Petition Tag - nhs

Many patients died needlessly at the Gosport Memorial Hospital and Redclyffe Annex between 1988-2001.

In the last 11 years their families have fought tirelessly for the truth as to why their parents and partners died before their time under the regime of Dr Jane Barton?

Why has no one been held accountable?

There has been:
• 4 police investigations
• An investigation by the Commissioner of Health Improvement
• A death audit conducted by Professor Richard Baker (a report which has yet to be released into the public domain)
• An inquest where the Coroner, Mr. Bradley, withheld vital evidence from the Jury even though they still found Dr Barton guilty of causing deaths
• A GMC hearing, found Dr Jane Barton guilty of professional misconduct to a criminal standard yet she was not struck from the register.
• A review of the GMC’s decision by the CHRE which only came to the same conclusion that as she is now retired it was not necessary to remove her from the register (even though she can still practice if she wishes).
• Three reviews by the CPS who still have not addressed the alleged murders of the victims at the Gosport War Memorial Hospital.

Amid the Quango cover-ups and the amount of evidence still being withheld from the victim’s relatives, there is no hope for them to move on with their lives. It is only right and proper that they should have their answers. With the immense publicity surrounding this scandal for over 10 years, the people of Gosport should hear the truth. . giving closure to the families who continue to fight on.

It is their fundamental right!

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Drugs used in the Liverpool Care Pathway have been under much speculation. Although an audit of Care of the Dying, by the Marie Curie and the Royal College of Physicians in 2009 found that nearly 4000 terminal patients found the framework to be of high quality, there is no doubt that some patients remain at risk.

There is room in current practice for elderly, vulnerable patients to be started on the LCP without their or their family’s consent; it is not good enough to assume that in all hospitals, hospices and care homes that conversations will take place and that patients and families will be kept informed.

The audit reveals that two thirds of the 3,893 patients whose deaths were assessed needed no continuous infusion of medication, and all by 4% only needed low doses of opiates. However, there have are cases where patients have been started on high doses of opiates and sedatives via infusion and died prematurely.

We shouldn’t have to fight for justice after death; the law should be there to protect us when we are alive.

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The management of Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon is threatened with privatisation. Three companies are in the running to take over the hospital from May 2011 - Serco, Ramsay Health and Circle Health. None of them have experience of running a hospital on the scale of Hinchingbrooke.

The move sets a dangerous precedent for the future of the NHS with the possibility of many more hospitals in similar financial situation moving in the same direction. This would see a fundamental change in how NHS hospitals are run and could well be a precursor for the break up of the NHS as we know it.

Privatisation means putting profit before people and has no place in the NHS. As services such as A&E and Maternity fail to offer a profit, then we fear that these services could be under threat.

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NHS Hillingdon plan to make changes to the availability of the EHC (morning after pill) for young people. As it stands, any young person under the age of 20 is able obtain the EHC (morning after pill) over the counter in pharmacies, at no cost.

The change proposed by NHS Hillingdon is to cut funding for the availability of the EHC (morning after pill), resulting in a reduction in the age group who can currently access the pill for free. The new proposal states that now any young person who is 18 or under will have access to the pill for no cost.

In summary, students aged 19 and 20 will have to pay full cost, around £25, for the EHC morning after pill).
This decision will stand to affect many of the young adults surrounding the Uxbridge area who may wish to collect the EHC (morning after pill) from the local pharmacies.

Brunel University’s on campus pharmacy has provided the current under 20’s service to its students. The statistics show that over 60% of the clients using the service are aged between 18 and 20. This displays a need to abolish this new decision.

The decision to reduce the age range for the service will create a setback for clients who may find it difficult to buy the EHC (morning after pill) over the counter (which currently stands at £25.00) or attend family planning clinics. This can result in higher risk of pregnancy.

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Mistletoe has been used for many years in the support of the immune system for cancer patients. Many people benefit from its properties and it continues to be used today. It is primarily used in Germany in the fight against cancer. It is thought to help support the immune system and relieves the symptoms of chemotherapy.

Quote from Park Attwood clinic:

In Europe, mistletoe (Viscum Album) is the most commonly used complementary therapy in cancer care and is integrated into conventional cancer treatments.

Mistletoe therapy has been developed since 1917 and forms the backbone of medical care for cancer patients in anthroposophic medicine and at Park Attwood. In the UK this therapy is also available via the Homoeopathic Hospitals. There are several consultant-led clinics and hospitals in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and The Netherlands that specialise in this therapy

Mistletoe preparations are usually used in addition to conventional cancer therapies. They improve and strengthen the natural defenses of the body through their effect on the immune system. Improving our immune competence increases wellbeing in body and in spirit and helps us cope with the side-effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Mistletoe therapy can help in dealing with symptoms like fatigue, nausea, digestive problems and weight loss, sleeplessness, low mood, recurring infections and pain. The majority of trials show improvement of quality of life and overall outcomes. Although mistletoe is widely used and there is a growing body of supportive evidence, the merits are not widely accepted and many doctors find the available evidence insufficiently robust.

A recent and thorough review concludes that there is consistent evidence of improvement of quality of life with mistletoe therapy, and reduction of side -effects of conventional treatment*. Further information and research is available on request from Park Attwood as well as on the website www.mistel-therapie.de (both German/English).

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Since 2003 the future of the University Hospital of Hartlepool has been uncertain due to the financial implications the North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Trust faces in running two hospitals with full services.

Following a review commissioned by the then Labour government and the NT&H Trust, Professor Darzi concluded that there was a viable future for both Hartlepool & North Tees Hospitals and gave recommendations on how this should be implemented.

These findings were later ignored completely when either the NT&H Trust or the government decided that spending £465m on a new hospital in Wynyard, outside of both towns, was a better idea.

When the new coalition government came to power they wasted no time in scrapping this overly ambitious and deeply unpopular decision, to the delight of local residents.

Unfortunately however the very services Prof Darzi suggested Hartlepool specialise in had already been transferred to North Tees hospital leaving Hartlepool with sub-standard services and long, expensive journeys to North Tees for simple treatments.

