• SAVE CREMORNE COUNCIL ESTATE
    A destruction of a wonderful peaceful close nit community in SW London. We believe Social Cleansing is taking part as we have been told residents will be moved to Dagenham east london. many residents are old and infirm ,others suffer health wise and there are many young families who enjoy the safe playgrounds and local health amminities. I believe there is a large element of profiteering taking place here the value of land here is astronomical and the government/council is seeking to steal from local people that land in order to profit for commercial gains other than transport. I feel this is totally symbolic of government policy and therefore can be used as a cause for all.
    107 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Mark Bishop
  • Stop the EU ban of cadmium in artist's paints.
    Cadmium pesticides are sprayed on food crops throughout Europe, and recently the VAT was lifted on cadmium based agricultural chemicals. To distract from this artists are being used as a scapegoat. Unlike farmers, artists have neither the lobbying power, influence or money to make sure their livelihood is protected. If elected representatives do not speak up, who will? Adequate restoration of many 20th century paintings will become impossible if this ban is enforced. Contemporary painters will have to use inadequate synthetic substitutes which are less permanent. Many artists will have to spend their later years restoring their own artworks as a consequence. There will be other severe economic consequences for artists and the value of contemporary and 20th century artworks. Banning cadmium paints will render several styles of painting impossible as there are no opaque red, yellow or orange colours to substitute for cadmium pigments. It is estimated that a mere 5% of cadmium paint is disposed of, and cadmium oil paints are (as oil does not break down in water) almost insoluble. Therefore the risks are minimal compared with its use in liquid pesticides. If this ban comes into effect an exemption for oil based paints would be sensible. Instead, it should be mandatory for local recycling services to allow and enforce the disposal of tubes and remnants of cadmium based paints in bags provided for batteries (most of which contain cadmium). I have saved to buy cadmium paints which are 3 times as expensive as the synthetic alternatives, and most other painters do so despite having low incomes. Many artists scrape the dry remains of these paints from their palette and rub them on the canvas to prevent waste and save money. If artists did not need to use cadmium based paints, why would they incur the extra cost and follow otherwise unnecessary safety precautions just to use these unique pigments? The answer is clear. They increase the quality of most paintings. Each painting I have sold has relied on the opacity of cadmium red or yellow oil paint, and this applies to many other artists. All of the safety issues can be easily overcome if this ban is prevented or amended. It is time for legislators, artists, art lovers and those with respect for the cultural and economic value of art to take action and PREVENT THIS BAN!
    595 of 600 Signatures
    Created by Josh Hollingshead
  • Stop car parking charges at Sandwell Valley Park.
    A lot of people use it as a open green space for walking and watching the wildlife. A lot of regular users come down three or four times a week, whilst one person uses it every day regardless of the weather. I'm fearful the council may close the park if people stop using it due to these charges.
    113 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Seumas Kelly
  • No Legal Duty to Pollute.
    The government appears to be attempting not only to undermine existing environmental legislation in general ,but now want to make it law that UK oil reserves MUST be exploited to their full. This ,at a time when known oil reserves are many times more than the biosphere can absorb before dire consequences follow. This looks like an attempt to force a narrow and divisive policy on the British people whether they want it or not. Such a move is lunacy with what we all now know, and a direct attack on the healthy future of ourselves and many of Earth's lifeforms. For more information : http://www.monbiot.com/2014/06/26/a-legal-duty-to-maximise-greenhouse-gases/ Please consider e-mailing your local MP on this issue as well, if you live in the UK
    2,579 of 3,000 Signatures
    Created by Simon Barton
  • Second Home Levy
    Second homes are no longer acceptable in rural and coastal communities that have severe housing shortages. Less than two thirds of the homes the South West needs each year are being built and the lack of supply is pushing up the region's house prices and rents. In Dorset the average house price is £261k. To get an 80% mortgage the required annual income is 14 times greater than the average £18.5k Across the South West, 21,500 new households are expected to form each year between 2013 and 2021 Private rents are expected to rise by 40% in the South West by 2020 The average house price in the region in 2012 was £225,001 - 55% higher than the average for 2002. Wages in the South West have risen by just 26% over the same period Every new home built in the South West adds £77,000 to the regional economy 1.8 jobs are created directly and in the wider regional economy for every new home built in the South West.
    204 of 300 Signatures
    Created by Sean Geraghty
  • Protect our remaining Ancient Woodland
    It covers only 2% of the UK and is the most valuable habitat for wildlife that we have in the UK. It is not fully protected at the moment because of loopholes in planning and short term government thinking. 440 ancient woods are at risk right now. These trees have breathed life into Britain for decades.
