Successful Campaigns

The government’s official guidelines to protect people returning to work have been published. Thanks to pressure from unions, MPs, and more than 73,000 thousand of us the rules are stronger so more of us will be kept safe. When the government’s draft guidelines were leaked last week, tens of thousands of us leapt into action to push for improvements, and the government listened. There is lots more to do, but this is a step in the right direction.

Wilko scraps plan to cut sick pay for 21,000 staff! https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/coronavirus-wilko-scraps-plan-cut-21745338

We won! British Gas reversed their decision to increase the minimum top-up amount for customers on pay-as-you-go tariffs. They’ve slashed the amount from £5 back to £1. This means people will no longer be forced to decide between spending their last £5 before payday on heating their home, or putting food on the table. And it’s thanks to the 91,000 of us who signed a huge petition, and thousands of us who spoke up and shared our experiences directly with British Gas. The 38 Degrees staff team met the British Gas CEO, and took these stories straight to him. Preet Kaur Gill, the MP who started this campaign on the 38 Degrees website, said: “This is a vital win for the thousands of people affected by British Gas’s decision to raise the minimum pre-pay top-up. I am so thankful to 38 Degrees and the 91,000 people who signed our petition. It would not have been possible without them.”

We won! In a decision that set a new national precedent, a government planning inspector granted permission to keep Kirkby Moor wind farm running until 2027. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-49515965

Strongbow, Carling and Tennent's have all pledged to ditch plastic beer and cider rings by 2021! https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/14/carling-beer-ditch-plastic-packaging-become-sustainable/

Just a few days after we handed in our huge petition to Westminster Council, the planning application to move the statue was withdrawn! Sir Niel Thorne, the former MP behind the bid to move the staue of Emmiline Pankhurst from its historic home said: “we realised considerable pressure was being put on Westminster City Council, who’d find it more difficult to approve moving the statue.” Thanks to our pressure, Emmeline Pankhurst will remain by Paliament - thank you! https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/16/emmeline-pankhurst-statue-will-remain-near-parliament-plan-move/

Pensions dashboard The government committed to getting the pensions dashboard off the ground. It means we’ll be able to keep track of all our pensions in one place, stopping us losing out on thousands of pounds. When news came out that the government was considering scrapping the dashboard, over 200,000 of us jumped into action. We signed open letters, emailed our MPs and our research, which proved how much people could lose without a pensions dashboard, was plastered all over the press. The government saw our messages in their inboxes and in the media - and yesterday they acted.

26/07/18 We won!!! Home Secretary Sajid Javid said "cannabis-derived medicinal products" will be available "by the autumn" through the NHS system Announcing the changes, Javid said: “Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory.” Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of 38 Degrees members who signed this petition, wrote to Sajid Javid, and pushed the government to make this important change to the law.

01/07/20 Plans to extend an open cast mine by its owners have been rejected by councillors. The Banks Group wanted to enlarge its Bradley West mine in County Durham to extract an extra 90,000 tonnes of coal. More than 6,000 letters of objection were sent with opponents branding the plan "environmentally unacceptable". Durham County Council's planning officers had recommended the plan be approved but councillors rejected it at a meeting, held via videolink. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-53255021