We wish to fight our Labour MP's decision to continue to push for the closure of our hospital in favour of a unwanted pipe-dream that serves only to benefit those who stand to gain financially from the deal.

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As you may know block scheduling has been brought before the district as a possible way of scheduling in our schools.

This petition is for students who want a say in what happens.

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In March 2010, the Labour Health Secretary, Andy Burnham MP, announced that the Labour Government was approving plans for a complete rebuild of the Liverpool Royal Hospital, at a total investment of £451million.

But on 18 May 2010, the Liverpool Echo reported that the Tory / Lib Dem government was reviewing those plans. They are now under threat, and there is a chance that the Tories and Liberal Democrats might cut the investment altogether.

Liverpool needs a modern NHS, and a Royal hospital fit for the 21st Century. Sign our petition, and demand that the Tory and Liberal Democrat government protects this investment.

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Hinchingbrooke Hospital was to be closed in 2006. I was the organiser or the Save Hinchingbrooke Hospital Campaign, the result was 1500 people marching through Huntingdon and a 55,000 signature petition which was delivered at No 10 Downing Street.

Now they want to Privatise the Management - this will mean that ALL staff will work for the private company and profits WILL be made for the Private company's shareholders....

Maternity and A&E ARE in danger of being cut!

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The only one of its kind in Scotland, the Highland Rheumatology Unit in Dingwall provides unparalleled inpatient and outpatient care for people suffering from inflammatory acute & chronic joint disease as well as other severe joint and bone conditions. The Unit transforms the lives of people, allows them to remain independent and have less of a need to call on GPs' time and that of other local services.

The following services are all provided under the one roof: Specialist Physiotherapy, Hydrotherapy, Orthotics, Podiatry, Dietician, Dermatology Nurses, Specialist Occupational Therapy, X-Ray, Dexa Scan, Inpatient Treatment & Outpatient Clinics. Biologic/Rheumatology Specialist Nurses, Education, Injection Therapy, Intravenous Infusions and Consultant ward rounds.

This all provides an holistic approach to management of systemic conditions for patients and are provided by remarkable, caring staff. They continue to provide this despite the fact that five nurses who retired have not been replaced.

NHS Highland is now considering making cuts which in one form or another, will drastically reduce such care for thousands of people. Arthritis may be thought of as an illness affecting elderly people but there is a large and increasing number of young people suffering and requiring long term care. It can hit anyone at any time. NHS Highland is suggesting that the concentrated, invaluable care that is provided at the Unit could, perhaps, be provided by GPs and other community health professionals. Their resources are already fully stretched. They do not have the specialist knowledge to ensure that up-to-date treatment is given.

Excellent specialist services are usually provided in large towns and cities but here in the rural Highlands, with our challenging geography, we have a brilliant, unique service that should be cherished. NHS Highland should be praising and expanding the Unit, rather than reducing it. Many people want to fight cuts. In addition to this petition, we have an email address: friends.of.hru@googlemail.com to which you can send support for our campaign.

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In 2007 my son was born. We were given only one scan at 11 weeks. Although I asked for another scan we were told no. My son was born with an extremely rare CHD called Hypo-plastic left heart. He went through so much that could have been avoided if only we had had another scan later on in my pregnancy. His body went into complete shut down because we had no idea about his heart condition.

In 2004 it was advised that all pregnant mothers in Scotland should be routinely offered two ultrasound scans before they are 24 weeks but obviously this advice was never taken into account. A quote from the NHS website states the following:

"Following an extensive review of the evidence on the use of ultrasound scanning in pregnancy, NHS QIS advises that a second (‘anomaly’) scan should be offered to women during their second trimester, at between 18 and 22 weeks of pregnancy. This scan can identify certain defects in the fetus, including problems with the heart and spina bifida."

This quote and the whole article can be found at
http://www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/1208.html

Suitable written information should be available for pregnant women in time for each woman to consider it and discuss it with a health professional before attending an ultrasound appointment. This information should clearly describe the conditions that can and cannot be detected by ultrasound, the chances of accurately detecting these conditions and the risks associated with follow-up procedures.

Please sign our petition! The goverment need to start spending money on the NHS and this is a vital part that is being neglected! These babies are our future!! Lets take care of them!

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The Stroke Unit at the Ealing Hospital is under threat from the Labour Government. Under Labour’s plans, Ealing and Southall stroke patients will have to go to Northwick Park or Charing Cross Hospital and either a stay in these hospitals or a transfer across the borough to either Hillingdon or West Middlesex Hospitals. There will be no provision for Stroke services at all in Ealing.

This is despite the fact that:
• 1,600 Ealing-Southall people were admitted to Ealing Hospital for stroke-related conditions in 2006/07.
• Admissions from Ealing Southall were running at twice the national rate in 2006/07.
• Approximately 4,000 people in Ealing have had a stroke at some time.
• Ealing Hospital’s Stroke Unit is performing well - in the upper quartile for the whole of London.
• There is clinical evidence that Ealing’s residents will not be covered fully by other hospitals under the plans.
• Residents will have to travel significantly further to visit and look after their friends and families under the proposals.

If closure of the Stroke Unit at the Ealing Hospital site goes ahead, as is being proposed by Healthcare for London, the implications for the running of other local services both in the hospital and in the community will potentially be serious. The specialist acute services and procedures such as acute vascular and coronary angiography will also be under threat.

Please help us to STOP the closure of Ealing’s Stroke Unit by signing this petition. This is Ealing and Southall resident’s opportunity to force the reversal of this potentially damaging proposal.

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This petition came about due to my experiences having a baby with care from the NHS and my sister having a baby with care in Australia. The differences between the two are immense, my own personal experiences with midwives is awful and I am collecting accounts from people of their experiences having a baby on the NHS, if you can help me with this please email birthexperiences@live.co.uk

The changes i would like to see are:-

- more awareness of pre-natal and post-natal depression with counselling sessions freely available for all women in pregnancy and after birth.

- Consistent care during pregnancy with more adequate pre-natal classes.

- Private rooms for all mothers and their partners in labour and after labour during the hospital stay.

