Jeremy Hunt has made no secret of his opposition to the NHS as founded on the principles of the 1942 Beveridge report. His intransigence in the face of the current negotiations has to be read in this context. The NHS has the support of the whole country; it is now time for us to act in unison to support the junior doctors as part of a wider commitment to the principle of a free at the point of service, publicly funded and owned NHS. We call for the TUC to weigh into the current pay and conditions dispute by calling a general strike against the imposition of the proposed contract on junior doctors. The contract is a mark of the hostility that the current Health Secretary has for the NHS as it is currently instituted. It does not serve any ends but those of a government fundamentally committed to the run down and decline of the NHS. We must unite in its defense and send a clear message that the country will not tolerate the piecemeal destruction of the NHS.

Because charging struggling families up to 55p a minute to claim vital benefit payments by phone is extortionate. Universal Credit, families will be forced to call an 0345 number, incurring charges of up to 55p a minute to claim their benefits. It’s difficult enough as it is living on disability benefits without being charged 55p/ minute to call the DWP. More often than not it’s their mistake you’re rectifying when you call, I don’t see why anyone should be charged such an extortionate fee for simply making a phone call.

Mark Spencer MP recently received a free game bird shooting weekend courtesy of lobbying group British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC). We are, in turn, asking our MP to stop accepting gifts from shooting lobbyists and from now on support a ban on the damaging practice of driven grouse shooting. There are many very good reasons for banning driven grouse shooting: -Government subsidies support this practice (at a time when everywhere else is feeling the brunt of cuts: why aren't millionaire landowners?); -the illegal killing of grouse predators (especially the hen harrier, which is now almost extinct in England due to persecution on grouse moors); -grouse moors are extensively 'managed' in such a way that causes far higher flood risks downriver; -increased water pollution (which inflates our water bills- there is evidence that bills would be cheaper if the rich man's driven grouse shooting was banned); -increased greenhouse gas emissions due to the practice of burning the moors to keep a habitat that boosts grouse numbers; -millions of birds are killed each year.

Chipping Sodbury Library is an exceptionally well run local community asset that provides services and a meeting point for all people in the Town. There is now a very real threat that it will be closed completely due to South Gloucestershire council spending plans, resulting from the government's austerity policy. This will result in the loss of one of the only community focal points in Chipping Sodbury accessible to all and especially useful to the elderly and families with young children. Removing community assets such as libraries can have a profound affect on the local area and should be strongly resisted. Please join us by signing this petition and look out for local schemes to support the library.

As a cultural hub that has long served the local community and embraces all cultures around Ladbroke Grove, The KPH has been listed as Asset of Community Value by the local authority. However, we feel that more protection of this unique venue is required in order to safeguard it against closure and unsympathetic development. Situated in an area of high property value, developers have spent two years running an aggressive legal campaign to rid the venue of its current manager and redevelop it for sale to an estate agent. The case is particularly urgent due to a complication arising from a legal dispute between the current manager, Vince Power, and the freeholder, SWA Developments Ltd. If an appeal hearing on 17 March 2016 is decided in favour of the latter, The KPH faces immediate closure. https://player.vimeo.com/video/155539254?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0 The KPH has been a pub and entertainment venue for 150 years and is located on a busy junction on Ladbroke Grove. It borders on what used to be the slums of Notting Dale and North Kensington and is in walking distance of world-famous Portobello Road and the more affluent streets of Notting Hill and Holland Park. It has a colourful past of serving famous and notorious patrons, from John Christie to The Clash. Under its current management, The KPH has succeeded in attracting members of the area’s diverse social and ethnic backgrounds, warmly welcoming new arrivals as well as long-standing regulars from the Irish and West Indian communities. There are already too many examples of pubs closing in the area. Even if the facades are kept intact, conversions into supermarkets, estate agents and luxury flats have a lasting effect on the neighbourhood’s distinctive look and feel. This particular section of Ladbroke Grove has retained some significant original features and is in danger of irrevocably losing its distinctive character. The KPH is one of many pubs facing closure in the current climate of aggressive property development. According to CAMRA statistics, 29 pubs are closed every week across the UK. Music venues face a similar fate, and the Music Venue trust is at the core of a campaigne to protect grassroots music venues like The KPH. Unfortunately, the anticipated legislative changes may come too late for the KPH. https://player.vimeo.com/video/147334918?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0 Please sign and share this petition asap.

Ethical treatment of employees outside of the UK is quite rightly championed, with many consumers opting to purchase fair trade alternatives that command a higher premium. Yet in the UK, poor treatment of staff continuously falls outside of the consumer spotlight. Prominent displays of working conditions, as appraised by staff, would likely inform shopping habits and ensure employers take appropriate steps to provide fairer working conditions. The consequences of doing this should not be underestimated:- • It is likely to reduce stress related illness that is largely responsible for circa £6.5bn per annum. • It is likely to reduce the financial burden incurred by the NHS in terms of treating patients. • Should employers feel obliged to increase wages, it seems entirely plausible that the financial support given by the government could reduce. • Lastly, unemployment may similarly reduce if potential employees see that their working conditions are guaranteed to meet at least a ‘good’ standard. Consequently I implore you to consider the health and financial well-being of UK workers and the UK itself by encouraging a good employer ethos.

