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Review Concentrix and HMRC Investigations of Tax Credit claimantsWe're going to see Iain Duncan Smith next month and we want to take this petition with us with as many names as possible. You may not get why we're so wound up about it. Let me share a few stories (all real, local people). Before I do, lets just remember what tax credits are for. They are contributions from the government towards the cost of ofsted registered childcare so that work is possible. Many users of tax credits are single parents but many are also in couples. They are for people for whom work would not be possible without assistance towards childcare (which by the way has to be paid one month in arrears and is subject to fines for late payment). One woman was told that her tax credits would stop because her daughter doesn't exist. The fact that said daughter was crying in the background whilst her stressed and bewildered mother was trying to sort it out whilst wondering how she was going to pay for childcare was irrelevant. Another woman was told that her tax credits would be cut to £85 a month (a contribution towards an £800 childcare bill for 2 children representing well over half of the whole family's take home pay.)This was because concentrix concluded that a previous childcare provider had not been ofsted registered and therefore this lady was in debt to them for falsely claiming help towards childcare that year. Of course the provider had been ofsted registered, we may never know what information concentrix used to reach their conclusion but our member had to shoulder the full responsibility of proving her case, all the while on reduced tax credits and even had to arrange a meeting with her employer to explain that work would not be feasible if she couldn't prove her case. The member is now vindicated but the stress she was wrongly put under was extremely serious and unnecessary. Another member was subject to a thorough investigation of her circumstances after which concentrix reached the bizarre conclusion that her total childcare costs for 2 children were £4 a week....totally validates any claim that the government and their agencies are out of touch with real life...if such a cheap provider exists I want their details! I could go on....case after case, story after story - already vulnerable people being made to feel desperate, hopeless and quite frankly criminalised. Please, if you agree with us, sign and share to say this is not OK. Perhaps there's a case to be made for people to be investigated as benefit fraud happens - but the way it is being done is unnecessarily negatively impacting people who could do without it!952 of 1,000 SignaturesCreated by Redbridge Gingerbread
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say no to Facebook dislike button.Because it will be abused by people intent on bullying and victimisation.especially among younger users.5 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Kenneth Chalk.
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Weedkiller: Not in our BreadGlyphosate is the most widely sold weedkiller in the world; you might know it as the active ingredient in Roundup. Government figures show its use in UK farming has increased by 400% in the last 20 years. Many farmers routinely use glyphosate and other herbicides to clear their fields of weeds before crops emerge in the spring. On the advice of the big chemical companies like Monsanto, farmers also use herbicides on crops shortly before they are harvested, in order to dry out the plants and make them easier to harvest. Tests by the Defra committee on Pesticide Residues in Food have found up to 30% of Britain's bread contained glyphosate. Recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organisation, identified glyphosate as a ‘probable carcinogen’ to humans. The safety regulators in the UK and EU only look at glyphosate on its own. But in the real world, glyphosate is always mixed with other chemicals to make sure the glyphosate sticks to, and penetrates the plants it’s sprayed on. Many of these other chemicals are toxic. According to recent research, some of these mixtures can be up to 1,000 times more toxic than glyphosate alone. A recent European study found 7 out of 10 people had traces of the weedkiller in their urine. Glyphosate has also been found in the breast milk of German women. We now know that glyphosate has potentially significant health implications for all of us. There is no excuse for glyphosate use. Please sign our petition and keep weedkiller out of our bread.1,007 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by Ruth Semple
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Dogs and Cats still being eaten in Yulin and GuangdongPeople think that because the Yulin Dog Festival has apparently been stopped, dogs are no longer on the menu. Just because it isn't labelled as a Festival doesn't mean it has gone away. Dogs and cats are still rounded up, some stolen from loving homes, tortured and killed or skinned alive in preparation for eating. These animals are thinking, feeling creatures not that much different from us. They deserve love, kindness and a good home, not starvation, cruelty, torture and death. The situation in Guangdong hasn't changed either, with thousands of dogs slaughtered and eaten locally or shipped to other places around the country.240 of 300 SignaturesCreated by Carolyn Hucker
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Create a Minister for Mental HealthCurrently mental health issues are looked after by a junior Minister who is in charge of care in general. Mental Health issues need to be dealt with separately and the government needs to make sure that people get appropriate care.10 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Anne Marie Brody