- Improved after-care i.e- in Australia they have the baby in a nursery for the first night and transfer you to a midwife run hotel for 4 days after an uncomplicated birth.

- More access to alternative therapies to make labour a less 'medical' ordeal.

I consulted a homeopath who prescribed caullophyllum which greatly improved my labour, i think these kind of services should be available on the NHS.

Pregnancy and Labour are a very precious time in a woman's life and i don't think women are being treated with the care and consideration they should be.

I aim to have my petition signed by as many people as possible and have as many birth experiences as possible to send to the government and highlight the issues women face when having children today, we deserve more.

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Soliris is the first drug of its kind to treat the symptoms of Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria, a rare and serious haemolytic anaemia. It has been developed and run in trial in the UK, North America and other European countries for the past four years and is extremely successful in symptom management of PNH.

Patients in the United Kingdom are now being told that this drug and specialist clinics may not be funded by the NHS for the small number of patients who need it because of the high cost of the drug. Health and lives are being measured against cost effectiveness.

The UK is currently the only country not to fund Soliris for patients after it has been licensed.

Without Soliris, patients are chronically ill. Soliris ensures management of symptoms and quality of life for PNH sufferers.

Please go to http://pnhlondon.wordpress.com for more details.

The above blog gives insight, from a patient's perspective, into the success of Soliris as symptom management medication and the improvement in the quality of basic life for PNH patients.

We ask Health Minister, Dawn Primarolo to:

(a) accept the medical advice of the consultants who were researchers on the trial in their recommendation of Soliris as a treatment management drug for PNH;

(b) accept the results of the trial studies to date, all of which support the vast improvement of quality of life for PNH patients;

(c) expand the provision of Soliris to patients who were not on the original trial to ensure access to humane health care to PNH suffers in the UK.

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Transport for All demonstrated at Guy's and St Thomas's hospital in London on June 25th.

We are protesting against their unfair Patient Transport Scheme.

We are being asked to sacrifice our precious Taxicard trips on hospital visits, or become fully dependent on friends or relatives who drive.

This has a direct impact on our lives, as we need our limited number of trips to shop and have a social life.

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We believe the population of the United Kingdom, should be allowed the right to use medicinal Cannabis for muscle spasms, pain relief and other medical conditions, where Cannabis is found to help people, without fear of prosecution.


I and many other UK citizens use Cannabis for medicinal reasons. Whether we use Cannabis to help with conditions like; cancer, pain, muscle spasms or other medical conditions where Cannabis is found to help.

We all use for one reason and one reason only, the NHS cannot control our medical condition’s but cannabis does!

We cannot all be wrong, we know we are right, because of cannabis we can now lead a better way of life.

We want to be legal to use Cannabis and help ourselves as the NHS has failed us all.

I and others have had a MP, Dr and a top pain consultant, write to the heads of heath requesting me to be able to get cannabis via the NHS. all application have failed.

Me and many other people, write to the government of the UK asking for the help we desperately need as the NHS has failed us, you never get a reply.

If you call the government you get hung up on. If you fax them you get no reply!

Why is the government of the UK leaving us to rot with medical complications which cannabis improves!

To top it all off with 10 Downing street, I applied for this petition to be placed along with there e-petitions. It got refused 3 times. I even placed a request to contact me via telephone if there was a problem listing it. I never even got a personal email back from the government.

This petition will be delivered to Downing Street on the 25th of June 2008 at 2pm. I’m going to personally guarantee that this petition will get to number 10. It will be hand delivered to prime ministers Gordon browns office in the above date. As the government won’t listen to individuals, we shall go by way of protests and let the government see how many people this law affects.

There are no victims when we smoke cannabis, how can it be a criminal offence!

Did you know, even thou Cannabis has been downgraded to a category c drug in the UK. You can still be jailed for up to 5 years, if you are caught with Cannabis. Even if it’s for personal medicinal use!

This UK Cannabis law is wrong, we all need help. We can help ourselves with Cannabis with miraculous results. But we can not do so without the fear of been prosecuted by the UK’s very own Criminal Prosecution Services!

A lot of people like I, have no choice but to take morphine etc from the NHS, as this is the best pain relief they can give you. Morphine only takes the edge off my neurological pain. Approximately 10% of my pain is reduced by morphine by the end of the day. After taking so much morphine you find yourself passing out hallucinating wildly due to the need of more and more pain relief/ morphine needed.

If I use cannabis for my chronic neurological pain, I feel great mentally, my pain gets reduces by approximately 65% and I’m able to get out of a bed ridden state.

Please come and show us your support at Protest London 2008.
www.protestlondon.co.uk here you can find all the latest information about the protest.

Please don’t come to the London protest to support me. Yes, I am the head of the protest, I’m a voice of thousands of UK sufferers who are still lying in a bed ridden state. These people will not even try Cannabis for there medical conditions, because the UK laws forbid them do so!

These people like me can get some life back, if only they could get hold of and use medicinal cannabis at our own cost!

Cannabis is not suitable for all people, but the people it does help should have the legal rights to use a plant/ weed/ natural product, Cannabis. To treat there medical conditions!

Even if you don’t use cannabis medicinally at the moment, please still come. You may still require the rights to try cannabis legally in a few years time. Who can say who will come down with MS, cancer, neurological pain or even muscle spasms etc. over the next 10-20+ years!

I and others just want the right to be able to use Cannabis to help ourselves to achieve a better way of life. The NHS cannot control our discomforts and pain caused by our medical conditions, so we have to help ourselves with Cannabis.

Some people use cannabis just to sleep and de-stress after a hard days work. This is also classed as medicinal use. If Cannabis is used to help to give someone a better way of life, then they should be allowed the rights to self medicate legally!

All we want and are asking for is the support of the general public to exorcise our own human rights to self medicate using Cannabis, if there is no way the NHS can control our medical conditions.

Medical practitioners who recommend us trying cannabis to help our medical problems even let us know it’s against the law but it may be worth trying. They all cannot be wrong can they? They would back up a lot of medical users as they know how well Cannabis can help with M.S. and other conditions effecting the human body and mind..