Southwark Council are threatening to evict the Feminist Library from the building on Westminster Bridge Rd, London, that has been its home for 30 years. The council have given notice that the rent on the Library’s space in the building, which has housed a variety of community groups alongside the Library for the past 30 years, will be raised from £12,000 to £30,000 a year. Council officers are refusing to negotiate - join us in calling upon them to work with us to save the Library. On 10th February, Southwark Council Cabinet approved a report that ‘highlights the need for a thriving VCS (Voluntary and Community Sector) that mobilises community action and makes best use of community resources, skills, knowledge and spaces’. We cannot understand how treating our organisation in such a way is consistent with approving this report. [1] Dr Laura Schwartz, Associate Professor of Modern British History, University of Warwick has said: ‘"The Feminist Library is a wonderful cultural resource that needs to be defended at all costs. Generations of my students have used it for their academic research, as well as informing themselves about the continued oppression of women in our society and how to fight against it. The Library is now the only archive in London where a wide array of feminist publications are truly accessible to the general public and available on the open shelves. It also provides one of the few spaces in central London where women and feminist activists can come together to meet and organise for a better world. If the Feminist Library is evicted from its current premises, Southwark Council will not only be guilty of cultural vandalism but also of silencing women." Learn more about the Feminist Library and donate to our Emergency fund here: http://feministlibrary.co.uk/support/emergencyfund/ About the Feminist Library: The Feminist Library has an incomparable collection of over 7,000 books, 1500 periodical titles from around the world, archives of feminist individuals and organisations, pamphlets, papers, posters, and ephemera. We also provide space for meetings, readings, exhibitions and events, a space which supports and encourages research, mutual support, activism and community projects, with well over 20 different groups having used the events space just in the past calendar year, a number of them national and international. We are volunteer led, as we have been all our life; we are intergenerational, being significant custodians of our feminist heritage, whilst looking to the future; and our approach is intersectional – we provide a space for different feminisms to co-exist. We support not just archiving work, but also publish our own zines and support independent producers and artists. We are a registered charity, and completely self-funding. [1] Details of report http://casouthwark.org.uk/focus-southwark/southwark-council-agrees-new-voluntary-sector-strategy ‘Southwark Council Agrees to New Voluntary Sector Strategy’

In 2000 the UK banned all fur farming, to prevent animal cruelty. However the law does not prevent the import of real fur. There is no legal provision to make suppliers declare whether their products are made with real or fake fur. Real fur from abroad is now common in high street clothing shops. To send a message to our overseas business partners that the UK does not tolerate the cruel methods of fur farming; we need a law that bans the import of all real farmed fur, and which puts the onus on importers to prove that any fur they use is fake, vintage or taken from free-range animals that died of old age.

There are plans to close Lynton House Surgery on London Road High Wycombe and relocate to a unit in Wycombe Hospital whilst reducing appointments in the hospital surgery. Where possible they will be pushing patients to their Cressex Surgery - A 2 bus journey for many patients! The Big Issue is.... There is a notable shortage of Doctors Surgeries in the east end of High Wycombe. If Lynton House Surgery closes and moves out of Ryemead there will be no local practice in the area . We already have a shortage of doctors in High Wycombe and this is a serious problem in the East end of High Wycombe We are faced with a housing explosion in the east end of High Wycombe and we are faced with several Doctors practices in the Wycombe area not taking new patients. We need Lynton House Surgery to remain and for Bucks County Council, Primary Care authority and NHS England to step forward and fund the delivery of a new Health Centre to meet the needs of Ryemead and Micklefield residents in the east end of High Wycombe. We are 3 doctors short in High Wycombe already!

We call on Lewisham Councillors to reject the planning application for a 19 storey tower block beside Catford Station, where there is already an approved plan to meet Lewisham's housing needs. This plan should be enforced and any future proposals consulted on widely. A 19 storey building is wholly disproportionate and out of keeping with the human scale of the area. Approval would set a very dangerous precedent that would affect the whole of Catford.

This post office is vital for the local economy. This backdoor privatisation will threaten jobs and lower the standard and range of services that is provided. It is also an important focal point for the community.

We feel that MP Andrew Turner is no longer fit to conduct his duties as spokesperson for the residents of the Isle of Wight. It is becoming increasingly obvious that his views and voting record are not in alignment with the needs of the local people. He recently claimed he was doing all in his power to bring the issues of cuts to our local budget to Westminster, in an attempt to gain more funds, only to vote for a reduction in local government grants later the same day. Completely contradicting his previous efforts. Although his comments at PMQT about Tigers got the attention of the country, it wasn't in a positive or productive manner. The most vulnerable people in our society are going to suffer the most by the time the entire cuts (including some statutory services) are rolled out & our Council looks like it will be bankrupt. Eventually everyone will be effected by the inability of our present MP to fairly represent us at a governmental level. It's time to step aside & let someone who has a clear understanding of the political situation and has the peoples best interests at heart take the reigns.