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Refugees Welcome in ClackmannanshireDavid Cameron announced we’ll welcome 20,000 more Syrian refugees. But there’s a catch. This will take 5 years, leaving thousands of refugees in limbo. It’s now up to us to show that in cities, towns and villages all across the country we’re ready to welcome people now. Aylan, the toddler who drowned fleeing Syria, was just three years old. His town was under attack by Isis. His five year old brother and his mum also died trying to reach safety.We don't want Britain to be the kind of country that turns its back as people drown in their desperation to flee places like Syria. So let's stand up for Britain's long tradition of helping refugees fleeing war. Let's show the Prime Minister that we, the people of the UK, are proud to do our part and provide refuge to people in their hour of need. Please sign and share, or start your own petition for your town or city here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/efforts/refugees-welcome117 of 200 SignaturesCreated by nathalie MAREC
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Stop BT from charging punitive exit feesA few weeks ago I helped my girlfriend to review her contract with BT as it was coming to a close and they were going to raise the charges considerably for what was always a poor service. Unfortunately the switch-over date was before the end of the BT contract. Imagine our shock when she received a demand from BT for £82 for cancelling the remaining £32 worth of services! When I queried this, they said it was in the contract that there was a £65 charge for the router for terminating early in addition to the cancellation charge for services. The charge for the router applies even if you switch the day before the contract ends. After over an hour on the phone they were still insisting that this charge was fair and reasonable even though Ofcom guidance says: "this charge is fair if: you know what the charge is and it was made clear to you before you bought the contract the charge is not more than the amount you owe for the remaining months of your minimum contract period." (Quoted from the citizens' Advice Website: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/phones-tv-internet-and-computers/problems-with-contracts-packages-and-offers/cancelling-your-tv-phone-or-internet-contract/) Clearly BT are making a lot of money out of punitive exit charges hidden in their terms and condition and are clearly in breach of Ofcom guidance which they say they adhere to. Please support me in exposing this shameless rip-off the great British public. Maybe you have also had to pay under this penalty clause?22 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Peter Merrick
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City of Bristol TTIP FreeYou know when it's lunch time and you are walking down the street, wondering what to eat, and you stumble across either a McDonalds or a freshly made falafel from the market? What is your gut instinct? Which one do you choose? Falafel, right...? Because McDonalds is pumped full of pesticides, chemicals & toxins and NOBODY wants that inside their body... again, am I right? Well luckily you had a choice here. You could have chose either the toxic waste or the delicious, freshly made, goodness. You had a choice. Well the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) is taking away our freedom of choice. What this agreement means is that the standard of food quality in our supermarkets will degrade. Meat, Vegetables, Fruit - the essentials - will be GM'd, pumped full of chemicals & injected with antibiotics. The British Government want to lower its standard of food by creating an agreement with the US to implement their standards. So remember that choice between McDonalds and Falafel? Well, now it's tea time and you have no choice other than to eat McDonalds for dinner. We want Bristol to be free from this hell, do you? If so, Stand Here for Change. https://www.facebook.com/Standhereforchange?fref=ts http://www.iatp.org/documents/10-reasons-ttip-is-bad-for-good-food-and-farming139 of 200 SignaturesCreated by Dan Cockram
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I would refuse to sing the National Anthem tooBecause Jeremy Corbyn has principles , which are honourable ,unlike the tory paper and the tory party271 of 300 SignaturesCreated by Georgina Foxall
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Stop the theft of electricitySmart meters only record electricity used and not the excess electricity generated by small generators like personal homes with solar panels. The government pays a feed-in tariff but the excess electricity is still being placed on the national grid and sold by electricity companies when they have not paid for it. This is theft, pure and simple. Stop this theft by ordering all smart meters to record both incoming and outgoing electricity and make the electricity companies pay for the excess being generated or deduct the excess from the incoming electricity.6 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Tony Upton-Huang
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English AnthemIt has a more unifying theme than the UK Anthem2 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Paul France
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Junior doctor contract to be forced on all non-consultant gradesI can barely contain my frustration and sadness at our political leadership that in a democratic society can force unsafe working practices and unilateral pay cuts on a group of dedicated, committed and highly trained caring professionals.228 of 300 SignaturesCreated by Angie Towler
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