Cannabis can be used as a cream as well as smoked, vaporized or eaten. its about time people found out the good medicinal sides of cannabis.

Allowing us to be able to use Cannabis to alleviate our symptoms, if backed up by a medical practitioner or specialist, would be great.

If we where allowed to use it legally we would not have to fund large gangs who grow, distribute and sell the Cannabis. Our local chemist could sell us Cannabis, if we had a license to use medicinal Cannabis legally.

The Cannabis we buy from the streets at extortionate prices, is heavily contaminated. Please even just let us be able to grow our own under license. We would save the NHS money and we would be able to control our symptoms at our own cost. The NHS could even control the sale of Cannabis and the profits made could clear all nhs debts over the following years.

Cannabis is a plant which is roughly grown the same way as tomatoes. It cost a minimal amount to grow and harvest. There is a lot of interest in buying clean cannabis in this country. There are a lot of people suffering because they cannot get out to meet dealers to buy medicinal cannabis


Cannabis costs little to grow and there are a lot of funds to be made for the inland revinue/ nhs, if we can get the medicinal Cannabis laws changed. If chemists where allowed to supply medicinal users if back up by medical professionals etc. then we would all lead a better way of life.

America, Canada, Holland etc. etc. allow people to use cannabis medicinally and allow them to buy it in licensed outlets. Why is the UK so behind with medical advances in cannabis use?

You know it makes sense and the government have ignored us for too long, we will not be ignored for any longer.

We have a medicinal Cannabis protest in London on the wed 25th June 2008, meeting up at Parliament Square london. At 11am.

Please visit www.protestlondon.co.uk if you would like to know more and even join out free forums and see for yourself how Cannabis changes people’s lives for the better.

Please help free medicinal Cannabis users from prosecution.


Please sign our petition which will be handed to our own prime minister of the UK, Mr. Gordon Brown, MP> on the day of the protest at 2pm. The protest is legal and all arranged with police and Downing Street. Full permissions have been acquired to run a legal protest in London’s scota area (high risk/security areas)

Please support us, if you cannot make London but you would still like to support us in some way, on the protest London website you can find links to download.

These consist of copies of our posters, advertising the protest. These can be put up in shop/car windows, local notice boards; hospitals etc. please obtain permission if needed to advertise. All hospitals in the UK need covering; this is where the people who could benefit from cannabis can be found. My local hospital has the posters up and the number of people with severer medical condition attending will be huge from just seeing posters in the outpatient wards etc.

We have a petition link under news, if you have somewhere you can place a hand written petition for people to sign. Please feel free to do print a few copies of and see if you can have a copy even in your corner shop.

Please visit protestlondon.co.uk there you will find out how you can help the protest by donating to our cause.

Protestlondon08 will be a peaceful protest, children and families welcome. Disabilities don’t only affect the people with the medical conditions. The whole family is affected if the medicinal cannabis user is in pain or discomfort! Thank you for all your time and support with medicinal Cannabis legalisation.

Regards Pinky
Head of www.protestlondon.co.uk
See me on the TV and newspapers soon; you cannot miss me I’m the one with the pink beard!

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I will start by saying why I have started this petition. We needed IVF treatment but because where we live we can only get NHS to fund this in 3-years time, but if we lived 10 miles down the road we could have treatment in less then 18 months.

This is not just with IVF but other treatment as well, cancer, medication and so much more.

If we take the stand and say enough then maybe they will listen. It should not matter where we live, treatment should be the same, this is a National Health Service not a District Health Service.

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Currently, the Trust that manages the hospitals serving Dewsbury, Wakefield and Pontefract - the Mid-Yorkshire NHS trust - is being crushed by a huge debt of around £80m.

Although the Trust is now under new-management, its effectiveness, and the morale of it staff, is being seriously affected by this crushing deficit. Without help, it will take over 100 years for this debt to be cleared.

We call upon this government to write-off this huge debt in order to safeguard NHS jobs and patient care for all the people of Dewsbury, Wakefield and Pontefract.

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Update: GREAT NEWS ! From 1st October 2007, a six month Pilot Scheme will provide an URGENT CARE CENTRE at Kidderminster Hospital with Consultant supervision and a Doctor - led team with Emergency Nurse Practitioners and Clinical Support as an integral part of the Minor Injury Unit. The Minor Injury Unit is open 24 hours and the Doctors will be in the Urgent Care Centre Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm from October until March 2008.
Labour fully supports this excellent new service and it becoming permanent.

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Labour Government is establishing Urgent Care Centres throughout the country - 25 in February 2007, in Liverpool, London, Edinburgh, Maidstone and elsewhere.
Urgent Care Centres are not A&E Departments, but build upon services provided at Minor Injuries Units and other Walk- in-Centres.

What advantage would an Urgent Care Centre provide for patients presenting to Kidderminster Hospital?

Firstly, there is a small percentage of current patients who have to be transferred to Worcester Royal – 2%. With a Doctor and other extra medical professionals on hand, that figure could be reduced.

Secondly, about 5,000 patients a year present at Worcester Royal A&E when many should be treated at Kidderminster Minor Injuries Unit.

Thirdly, Worcester Royal is extremely busy, and an Urgent Care Centre at Kidderminster would help relieve pressure and help patients living near Kidderminster.

Therefore, I fully support the establishment of an Urgent Care Centre at Kidderminster Hospital, (including the first step of a pilot scheme this autumn entailing a Doctor being based at Kidderminster’s Minor Injuries Unit)

I urge everyone to sign my petition below for an Urgent Care Centre to be placed at Kidderminster Hospital.

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Update October 2007

Nigel says: "We now have 5,500 paper signatures.

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Update August 2007

Nigel says: "We now have over 4,500 paper signatures on the petition collected at Street Stalls throughout Wyre Forest."

Please continue to sign the online Petition.

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Nigel Knowles is running a campaign and a petition to have a Radiotherapy Unit placed at Kidderminster Hospital.

