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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

The health risks of coal ash are well known and widely documented; coal ash containing arsenic, mercury, lead, and many more heavy metals, many of which are toxic. These toxic constituents of the coal ash extracted will pollute the air, the land and our drinking water; this poses acute risks of cancer and neurological damage, along with damage to the heart, lung disease, kidney disease, reproductive problems, gastrointestinal illness, birth defects, and impaired bone growth in children (PSR, 2009; 2010; 2014*).   The planning application 2013/0223 can be seen here: http://applications.barnsley.gov.uk/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=681860&XSLT=/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Barnsley/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Barnsley/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING We are alarmed that the coucil only wrote to a small number of houses in out village when the serious risk of lethal air pollution will effect every resident in Elsecar, Hoyland and their neighbouring areas. The 40, 000 cubic meters of toxic coal ash this application hopes to extract from a residential area would contaminate the air that we breath; many of the local residents already suffer respiratory issues such as asthma, bronchiectasis, COPD and lung cancers, along with many of the other aforementioned health problems, due to previous coal mining in this area. The proposed excration of coal ash would exacerbate existing health problems due to previous coal mining, and cause new lethal health problems for the residents of the village - the toxic dust would also coat our buildings, plants, allotments, outbuildings, and vehicles.   The detrimental effects that the proposed works will have on our air quality and also our quality of life are not acceptable. The planning application outlines the use of 15 - 20 x 20 tonne lorries transporting coal ash for a 6 - 12 month period; along with the toxic air pollution, is the issue of noise from these works, which will be in very close proximity to our properties, causing daily disruption to the residents; the only routes available to access the proposed sites are all small roads in a populated residential area which is home to people and children of all ages using residential housing, primary schools, churches, doctors surgeries, heritage facilities, leisure facilities and access to local transport.    Furthermore, these proposed works also pose serious risks to our properties. We have detailed structural and environmental surveys from the purchase of our properties which highlight the fragility of the local land and the neighbouring areas from previous mining. Many buildings in the village, and others in the surrounding areas, have been affected by subsidence in the past as a result of previous mining, with many local properties having encountered structural damage as a result.  We feel the proposed extraction of 40, 000cubic meters of coal ash poses serious short and long terms risks to the foundations of local and historic buildings on land which has been mined previously, contains air shafts and has experienced previous subsidence - to the extent that some buildings had to have remedial works carried out, and some were demolished.  We are deeply concerned that this proposal - which will affect the entire village - has not been communicated to all the residents it will affect. Only a small number of residents received a short notification letter from the Development Service department at Barnsley Council, leaving the majority of the village neighbouring unaware of the dangerous works being proposed. Many residents are alarmed by the seemingly covert nature of the handling of this application. Please help us to reject of this application, as we are deeply concerned about the dangers it poses to the health of the local residents, and the risks to the foundations and structure of our properties and local buildings. Thank you for taking the time to look at our petition, we hope you will support us with your signature and by sharing this through social media.

SSCL has already cut 500 jobs across the UK. It's also announced the closure of three offices in Cardiff, Leeds and Sheffield, and is shipping 200 posts to India. SSCL, the joint venture company, is 25% government owned. The remaining 75% is controlled by French multinational Steria - one of the companies responsible for failing to deliver a £56m IT project, recently written off by The Ministry of Justice. Despite this, MoJ is now rewarding failure by awarding further work to the company. If this privatisation and offshoring goes ahead,1,000 staff in Newport and Bootle also face being privatised. More jobs could be lost. The staff in Newport and Bootle handle personal data belonging to thousands of public servants, prison and probation officers. This data would be at risk if it was offshored to a country without the UK’s robust data protection regulations. We want the government to use its stake in the SSCL company to prevent the offshoring of jobs and data and to stop future offshoring by ending its privatisation agenda.

We believe that elderly and disabled people in our community deserve the best possible level of homecare to help them live independently and with dignity. In order to make this happen homecare workers need to be treated fairly and decently so they can do their jobs to the best of their ability. UNISON are therefore calling for this through by asking Bolton Council to adopt our ethical care charter. Across the country too many people who need care and too many care workers are not treated with the dignity they deserve. A number of other councils such as Islington and Reading have already done the right thing and adopted UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter. Please add your name and call ask that Bolton Council take responsibility for ensuring better care for our elderly and disabled people and for better treatment of our homecare workers. We are all going to need care at some point in our lifetimes, it is only right that the people who need it and the workers who provide it are treated with dignity and fairness. For updates visit http://www.unisonbolton.org/ & follow https://twitter.com/UNISON_Bolton

People who save lives everyday shouldn't have to pay to go to work. NHS employees work so hard and are national superheroes. Why should they save someone's life then find they got a parking ticket? The money from the parking fees doesn't always go to the patient care or the NHS, it goes to private companies such as access and Vinci that 'run' the car parks. All these private companies do is check tickets and hand out fines, they may not grit in icy weather of provide any upkeep on the state of the roads. It's disgraceful. Most NHS staff are not paid a great deal and this extra cost is a strain on their wages and added stress for them. They have enough stress, they don't need parking tickets to add to it.

The UK screen for a third of the diseases other progressive countries screen for during the heel prick test offered to all UK babies. Increasing the amount of diseases screened for is very important for treating or curing diseases before symptoms appear. The issue was brought to my attention through a family having a child born with Krabbe's disease. Krabbe's disease can effect anyone. The disease is not recognised immediately and can often be mistaken for colic by parents and doctors, once diagnosed (typically between 2 and 6 months in infants) there is nothing that can be done medically to save the infant. The body's nerves degenerate until the child loses the ability to hear, to see, to feel, to swallow and then to breath. Typically an infant with Krabbe's disease will die before the age of two. This, along with many other diseases, is currently screened for in the USA, but not in the UK. So many diseases / disorders can be treated, or even cured, if recognised before the symptoms appear. From asthma to Krabbes - these could all be screened for during the heel prick test. Why is the UK only recently screening for 9 areas during the heel prick test? As a progressive country we are so far behind. We are not asking for miracle cures or favouritism, just the same chances for our children as others in progressive countries get.