We know there are thousands of dementia [and other disease sufferers] in need of nursing, not just personal care. If they manage to find out about the processes and arm themselves with a copy of the DST they are in with half a chance but it is only half a chance. Result = pay through the nose for care which the patient has already paid into the NHS and tax system for them to provide

I have a good deal of contact with older people, who often have increasing difficulty retaining information because of failing memory. I have also had contact with people experiencing significant difficulties because of learning disabilities or brain diseases, eg. dementia. These conditions often also affect a person's mobility and it is not so easy for them to simply visit the bank or Building Society and re-assert their identity, with the support of utility bills, passports, etc. Both of my parents are tragically affected by Alzheimers Disease. My father remains, for now, independently managing his own affairs (with considerable time and support from others). I have seen at first-hand the terrible frustration he experiences when trying to transact, or obtain information over the 'phone when agents are unable to help because he can't tell them the security information; he is unable even to recall his address of the past 2 years. I see that it may be difficult to find a suitable alternative to memory-reliant methods to assure security but I believe the problem to be an urgent and common one. The institutions holding our money must provide the means for us all to access their services, no matter our age, memory or health status.

Until just a few years ago we, as a nation, were beholden to the USA under the terms and conditions of the Lend-Lease agreement during World War 2. We have paid our debt to the USA in full, both in cash - with massive interest - and in human lives. We no longer have to join in their wars and we should be a peaceful island nation which just gets on with our global neighbours and trades peacefully with them.....rather than being a belligerent nation which spends a disproportionate amount of its GDP on its military and getting involved in warfare that we can't afford. Wouldn't our nation be so much better if we used this money to make life in the UK better and healthier for the people who live here? Warfare is paid for from the taxes we pay - we choose that our tax is spent on positive outcomes for the people of the UK, instead of bombing distant countries just because they have an issue with the USA.

Nurse are not paid enough as it is, and their pay rises are pitifully small. Yet the annual registration fee is set for a 20% rise.

Tonmawr Primary is an Outstanding school, with the recent Estyn Report supporting this. We also have a specialised unit for children who have learning difficulties. The local authority Neath Port Talbot Council are proposing to close our school, along with 4 other schools within the Authority, at the end of this Academic year. NPTC want our children to attend an already over-crowded school, where the classroom staff to child ratio is already exceeding the Welsh Assemblies recommendations. It is not yet known exactly where NPTC are planning to uproot and then place the children that use the special unit. We want to make a stand, and we want our children to be educated in their own community school, where they are very happy and very well educated, in a school that prides itself on their very many achievements. Please help us keep our treasure of a school open.

There are an estimated 2.5 million people diagnosed with this condition in the UK (10 million in USA). It impacts whole families not just the patients. Young children having to be carers, relationship break downs, isolation. Suicides are on the increase. More funding is given to Rheumatoid Arthritis with fewer people suffering. The lack of understanding by the medical profession, the general public etc means we are left with little or no support.

The children of this village should be able to be taught in a safe environment within their local community. Neath Port Talbot Council is trying to shut the school and bus the children to a super primary school of over 500 children. Pontrhydyfen Primary School is a winner, the children came 1st with The Big Pedal within the whole of UK not once, not twice, but three times! No, no, sorry but that is now 4 times as they have won The Big Pedal again whilst this is going on. Winners of Eco-School Platinum (4 green flags) 3 years in a row. This is a wonderfully vibrant, successful school with wonderfully vibrant, successful children. Please help us save it. http://vimeo.com/109987437

Mohammad Asghar is a British grandfather who suffers from a serious mental illness. He is currently facing the death penalty in Pakistan on blasphemy charges. Last week, a policeman – one of the people tasked with ensuring Mr Asghar’s safety – burst into his cell and shot him. 70-year-old Mohammad’s attack was not unusual; people accused or convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan face a high level of risk from attacks by religious extremists. Mohammad’s lawyers at legal charity Reprieve had repeatedly warned that he would not be safe in prison. What’s more, Mohammad should never have faced blasphemy charges in the first place – under Islamic law and Pakistan’s criminal law, mentally-ill people cannot be held accountable for what they do or say. Mohammad’s poor mental health has been confirmed by his UK medical record, and a sworn statement from his British psychiatrist. Mohammad is now receiving urgent treatment in hospital, where his health is worsening – but despite this, Pakistan’s police want to return him to the same prison in which he was shot. His family in Edinburgh is desperately worried about his safety. Time is running out for Mohammad to be released and reunited with his family in Britain. Prime Minister David Cameron must use this window of opportunity and ask the Pakistani government to release Mohammed to the UK, rather than sending him back to prison. Mohammad is an ill, vulnerable man who has suffered a near-fatal attack. It is clear that his sentence is unjust, and his life is at risk if he remains in Pakistan. He must be returned to the UK at the earliest opportunity.