Nigel says “This Radiotherapy Unit could cost £2.5 million with the obvious on-going costs of operation. Cancer patients in Wyre Forest have to travel over 20 miles to New Cross Hospital Wolverhampton for their radiotherapy treatment. That is a very difficult journey for them to make many times for their treatment.

Worcestershire Acute Hospital Trust is currently looking at the possibility of providing a Radiotherapy Unit in Worcestershire, within the Three Counties Cancer Network. Kidderminster Hospital would be a great place to have it! We have the wonderful Millbrook Suite currently providing chemotherapy treatments for cancer patients and the Radiotherapy Unit would be a great extra provision for patients.

I think with Worcester Royal and the Redditch Hospitals being so busy, Kidderminster Hospital would be the best place. There is a great tradition of community support for Kidderminster Hospital and I’m certain the Radiotherapy Unit would be greatly welcomed by the people of Wyre Forest who have endured a difficult period of time in the transition between the transfer of A&E Services and the opening of our brilliant £26 million Treatment Centre in 2004”.

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I am a victim of the Medical Training Application System (an online selection process for junior doctors in the UK). When I was offered a training job in General Practice, I was coerced into choosing it as I was told that MTAS in working and I will not be offered any other job even if I am successful in the interviews.

After that MTAS was abandoned on the 17th of May 2007 and since then doctors are receiving multiple offers which they can hold and choose what they want. I was not offered this choice. However, I have now received a Psychiatry training job and this is what I want as my career.
The Mersey Deanery has stated that they have sufficient candidates to allocate my GP post to. My GP post has been withdrawn by the department and they have stated that I am not eligible for the Psychiatry post. How can this be possible when I have been offered Psychiatry. Why am I not being allowed to take up the Psychiatry post when the circumstances have changed.
To avoid some administrative difficulties, the Deanery is ruining my whole career when I have proven that I am capable. If I do not take my Psychiatry post this year, as per the current training rules I will never be able to get into the training scheme in Psychiatry in the UK.

This would basically be the end of my training career in Psychiatry.

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We've all heard of the Postcode Lottery. The NHS struggles to cope with the budget afforded them by the Government. Dead patients don't cost the NHS a thing.

According to Channel 4 Dispatches programme, hospitals are being forced to delay operations to balance their books to save the Health Secretary's job.

Ambulances are being sent to Code Red 999 emergency calls with no paramedic on board simply because an ambulance has to reach the government target to be at the scene within 8 minutes, whether they can save a life or not. 15 year old Kayleigh died because of this. Another man choked to death because a paramedic didn't attend the 999 call.

The NHS funds tatoo removal but are allowing pensioners to go blind.

The government give the NHS targets to reduce waiting lists and balance their books and, in turn, the NHS are denying patients life-saving treatment and operations.

My husband was denied a life saving operation but I fought the NHS for 16 months and he's now fit and well.

The postcode lottery is costing the lives of many people, including children.

How can this be right?

More details are on my website
http://www.nhs-deathrow.co.uk/pcodeLottery.htm

I wrote to Tony Blair but he didn't answer. Maybe with enough signatures he will have the courtesy to answer my letter instead of passing it to a minister who also didn't answer.

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Being a mum of 2, my firstborn son was born by elective caesarean due to lack of midwifery support. He was breech from 30 weeks+ and it was left too late for an ECV (turning of the baby) to work.
It was due to this midwifes late referal that the ECV failed, and the caesarean was pushed upon me.

There should be more support for women to labour naturally, even if caesarean is needed the woman should at least go into labour first. Breech births are heard of and is possible yet i was practically forced to make the caesarean choice.

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This petition was launched on January 24th 2007 at a public meeting of 150 local people at the Willesden Library centre, including health workers, trade unionists, local councillors and MPs.

It was initially signed by Dawn Butler MP Brent South; Sarah Teather MP Brent East; Pete Firmin and Ben Rickman, Chair and Secretary of Brent Trades Council; Pat McManus, Chair of Brent Hospitals UNISON branch; Paul Welch, Secretary, Brent PCT UNISON branch; Paul Lorber, leader of Brent Council; Shahrar Ali of the Green Party; Dr Khaleeda Siraj; Helen Cylwik of Elders Voice and 65 others including GPs, health visitors, school nurses, representatives of the voluntary sector and mental health services, pensioners, trade unionists and community activists.

The local Keep Our NHS Public campaign is calling a demonstration in Wembley on Saturday 3rd March 2007 to protest against the proposed cuts, as part of the national day of action to save the National Health Service called by the TUC/NHS Together.

Our local campaign will submit our petition to Patricia Hewitt following this demonstration.

Assemble: 10.30 am Wembley Centre for Health & Care Chaplin Rd. March past Wembley Stadium to a rally on the steps of the Town Hall

For more information about the campaign or to let us know how the cuts affect you, please email benjamin.rickman1@ntlworld.com or Sarah Cox on roundwood@redmail.com or ring 07951 084 101

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The causes of the NHS financial crisis are legion – but many are due to Government failure:

Ministerial meddling: There have been ten major reorganisations of the NHS since the Government came to power. Each of these reorganisations has been costly: the merger of Primary Care Trusts and the regionalisation of Strategic Health Authorities in 2006 alone are together estimated to have cost £320 million.

Waste: The Government's financial mismanagement has encouraged a culture of profligacy and waste within the NHS. The number of managers in the NHS is increasing almost three times as fast as the number of doctors and nurses. There are now 264,012 administrators in the NHS, compared to 175,646 beds. In the last year alone, 5,000 more administrators than nurses were recruited. By 2004-05 the extra cost of employing NHS administrators was almost £1.6 billion a year more in real terms than it was in 1999-2000.

Unfair funding: The Government's system of resource allocation means that the areas with most demand on their health services no longer receive the most money. Until Labour came to power, NHS resources were allocated to areas in a way that secured 'equal opportunity of access to healthcare'. However, the Treasury has specifically added an element to the allocation formula which aims to tackle health inequalities, meaning that some areas with a low disease burden, but deemed to be socially deprived, receive much more funding than areas deemed to be affluent but with a high burden of disease.

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Fed up with the way the country’s heading?

