• Publish The Iraq War Inquiry Results Now
    In February of 2011, after more than a year of investigation, the Chilcot Inquiry into Britain's role in the invasion of Iraq concluded. It is outrageous that today, more than three years after the end of the inquiry, the public has still not been given the conclusion. What is equally reprehensible is, apart from the occasional meek entreatment to Chilcot by some politicians to get on with it, hardly any body of influence seems to be pressing for the results to be finalised and published. The day Britain began its attack on Iraq was one of the blackest days in the history of our nation because, despite massive public opposition, our Government, with the full support of the parliamentary opposition, went ahead with the invasion, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent men women and children and a major increase in terrorism. To their eternal disgrace, there are many in the 'establishment' and in political circles who supported the attack and in whose interest it is to keep kicking the report into the long grass. Consequently, the only group who can try and bring about publication of the report is us. I would therefore like 38 Degrees, through its members, to campaign and pressurise Chilcot into releasing the report immediately. We must show that we will not be treated as inconsequential bystanders and be ignored and humoured as though we are simply an annoyance. We must force those we elect and nominate, to do the job we pay them to do and not simply make up their own forever changing timetable. The British public were treated with contempt when the Government and the parliamentary opposition chose to ignore us and take us into an unprovoked war of aggression, the worst type of war crime. We must not let the Inquiry into that disgraceful episode also treat us with contempt. *************************************************************** We now have the answer to the reason for the delay:- 12th Nov. 2013 "Cabinet boss must not decide on Iraq papers", says Owen: David Owen, former Foreign Secretary demands Sir Jeremy Heywood is stripped of responsibility because he worked closely with Tony Blair Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot said last week that his probe has stalled indefinitely because Sir Jeremy is blocking the release of correspondence Sir Jeremy was Principal Private Secretary to Tony Blair between 1999-2003 ******************************************** 29th May 2014 CHILCOT WILL RELEASE THE ‘GIST’ It’s just another way of saying “we will withhold important information” It would obviously be much better for us to see all of the documentation between Blair and Bush in the run-up to the invasion but the most important document we need, if it exists, is the one where Blair agreed to assist Bush in the attack come what may. That information is absolutely no threat to security but of course if it is a threat to Blair we may never see it. If an 'independent' committee has sight of documents that clearly show that a Prime Minister or any minister for that matter, for their own reasons, committed our country to a course of action that had not been fully approved or discussed and which resulted in a massive loss of life for hundreds of thousands of innocent people, without question that information should be released. Why should those documents be for the eyes of the committee only and not for the rest of us when in that situation the minister in question has clearly acted incorrectly?. It means that they are above the law and can transgress with impunity, we are supposed to be a democracy! The excuse that the documents cannot be released for either security or confidentiality reasons is totally spurious. The conversations between Blair and Bush are about a specific and unique situation. They were not conversations about the price of fish, they were conversations that resulted in Britain engaging in and waging a war of aggression against a country that was absolutely no imminent threat to us - a war crime. Many believe the British people were lied to over the reasons for taking the country to war and those in power at the time know it and so do the families here and in Iraq whose relatives were killed as a result. We must have a full and complete report describing how and why our Government decided to invade another sovereign country in our name. It has been deliberately stalled for far too long, we need it NOW
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    Created by Jack Thomas
  • Dignity and justice for asylum seekers
    We need to change the unjust laws that are causing us so much suffering. We are an advantage to the UK, but we have to wait too many years for an answer to our asylum claims. We are not allowed to work in the meantime and have to survive on £5 a day. Many of us become ill, physically and mentally.
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    Created by tom daly
  • Stop subsidies to gun licenses and grouse moors
    At a time when Government cutbacks are affecting vital public services and most people's pay rises have not kept pace with rising prices, it is important that the Government is fair and even handed. We all have to pay the full cost of issuing passports and driving licenses, so gun owners should do the same. Subsidies to wealthy grouse moor owners should be stopped and the money used for wider benefit. See http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/22/cameron-blasted-battle-shotgun-licence-fees or http://www.monbiot.com/2014/04/28/the-shooting-party/ for more information.
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    Created by Cathy Irving
  • Restoring the disused railway line from Chepstow to Tintern for a shared use path
    The permission was granted by the Forest of Dean District Council for their ownership, but the Monmouthshire Council have been making excuses for the last few years since the original proposal. All over the UK county after county's citizens have been benefiting from these valuable resources for leisure and transport purposes. Why are we waiting and consistently fobbed off with trivial excuses all the time? There are no cycle paths through Chepstow while everywhere else benefits. Despite all the Bills, Papers, and Consultations you pass and now 'The Wales we Want' campaign, we are ignored. This path would enable less able bodied people to access the beauty of the Wye Valley, it would provide business and opportunities locally, and hold these opportunities within Chepstow and surrounding villages where presently people go further afield for leisure facilities. Also it would encourage forms of sustainable transport such as cycling and walking, enabling many people to leave their cars at home. The already established paths in the UK are used by thousands everyday for multiple purpose. Why are we denied this resource, is it because our Council is blind to the future?
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    Created by Jennifer Goslin Picture
  • Reusable nappy incentive scheme for Brighton and Hove
    Brighton and Hove is the first and only green council and yet it doesn't have any real green initiatives! There are many councils that do various schemes (vouchers, cash back etc. full list here http://www.fill-your-pants.com/councilnappyincentives.html) but Brighton does nothing. Around 8 million disposable nappies are used every day in the UK (50 million were dumped in 2007 in Leicestershire alone- the equivalent of 70,000 double- decker buses)! Most of these end up in landfill sites. It is estimated that more than 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable nappies for one baby each year. For every £1 spent on disposable nappies, there is a cost to the taxpayer of 10p to dispose of them! Leicestershire taxpayers pay £250,000 every year to dump disposable nappies in landfill sites. By ‘going cloth’ your family can incur a direct saving of up to £500.
