There is no scientific basis that the culling of badgers will help combat the spread of Bovine TB. If anything, it will make the problem worse and the trial culls have been proved both ineffective and inhumane. It is a political tool with which the government perseveres, to appease the farming industry despite overwhelming expert, scientific advice. It seeks to remove an iconic, protected and much loved wild mammal from our landscapes and encourages illegal baiting and cruelty towards this and other wild animals.

The clause which bars other food retailers leaves a toxic legacy by limiting the options: IKEA has now been granted permission for a full-size store and loading bay. IKEA aims to demolish the building and the eco-park which Sainsbury’s gave to the local community. The site is on the main commuter bus route to North Greenwich station. Locals will have to join the traffic mayhem or jostle for space on public transport through IKEA traffic to shop for food. If there is an emergency how will services reach the site on a peninsula surrounded by water on three sides with IKEA at its neck? Instead of 'village living in the city' this is an urban nightmare. Sainsbury's says it is committed to helping communities and sustainability: Lifting the clause will mean that a more suitable retailer than IKEA can move into the neighbourhood creating diverse shopping opportunities for locals without overburdening transport networks and ruining the environment.

Carers save the country an estimated £119 Billion pounds a year, and yet achieve no recognition for their work. Like myself a full time carer for my wife most carers are unable to escape the stresses of placed on us by the continuous need to be on duty 24/7 and the assistance provided by GPs Social Services and Charities, is severely limited by the cuts inflicted by this government. In general most governments and public service unions prefer to ignore us, and are content to allow us to take the brunt of spending cuts full on. These stresses are increasing day by day, causing both physical and mental problems thus increasing the workload on an already over stretched NHS. This must stop right now. Home Carers should be supported by the government and not be pitched from one charity to another like orphans looking for a new home. The government must stop abdicating it's responsibilities and do something positive.

The National Gallery has decided to privatise up to 400 of its 600 staff including those who look after security of the paintings, deal with the public and requests for information about the collection, complaints, school bookings and more. This came just a week after Director Nicholas Penny announced his resignation. Ten senior managers at the Gallery have left, been made redundant or dismissed in the last two years. A temporary “Security Consultant” responsible for the privatisation used to work for G4S, the private security firm. Only last November the Gallery Executive endorsed the view that privatisation could not guarantee quality of service and would not save money. Now they and the Board of Trustees have announced privatisation is the only option. This petition is initiated by the PCS union (Culture Sector) and so far supported officially by the Peoples' Assembly, the Musicians' Union, Lost Arts, BECTU and SERTUC

Live Bands are a regular Sunday event throughout the summer at THE PUNCHBOWL. There is always a free BBQ which attracts a cross section of customers from young families to pensioners and everybody in between. This is being threatened by ONE complainant. The sessions only last for two 45mins or three 30mins sessions between 4pm and 7pm. We are being persecuted by one persons hate campaign that the council continue to take seriously. Please support our petition that could have larger implications on the freedom of the masses as opposed to the dictatorship of the few.

Frome is one of the most creative and diverse towns in the South West and for its own arts festival to miss out on an event as unique as Sensonic is a real shame. It is important that Mendip recognise that dance music, in all its various forms, is not a threat and that a huge number of people in Frome desire an event such as this. Without a decent medium-sized space where DJs and visual artists can perform and people can go and appreciate this, Frome is in danger of losing its diversity.

Six thousand people complained to the BBC that it completely ignored the march against austerity in London on its National News. The excuse given on 'Points of View' - 'We choose which stories we cover based on how newsworthy they are and what else is happening...' The BBC is clearly showing its Tory bias by ignoring the march of 50,000 people. It's time for change at the top of the BBC.

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.

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!

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.

In February 1974, 70% of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in the General Election. Fast forward to today, and our democracy is in crisis. Only half of the 5.6 million young people in the UK are registered to vote. Why? Because for millions of citizens, especially young people, ‘politics’ is seen as out of touch, complicated and unrepresentative. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The Voter Registration Bill will revolutionise our system of democratic engagement. 1. The Bill will empower Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to take active steps to increase the shockingly low numbers of young, disabled or ethnic minority voters on the register. This includes organising at least one voter engagement session per year, per school or college. 2. The Bill will allow people to simply tick a box asking to be registered when filling in forms such as applying for a passport or driving licence - making registering to vote easy, simple and painless. The Voter Registration Bill is a golden opportunity to ensure that as many people as possible are registered to vote in advance of the 2015 General Election, and beyond.

After years of neglect under private ownership, South Parade Pier is in danger of collapse. This iconic structure has dramatically decayed over the past six months and is now boarded up and derelict, creating an eyesore for both local people and tourists. Although a sale was widely publicised, the pier has not been transferred to new owners and no remedial repairs have been carried out since the winter storms. Without proper investment, it continues to decay before our eyes. By signing this petition, you are demanding that Portsmouth City Council take action to preserve this Grade Two listed building, treasured by both residents and visitors to Portsmouth. By ordering the owners and operators of South Parade Pier to carry out end-to-end repairs, the council could reverse the decline of this key seafront area, encouraging growth for both new and established businesses - as has happened in many other seaside resorts. South Parade Pier has important historical and cultural value. British and Canadian troops embarked from there on their journey to Normandy for the D-Day landings in 1944. Winston Churchill and Montgomery addressed huge audiences there. Rock legends Pink Floyd, Genesis and David Bowie all performed there - and filming of The Who's rock opera 'Tommy' led to the infamous fire in 1974. Generations of Portsmouth residents and tourists have walked, danced and gathered on the pier since 1879. By lending your support, the pier may once again become both a hub for the local community and an asset for the city of Portsmouth - but we must act swiftly.