The current Labour government is out of touch with reality and opposition parties are not listening.

For too long public confidence has been worn out with the British criminal justice system allowing criminals to abuse human rights legalisation to avoid facing the consequences of their unlawful actions.

For too long juvenile delinquents have been simply slapped on the wrist for causing anti-social behaviour and nothing is done to prevent their despicable crimes.

For too long the government has been looking after the wrong people, locking up pensioners who cannot afford to pay their high Council Tax bills while allowing dangerous young thugs to freely prowl the streets.

For too long the government has prevaricated taking action to limit and control mass immigration, which has caused house prices to rocket meaning young British-born people cannot afford to get on to the housing ladder. The country is full and our public services are over-stretched.

For too long too long our hospitals have been hygienically neglected contributing to the significant rise in infections from our wards.

For too long there have been systematic problems with the NHS which overpaid NHS managers cover up to report a “all is well” message to Whitehall.

For too long too long our education system has been dubbed down and school discipline is almost non-existent leading to long-term social problems and leaving school leavers unequipped to deal with the world of work.

For too long the government has imposed high green taxes without using the proceeds to fund weaning the UK economy off oil. We need a long-term plan to change the UK’s oil-based economy into a Hydrogen one, so we will not have to rely on such an unstable part of the world for resources.

For too long the government has complicated regulation and taxes leaving our economy vulnerable when competing with the Far East.

If you want to make a difference, let your frustration out and send the politicians a clear message to get a grip on these serious issues then back the Save Britain Campaign’s petition.

THE SAVE BRITAIN CAMPAIGN PROPOSALS

A. Law, Order & Justice

1. End Labour’s early release scheme, which is responsible for a large amount of horrific crimes which should not have happened. Criminals should serve their sentences in full and even longer sentences for bad behaviour.

2. Criminal age of responsibility to be lowered to 8 years. Children’s detention centres until 12 years.

3. Trial of youths over 12 years in magistrate’s/crown courts not youth courts. Their crimes are just as serious.

4. Children/teenagers to receive equivalent prison sentences as adults.

5. Reintroduction of Borstals for 12-18 year olds with a focus on discipline, education, routine and authority. Careers in army to be offered to juveniles who are not likely to find employment after leaving Borstal.

6. Parents of young offenders to reimburse the state with the cost of legal aid, if youth is found guilty.

7. There have been incidents where young criminals are ‘invited’ to police stations for interview. All young offenders should be treated like adults and be properly arrested and questioned in police stations.

8. The justice system should never penalise people who stand up to anti-social behaviour. Am adult should have the right to use any force necessary to defend themselves against a delinquent youths’ behaviour.

9. End the over-use of community sentences, tagging offenders and cautions and adopt a ‘prison works’ attitude.

10. Give the public the right to impose a ‘vote of no confidence’ against lenient judges and have them sacked.

11. Allow the press to publicise the name of a juvenile found guilty of a crime.

12. Ban the press from revealing defendants’ names until proven guilty.

13. Allow defendants’ previous criminal convictions to be stated in court in order to illustrate a better nature of character.

14. A victim should have the option to have the offender absent from the court room when giving evidence.

15. A national DNA database should exist to clear up forensic detection when solving crimes. Also this would assist police in tracing burglars, a crime currently with low clear up rates.

16. Double the sentence for second-time offenders, triple the sentence for third-time offenders and a whole life sentence for the fourth offence. This will send a clear message to any criminal thinking of re-offending, while keeping repeated offenders away from the community for a very long time.

17. ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’ approach to sentencing and criminal punishment.

18. A convicted serial criminal should be issued with a sentence that cumulates the total years of each separate crime, i.e. 5 x mugging offences should mean 5 x mugging sentences, meaning that judges cannot issue concurrent sentences.

19. All prisoners should be locked in their cells for 23 hours a day with one hour to wash and exercise.

20. Prisoners, including young offenders, should have no luxury food, no pool tables, no televisions or any other form of entertainment – only books to educate themselves.

21. Prisoners should be made to wear ovals, as in America.

22. Prisons should have a policy of bare minimal religious accommodation.

23. A programme of punishment first then rehabilitation should be implemented.

24. Prisoners should not be entitled to have any visitors in order to dramatically cut down drugs entering our prisons. Only communication with family should be via telephone.

25. Murderers should not serve 15 or 20 years in gaol but the entire duration of their life. Life for a life.

26. Give the Home Secretary back the power to impose whole life sentences on dangerous criminals and also impose whole life sentences on paedophiles that have been released and murderers released early.

27. Implement a mass prison building scheme to create more gaol places.

28. Change categories of offences against the person to ‘provoked’ or ‘unprovoked’, with racially aggravated falling in unprovoked. A White person’s life is not less than a non-White person’s life.

29. Whole life sentences for paedophiles. There is NO reason why they should be free in society, it is in there constitution to prey on children.

30. Overhaul of the use of the defence in court on grounds of mental health. Offenders that are a danger to the public should be detained.

31. There is no excuse for any crime and therefore excuses used by criminals for committing crimes should not be acknowledged in trials.

32. Make provisions for manslaughter to carry a maximum whole life sentence to ensure that murderers/dangerous drivers pleading guilty to manslaughter are not let off a life punishment for their actions.

33. Abolish the use of Police Community Support Officers and put local Police Constables on the beat. Each Constable should have their own small area to patrol and get to know the local area and trouble-makers.

34. Police Constables on the beat in their own small local patches will be able to swiftly respond to emergency calls.

35. Significantly cut the number of forms police need to complete to free up time patrolling the streets on foot.

36. Elected Chief Constables to ensure local people’s policing requirements are always being satisfied.

37. Repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 and replace with a Charter of Rights & Responsibilities, where a responsibility would need to be met before the entitlement of the right.

38. Criminals should not be entitled to any human right, as they have not met the responsibility of being law-abiding. This would include illegal immigrants not being entitled to any human rights, as they have broken the law entering the UK without permission.

39. Prisoners should never be entitled to any form of compensation as they should be compensating society by giving up their freedom in prison.