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    Created by Lara Rix-Paradinas
  • Take ME / CFS seriously
    People are suffering and not enough is being done done. Even the GP's who work in this field and they are few and far between, still dont fully understand it. They need to speak to health professionals who suffer with the conditions http://m.wikihow.com/Live-With-Chronic-Fatigue-or-M.E
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    Created by mary Tunley
  • Police: Stop the March For England bringing violence to Brighton
    In 2014 and 2013 the reported cost of policing this group was £1million in Brighton alone. There were 27 arrests during the 2014 march, and several violent clashes bringing injury to bystanders and destruction to property. The Marchers and EDL members often stay in town once the march is over and create an atmosphere of intimidation, often resulting in further violence. It is clear that the people of Brighton do not want the March to take place, and make their presence known along the route. Free speech is important in our country, nobody wants to deny peaceful protest no matter how abhorrent the opinions of the protesters are to us. But when a protest consistently brings violence, stands for racism, hatred of minorities and scapegoating, AND costs the tax payer hundreds of thousands of pounds to police, it's time to put an end to it. They are disturbing the peace and inciting hatred, and we want to stop them marching through our town. To show how serious this cause is, I include a link to a short video. This shows one of the mass street fights which occurred during the march, which police were powerless to prevent. WARNING contains violent scenes. http://youtu.be/uU8TnvCgBqQ
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    Created by L Q
  • Cancel Bath Bus Gate Fines
    Almost 9000 people have been fined £30 or more for accidentally driving through the bus gate. It is a very easy mistake to make as the signage is inadequate and there are no road markings. The Council has not made the bus gate restrictions clear enough, as evidenced by the huge number of people driving through it. Innocent people are being fined. Many of these will be visitors to the city who will be left with a bad experience of our beautiful city. This has brought shame to the city of Bath. IF YOU WANT TO APPEAL YOUR FINE, YOU CAN DO SO ONLINE: https://parking.bathnes.gov.uk/pages/home.aspx Please also visit the Facebook Campaign Page at: www.facebook.com/cancelbusgatefines
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    Created by Joe Scofield
  • Investigate George Osbourne's Expenses
    In a time of austerity a few are profiting nicely at the tax payers expense. MP's expenses need to be rigourously scrutineed in order to restore public confidence in our leaders. For Osbourne to declare that 'we are all in it together' is rank hypocrisy in the extreme. More background: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/georgeosborne/9729139/George-Osborne-bought-paddock-with-taxpayers-money.html
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    Created by Alison Williams
  • Make Low Dose Naltroxene available to MS Patients
    At the moment LDN is not widely available on the NHS to MS sufferers in the UK but in other parts of the World,like the USA it has been available for years. Lots of MS sufferers who've had to buy it on private prescription say that it has rid them of symptoms which even high dose toxic drugs did not. It has also been for use in many other conditions, http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/index.htm#How_does_LDN_work_ but it seems that this is not widely known to most sufferers. At the moment most Doctors do not prescribe it or know of it's uses for other conditions and sufferers have to buy it privately. It is a cheaper Drug to buy than most other MS Drugs I've heard but yet it's not viable for Drug Companies to endorse it at such low doses (profit wise) and therefore tests have not been untaken on a large scale to make NICE approve of its use for this purpose
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    Created by Anne Elibol
  • Stop the Zone 'E' Pay-for-Parking Scheme in Brighton and Hove
    The initial consultation was manipulated to include responses from people who wouldn't be affected by the scheme. This 'fix' enabled the council to claim a 50%/50% split vote, but their own guidance (document HP 4/15) states "Experience has shown that Resident Parking Schemes will not be successful unless they have majority support of responses received". 50% is not a majority, but members of all parties (including the Greens!) decided to go ahead anyway. There is neither the wish nor the need to move from free parking to permits of £120 per year plus the cost of visitor permits. Council officers and members deny that the scheme is about the money. But a FOI (Freedom of Information) request showed that, in this zone alone, they could expect net profits (ie profits after costs) of £700,000 over 10 years: and that without any increase to permit or parking costs. The Council intends to continue rolling out its pay-for-parking schemes right across Brighton and Hove, in every area: these schemes are viral. Once an area has a scheme, displaced parkers create parking problems in neighbouring areas, who then also feel forced into having a scheme, and so it goes on. It is a completely deliberate attempt to create a 'cash cow'. The council was so keen to instigate its scheme (we had already refused it twice) that its contractors worked all over Bank Holiday weekend (starting at 8am with angle grinders, diggers etc). The lines are painted and some of the sign posts are already in. We are already being harassed by 'fake' parking tickets and bully-boy tactics by the council's contractors (and have plenty of evidence). The schemes spoil our environments, discourage visitors and threaten local businesses. In other areas, people have dug up front gardens to create off-road parking: flora and fauna lost, as well as the original parking space that was there. Some of us have organised ourselves, but the Ombudsman will not take our case, and we cannot afford a Judicial Review (complaints investigated' by the council themselves have got precisely nowhere, unsurprisingly). The council called the police twice to arrest our local lay priest - he was only exercising his right to peaceful protest, and - thankfully - the police saw this. We need your help, please, in getting the council to stop and pause, and re-run a fair consultation by which we will all stand.
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    Created by Chris Moore
  • Saving the NHS
    The NHS was giving to the people of the UK it belongs to us and not the private proffiteers, We all pay for NHS in our taxes and local charity collettions for the local NHS Hospitals for things that they need like CAT scans. I like many others are not prepared to see it sold off bit by bit. The idea at the moment is to get people interested in saving the NHS nationally and the only way left now is a masive march in London on a mid week day.
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    Created by peter wyatt