    262 of 300 Signatures
    Created by Hannah Semple
  • Legalise Cannabis
    Cannabis first became illegal in the UK, and most of the rest of the world, on 28th September 1928 when the 1925 Dangerous Drugs Act came into force. There were no British domestic reasons, no lobbying for or against prohibition, and no Parliamentary debates. All scientific evidence shows the healing benefits for pain due to a multitude of ailments, and NO detrimental affects on mind or health at all. At a time when Britain is facing brutal austerity measure, The Institute For Social And Economic Research recently estimated that a regulated market could reduce the government deficit by up to £1.25bn, whilst producing roughly £400m in "net benefit" for the country. I have multiple sclerolis and most if not all the 'legal' pain relief I have been prescribed, take the edge off the pains but at the same time doing damage to my internal organs. Cannabis works and causes no damage at all. All humans have been naturally designed to work alongside cannabis. Doctors take the oath to provide help and healing, yet they can not offer cannabis in its natural form and they themselves feel helpless, as they are well aware of the therapeutic benefits of cannabis yet held back due to the law falsely claiming that it's dangerous without showing any scientific proof at all
    170 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Clare Burns
  • Blindspot. Denied the right to vote
    UK legislation does not allow people with a sight impairment to use technology, which we use in our normal daily lives to maintain independence, to vote It is not always possible for someone with sight loss to get to a polling station and if they do, only 25% are accessible. We want to be able to use our technology, for example, to allow ballot papers to be sent to us via email attachment or CD, complete those using electronic devices (with the aid of assistive software) such as Smartphone, Tablets or a PC and return them for printing and entered into the ballot box. Security measures can easily be set up to avoid fraud as with normal postal voting. We do not believe this constitutes 'electronic voting' but simply a reasonable adjustment (auxiliary aid) under the Equality Act 20 Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with a Disability article 29 we have the right to a political and public life. We believe the UK Politicians are breaching the convention. People with sight impairment have the right to dignity and choice and control over their own Imagine for one moment you were told you were losing your sight or that you were going blind, "pretty emotional I expect". Putting those emotions to one side for a moment, how would you cope for instance with getting a hospital or mental health (emotional support) appointment, accessing your own NI number in order to get employment or benefits, bank or insurance information as well as many other services you would need to access in order to retain as much independence as possible. Even if you were to go totally blind, independence is achievable with the aid of assistive technology such as text-to speech and touch type You have coped with the emotional impact of sight loss and are now ready to move on. Sorry but worse is yet to come because you are discriminated by mainly public bodies and also the private sector who place barriers in your way such as reasons of security or integrity of documents to demy you the right to participate in society or allow you your rightful independence It has been made virtually impossible to get legal aid anymore in order to fight discrimination and injustice. UK politicians seem to have a 'Blindspot ' when it comes to accessible voting I therefore need this matter debated in the House of Commons. For this to happen I would need to raise 100,000 signatures. Please show your support and sign the petition. We all have the human and democratic right to vote Worse than being told you are losing your sight, for many, is being told you cannot use what ability is left to you. Therefore the answer too "how do you cope with sight loss" is you don't if you are not allowed too. We have sexism and racism but it appears we do not have 'disablism' in the UK. RNIB Policy Position Statement https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9vheEyP62zlbGZxaWFxOXBxbDg/edit?usp=sharing Article 29 http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=289 Electoral Commissioners comments http://disabilitynewsservice.com/2014/05/legal-action-threat-over-postal-voting-discrimination
    336 of 400 Signatures
    Created by Graham Kirwan
  • Stop HS2
    The cost of HS2 is huge and the long term benefits must be fully justified. Existing cost benefit analysis shows the investment will never be repaid - this is an unnecessary cost to the nation that we cannot afford. At the same time, the project will blight huge areas of southern Britain for many years of construction and in perpetuity - and for no gain. The government should upgrade the existing rail infrastructure and minimise the environmental impact for the same economic benefits and at much reduced cost.
    156 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Jamie Wilkinson
  • Drop the charges against bedroom tax victim Michael Hilton
    This concerns every person living in Britain. What happened to Mr Hilton can happen to anyone in Britain, whether we’re aware of it or not. The following took place. Mr Hilton of Meadoway, Church in East Lancashire felt very vulnerable and grew increasingly upset when he was threatened with eviction from the home in which he’d been living for 30 years. He responded by threatening to blow up his home. The reason for the eviction was that Mr Hilton developed rent arrears as a result of what PM David Cameron euphemistically and callously calls the withdrawal of the spare room subsidy, and what I see as an instrument of a feudal aristocracy, the so-called bedroom tax. We all tend to assume that when someone else is threatened with eviction, the person could make this ‘go away’ if only they would act. Because we have no choice but to believe that if it happened to us, we would make it go away. Because we, we would act. That is how threatening the idea of an eviction is to most of us. Losing our home… In reality, however, there is often very little a person can do against an eviction for arrears if the person has no money. In cases of rent arrears caused by the so-called bedroom tax, it is safe to assume that if the person was unable to do anything about the bedroom tax, he or she is equally unable to do anything about the eviction. Effectively, Mr Hilton was being threatened with homelessness after having lived in his home for 30 years. I don’t know Mr Hilton and he may have been seriously mentally ill. If he was merely terribly stressed, then chances are that he did not stick his head in the sand, but simply felt there was nothing he could do and was convinced that his housing association could not do anything for him either. I think that he threatened to blow up his home because he could not accept the idea that there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop the eviction. He did not blow up anything at all, and no one got hurt. He just yelled. He was arrested because he had made many people worried which can be seen as a disturbance. He has been in custody since the beginning of June 2014. The plea hearing is set for 22 August 2014 and his trial hearing is scheduled for 12 November 2014. A little earlier, namely in May 2014, David Garbett of Sunderland took similarly drastic steps when he chained himself and his wheelchair to the railings of Southwick JobCentre. In his case, his Employment Support Allowance had stopped which meant that he became unable to buy food and pay bills. After he chained himself to the JobCentre, Mr Garbett’s claim was settled, and his payments were backdated. Mr Garbett was not in danger of losing his home, but he too was desperate so he did something desperate. When austerity has already been part of your daily life for years, there is no room for more austerity. It is believed that Mr Hilton was eligible for exemption from this wretched bedroom tax, but apparently did not know how to obtain this exemption. It is also believed that Mr Hilton had been in bad mental health for some time. So here we have two men who apparently both had health problems. One was losing his home and spoke desperte words that others felt threatened by, but did not carry out his threats. The other one was fed up with having to go to the food bank and being unable to pay his bills and did not threaten but took desperate action. One is now in detention and has lost his home. The other one’s claims were reinstated and backdated. Mr Hilton – the man in detention – is a victim, not a criminal. He deserves leniency.