40. Imprisonment of drug users with cold turkey treatment. This is a much cheaper and more punishing method.

41. More investment in the Prison Service could be achieved by making criminals pay for it by taxing them more when they’re released, deductions from benefits and seizing more drug-barons’ assets.

42. Reinstating Cannabis as a Category B drug, as the current Category C gives out the wrong message. This drug has detrimental mental health consequences.

43. Applying a ‘traffic-light’ grading system on all areas where anti-social behaviour is rife. Red areas would be patrolled by armed police to restore order in no-go areas. Amber areas would have high police visibility with local trouble-making youths being targeted and prosecuted on the spot for causing anti-social behaviour. When the local community feel safe they can then elect for the area to be ‘green’.

44. Prosecute members of the Irish Travelling Community who cause anti-social behaviour and damage local areas with waste. Also create a Travellers’ licence to monitor the community, also devising a new Travellers’ tax charge to compensate council tax funds used to accommodate travellers.

45. An end to prosecuting pensioners who cannot afford to pay high Council Tax bills, when juvenile delinquents are free to prowl the streets.

46. Cruelty to animals should be treated with the utmost seriousness in courts, as psychological studies show that this behaviour can lead to carrying out violence on other people, even torture and murder.

47. Courts need to back shopkeepers and businesses more by sentencing shoplifters and ordering them to reimburse what they have stolen. Having proper police presence on High Streets would also act as a deterrent.

48. A person should have the right to use gross disproportionate against intruders to protect their property and family, and the intruder should not have the right to seek compensation for any injury caused by illegally entering the property.

49. British-born terrorists should be charged with high treason and goaled for the entire duration of their lives.

50. A law should be created, as in France, whereby a person can be tried in the UK for committing or conspiring to torture people abroad.

B. Mass Immigration & Europe

1. The only legitimate Asylum Seekers are those that enter the UK by raft or by aeroplane, as international law states that they must claim asylum in the first safe country. Therefore as the vast majority of asylum seekers have already crossed countries like France, their asylum application should be rejected.

2. Immigrants who enter the country illegally without permission should be imprisoned then deported as they are breaking the law.

3. A limit should be adopted for economic migration with an Australian-style points system.

4. All immigrants should have rigorous health checks, a high level of English and a completely clean criminal record before entering the UK.

5. Create a UK Border Police to put into operation the mass deportation of illegal immigrants living in the UK and to protect our borders from those seeking to undermine our country.

6. The UK should leave the European Union and implement common trade agreements similar with Europe to those of Norway and Iceland. Leaving the EU would restore sole sovereignty to the British government and the authority to control our borders.

C. Health

1. Consultant John Petri at his Norfolk hospital has more than doubled his work rate by introducing a French-style “production line” under which he carries out overlapping operations in different theatres. He operates on one patient while the next is prepared in a second theatre. Petri moves on to the second patient while leaving a junior to finish the first. By the time the second operation is nearing completion, a third patient is waiting for him in the original theatre. The result is that Petri can now operate on patients within two weeks of their first consultation. So, let’s introduce Petri’s dual-operating theatre method and cut waiting lists dramatically.

2. Let’s make Doctors’ and Nurses’ working lives hassle-free without having the pressure of centralised targets and the delay that bureaucracy causes.

3. Free-up hospital beds by giving patients increased amounts of oxygen and fluids after their operation, so they recover quicker, which a recent medical study has revealed.

4. Bring back Matron and let her reinstate discipline and organisation on our hospital wards.

5. Allow for dirty wards to be shut down to cut hospital bugs.

6. Discontinue the use of private cleaning firms in our hospitals and employ more cleaners to be under the instruction of Matron.

7. Cut out middle management and let frontline NHS staff take control of their working lives.

8. It is a disgrace that so many nurses have spent years training and now they are told they cannot work in the NHS. Sacking middle managers will free up funds to employ these much needed staff.

9. Overhaul of Dentists’ contracts with massive investment in NHS dentistry to ensure everyone can find a local NHS dentist.

10. Re-localise health services, so that patients do not need to travel far for their much needed treatment.

11. Give patients back the right to choose their local GP.

12. Create local boards of mixed local NHS staff and users of health services to ensure patient’s needs are always being met.

13. Free the NHS from politicisation.

14. Foreigners entering the UK should ensure they have private health insurance to fund any NHS treatment they require during their stay.

D. Education

1. Introduce an education system similar to the German one with more grammar schools to stretch the brightest pupils studying there GCSEs, vocational schools which could combine high-standard literacy/numeracy with a trade in the form of a diploma and army-style boot-camp boarding schools to enforce discipline in unruly pupils and offer them a career in the armed forces, so that they don’t lead a life of criminality, drugs and state benefit reliance after they leave school.

2. SAT exams scrapped at all ages. 11-Plus and 14-Plus exams to decide which educational route students should take.

3. Reform the ‘A’ Levels into a standard similar to that of the previous decades to ensure that the legacy qualification really is the gold-standard of British education.

4. Encourage foreign language learning at an early age so that future generations can do more business with Europe and the world.

5. Make bullying in our schools a criminal offence with criminal consequences to emphasise the seriousness of the behaviour.

6. Synthetic phonics should be taught to all primary school pupils to rapidly boost their reading skills.

7. Tough emphasis on spelling, grammar and punctuation in the English language GCSE and ‘A’ Level, with vocabulary boosting classes. Learning grammatical terms will ensure that pupils are technically competent in English.

8. University top-up fees to be scrapped.

9. Emphasis on discipline, routine and respect in all schools.

10. Give teacher’s the right to physically remove unruly pupils from lessons.

11. Every school to have a supervised detention room for disobedient pupils.

12. Cut teacher’s paper work to free up their time.

13. Free schools from town hall control and let them be independent, trusting professionals to do their job.

14. A flat rate of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) should be available to ALL students.

15. An end to means-testing for university student loans and tuition fees. A set annual amount should be available to ALL students.

E. British Culture & Fairness

1. Abolish political correctness in all its excessive form, as Britain was the birth nation of freedom of speech. PC causes more problems and tension for minority groups, who the vast majority of which oppose politically correct measures.

