rudd to reconsider the strict visa laws in these cases, and allow immediate family members to secure a visit visa with ease and transparency, when they can demonstrate that they are being supported by a resident British national. As British citizens, taxpayers and passport holders, with children born here, with no criminal convictions we believe this is a basic right we should have, it should not be a privilege of a few lucky ones. Please help us to take this campaign further by signing our petition! Thank you.

to prevent more loss of life on our roads