    737 of 800 Signatures
    Created by Angelina Souren
  • The Misery behind bacon.
    Today's factory farms are a living hell for pigs and other animals", says PETA Associate Director Mimi Bekhechi. Pigs, who are as sociable and intelligent as dogs, are abused in ways that would be illegal if dogs or cats were the victims. Pigs are more intelligent than dogs and used to live wild in Britain. Now they are kept locked in prisons for meat. Instead of being free, with a right to a natural existence, more than 90 per cent of piglets are factory farmed. In investigations of farms all over Britain, Viva! exposed diseased, dead and dying animals. In almost every fattening unit was glaring neglect and indifference - broken legs, abscesses, ruptured stomachs, animals coughing with pneumonia, others panting from meningitis, cuts and lacerations from the perforated metal on which they are forced to live. One farm investigated in Yorkshire - which supplied major supermarkets - looked almost derelict, with junk and debris everywhere and only an array of grimy windowless sheds as the give away to what it farmed. An overpowering stench of ammonia and faeces was overwhelming. There was no light inside but a cacophony of noise - a scrambling and clattering of animals in fear. The camera lights revealed baby pigs in barren metal pens and the noise was their feet on the bare metal floors as they charged to get away. There were so many of then that there was no place to go or hide. This near darkness, these utterly barren, sterile conditions is their home for over a month - about one-fifth of their lives. One pig had a broken leg, others were stunted and suffering from 'scabby pig' from which they will almost certainly die. Some were lame, others had deformed spines. Outside in a rusting trailer was a pile of rotting corpses, discoloured and bloated from days of decay were half submerged in putrid rainwater. In the 'second stage grower' pen, there were around 200 large pigs in an area of about 10m by 12m. Overcrowding is typical of this industry. The pigs squealed and screamed, biting in their desperation to be let out. The pigs are killed at about five months old for sausages, bacon, ham and pork. The 'breeding stock' - the pigs kept to produce the piglets which are killed for meat - usually give birth in a small farrowing crate on a concrete or perforated metal floor. A Viva! investigation of a Tesco supplier exposed mother pigs with ulcers and infections in cages inches bigger than their bodies; maggots crawling over dead piglets and starving, dying animals. Sows have strong maternal feelings and would normally spend days building a nest of leaves or straw. In a crate they cannot do this and so lapse into stereotyped behaviour where they repeatedly try to build a nest in their barren cell. The bars on the crates stop the mother pigs from being able to move - they cannot take a step forward or back or turn around. This causes the pregnant animals to ache all over and many have back and leg problems. The bars also stop them from reaching their babies when they give birth, although the babies can reach their mother's teats to suckle. The piglets are taken away early at about four weeks old and kept in the fattening units. Five days after her piglets are taken away, the sow is made pregnant again and the whole misery-go-round continues.
    306 of 400 Signatures
    Created by Lin Kirby
  • There Is A Point To Saving The Point, Central Milton Keynes
    The Point 10 is an iconic building built in Central Milton Keynes. Apart from its interesting architectural design, it was the first of its kind in the UK. Built in 1985, the building, then known as AMC The Point 10 was the first multiplex cinema in the UK. Besides the 10 cinemas, it also housed a gym, a nightclub, a number of restaurants, bars and other entertainment. Its image lit with 4 red lines was used on much of the marketing collateral of Milton Keynes as it evolved and developed through the 80's and 90's and took centre stage across the horizon as you drove past or through this growing city. The Point is an important piece of MK's DNA and its recent history. Please help us to save it by signing this petition.
    7,200 of 8,000 Signatures
    Created by Simon Stevens Picture