This plan is ridiculous, degrading and a breach of our human rights. Not allowing us to have any cash at all is an unwise and unworkable idea, because some things do require cash, e.g. travelling on the bus, buying fresh vegetables and fruit from a farmer's market, using vending machines, using a trolley at the supermarket, buying second-hand clothes from a car boot sale. The poor often buy second-hand goods in charity shops, car boot sales and Ebay. Many buy books and worksheets for their children, plus toys and Christmas presents, and benefit cards would take all of that away from them. Many parents are desperate for work but cannot find any. Some are so severely unwell or disabled that they are unlikely to ever work at all, even though they want to. Some are financially ruined in family courts while getting divorced. Anyone can fall into it. Almost 80% of middle class families are greatly helped by their parents and/or grandparents, but not everyone is so lucky. If, for instance, you were to tell a person who has worked all of their life, but has recently become unemployed through no fault of their own (e.g. redundancy), that they can't even buy a magazine or go for a coffee with a friend, it would be ridiculous, and being told what to do like a naughty child would be degrading. It would also be ridiculous, and degrading, for them to be dictated to by the government and be told "You can't have any cash, you can only spend money in these shops, you can have this but you can't have that, because we say so." Iain Duncan-Smith, whose idea it is, has not said exactly when he intends to push his plans through, and what worries me the most is how far he and the rest of the government intend to dictate to benefit claimants what they can and cannot spend their money on. Just what else, exactly, will the government define as irresponsible spending? Will they tell us that we can't buy a laptop, a t-shirt, an item of stationery or pet food, for instance? The bottom line is, benefit claimants do not deserve to be treated like criminals or naughty children, especially if they are sick or disabled and/or are doing everything the DWP ask of them. The whole idea needs a lot more thinking through before the government even think about rolling it out, so that benefit claimants can continue to live their lives in peace and dignity. All of the stereotypes you hear about in the media are rubbish - they are designed to blinker, divide and sway people. Being unemployed is not a crime, therefore we shouldn't be punished for it - we are no less deserving of human rights than those who are lucky enough to have a job. You can read more about the proposals here: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/30/tories-prepaid-benefit-cards-welfare-poverty

The current Home Secretary Teresa May has recently announced that she intends to include the creation of so called "Terrorist ASBOs" as part of the Conservative election manifesto. While on the face of it this appears to be a laudable idea, the impact on freedom of speech is unacceptable in a democracy. In particular I draw your attention to: "The definition will also include anybody who seeks to ‘overthrow democracy’." To me it is a very short step from "seeks to 'overthrow democracy'" to 'speak in opposition to the government'. The government always considers itself the very epitome of democracy so opposing its views can all to easily be considered an attempt to overthrow it. If this proposal became law it would be a totally unacceptable infringement of freedom of speech. The Home Secretary needs to be informed as quickly as possible that her idea is not supported. Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/terrorist-asbos-to-silence-hate-preachers-pledged-by-tories-for-election-manifesto-9763288.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2774285/I-ll-silence-preachers-hate-vows-May-Home-Secretary-ban-extremists-speaking-public-spreading-poison-social-media.html

Long term exposure to road pollutants can trigger hospital admissions or deaths for people with heart or lung disease. It is estimated that air pollution is responsible for 29,000 deaths per year in the UK (COMEAP 2010). To put this into context, this is 3 times the number of deaths attributable to alcohol and 16 times that caused by road traffic accidents. Air pollution is also linked to many life limiting conditions, child development and reduces life expectancy by around six months, worth £16 billion a year. Ill health has a resultant burden on our society and our NHS. Further fines and court costs, paid for by the taxpayer, will be incurred as the UK fails to meet EU air quality targets. We the undersigned are of the opinion that as a matter of urgency the government needs to sanction a range of measures to reduce air pollution and its effect on health. These include a national framework for low emission zones, infrastructure and incentives for active travel, road user charging and discouragement of biomass burning and diesel vehicles.

There have been widespread complaints of irregular practices associated with the No side in the independence referendum. But even if we accept the vote itself wasn't rigged, that still doesn't alter the fact,that the referendum certainly WAS. Nobody can pretend the NO side won fair and square. There can be no question of saying "Congratulalions old chap, well played". The cheats played with every trick in a very dirty book. The cheats won a cheats' win which won't last. The blatant bias of the British State Broadcasting Corporation and practically all of the State-sponsored mass media rigged the referendum. The blatant lies about "You'll lose your pension" , which continued to be repeated to frighten old age pensioners, long after such stories had been comprehensively demolished, rigged the referendum The false promises of rapid and genuine Home Rule being delivered within a few months rigged the referendum. Despite having the BSBC and all the mass media on their side, in the last week of the referendum campaign, in a complete panic, the NO side resorted to general-election-style politicians' promises which they can't possibly keep. It is this blatant rigging described above that makes the "result" both dodgy and temporary. They ran a general-election-style campaign, focusing on personalities and political parties. They ran a general-election style campaign in making worthless politicians' promises. Because the NO side ran that kind of campaign, of course the "result" won't last a "generation". It is already coming apart. It is in this context that Blair Moffat and others are seeking to impose an anti-democratic rule that this dodgy result has to be "respected" for 25 years. That is an attack on free speech, when it's perfectly obvious the result isn't even much "respected" now, and that it will become less respected as the months and years pass. Please sign this petition to The Presiding Officer of The Scottish Parliament, against the anti-democratic proposal put forward by Blair Moffat, and in favour of the sovereignty of the people of Scotland, who are the only authority qualified to decide when they want another referendum