2. Freedom of speech should be recognised by re-allowing protesters to protest in Parliament Square.

3. End the absurd politically correct view that it is racist to want limited and controlled immigration.

4. End the use of equal opportunities monitoring forms in recruitment, as EVERYONE is equal and an application should be based on a candidate’s ability.

5. End the use of health questionnaires in recruitment, as it is not fair for employers to discriminate against a candidate’s health.

6. It is currently legal in the UK to discriminate against gay and lesbian people by denying them goods, services, hotel rooms and access to licensed premises. A law should be created to ban such discrimination.

7. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) should seek to encourage British Muslim culture to be less oppressive to women and less hostile to gay and lesbian people by tackling homophobic and sexist views common in the British Muslim community. British Muslims are British and should all have the view that all British people are equal. It is a disgrace that the MCB upholds double standards by wanting equality for Muslims but opposed Civil Partnerships and an equal age of consent for gay and lesbian people.

8. British culture and history should be taught widely throughout the national curriculum.

9. The Union flag should be flown above every national and local government building, every school, every police station (including Northern Ireland), every religious building (including Mosques as British Muslims are British too) and in our town and city centres.

10. Councils should NOT refrain from funding Guy Fawkes night and Christmas events and NOT rename Christmas as the ‘Winter Festival’.

11. The Monarch is a symbol of British culture and heritage, which we should all be proud of.

12. Re-instate hereditary peers in the House of Lords by abolishing the House of Lords Act 1999, so that Bills can properly and objectively be scrutinised before becoming law. This would also ensure the cash-for-peerages scandal would never occur again.

13. Abolish the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and reinstate the use of the House of Lords and Privy Council as the final courts of appeal, as these institutions have been used for hundreds of years.

14. Increase women’s state retirement age to 65, as men and women should be treated equally.

15. Operate a ‘first come first serve’ policy for council house waiting lists, as opposed to a circumstantial and politically correct policy.

16. End plans to introduce a house price levy to replace council tax, which would see tax bills substantially rise due to house price inflation and councils using ‘Big Brother’ measures by forcing council officials to enter homes and give them powers to fine homeowners who do not co-operate.

17. Repeal the ban on fox hunting, as this has been a British tradition for hundreds of years.

18. Those who repeatedly show no signs of actively seeking employment should have their benefit stopped immediately.

19. Minimum jobseekers’ claimant age to be increased from 16 to 18 years. Also no claimant should be entitled to the benefit unless they have paid a minimum of 6 months national insurance contributions.

20. Overhaul disability assessment for state benefit qualification to ensure that those who fluke the system do not profit from the funds that should be directed to those who genuinely need support.

21. Teaching is a stressful job and teachers who have been sacked for suffering with depression should get the treatment they need and the encouragement back into the profession they’re dedicated to.

22. Teachers should have the right to bring criminal proceedings against pupils who make false allegations of abuse.

23. Re-open the mental health hospitals that were closed to accommodate the unstable mental health sufferers who struggle living in the community.

24. Local services for people with learning disabilities that have been cut should be made available again.

25. Restoration of disbanded armed forces regiments such as the Royal Irish Regiment, Royal Scots, Royal Scots Fusiliers, King's Own Scottish Borderers, Black Watch, the Highlanders Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders which have served British military interests for generations.

26. Increase defence spending and let’s strengthen our over-stretched navy, air force and army from the current thinned-down entities weakened by the Labour government.

27. End the ‘war’ on the motorist by abolishing plans for road tolls, reducing the amount of speed cameras and the unwarranted amount of parking fines issued. How can this government expect motorists to abandon use of their cars when public transport is the most expensive in Europe?

28. Scottish tax payers to fund the running of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish politicians’ wages.

29. Welsh tax payers to fund the running of the Welsh Assembly and Welsh politicians’ wages.

30. MPs excessive salaries should be slashed by 50% at least.

31. Slash public sector managers’ pay where excessive.

32. The Child Support Agency should be scrapped and replaced with a body that is fair and fast when dealing with separated parents, being tough with parents who do not pay maintenance for their children and thorough with particular patents who refuse to let the other parent see their child.

33. Children of parents who have abandoned them throughout their childhood should have the right to claim 18 years (21 years if attended university) of maintenance.

34. Parents should have the right to use childcare vouchers to pay Grandparents to care for children.

35. A comprehensive public enquiry should be conducted into the true reasons behind the Iraq war with deceitful politicians who proposed the conflict to be held to account. Just before the invasion commenced, the Iraqi government switched from selling oil in US dollars to Euros. If other oil countries followed suit, the US economy would have experienced a major, nearly irrevocable, depression dragging the UK with her. Once allied forces occupied Iraq, the Euro oil exchange was switch back to selling oil in US dollars.

36. A full and unbiased enquiry into the cash-for-peerages scandal with the Prime Minister being publicly held to account, as he has responsibility when appointing peers.

37. The British government should establish a tough foreign policy to deal with the current Zimbabwe situation and hold the Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to account for his crimes against humanity. As Zimbabwe is an ex-colony, Britain has a moral duty to pursue such a proposal.

38. Political parties with links to terrorism should be banned from entering the Houses of Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and the Stormont and receive no public finances.

39. In the interests of national security, a law should be created whereby all MPs must have been born in the UK and have no dual nationality.

F. Environment & Climate Change

1. High investment backed by the government into hydrogen fuel cell technology research to speed up the full-scale arrival of hydrogen vehicles and energy plants.

2. A long-term plan to change Britain’s oil-based economy into a hydrogen one, so that we no longer need to rely for resources from such an unstable part of the world.

3. The Hydrogen economy plan should include the production of hydrogen and manufacturing of hydrogen technology in the UK to export abroad.

4. An international treaty lead by the UK to encourage the development of Hydrogen economies which involves the US, Europe, China and India at the heart of the programme.

5. A rigorous emphasis on recycling.

6. Green taxes to finance Hydrogen plan.

7. Availability of more open green public places.

G. Economic Competitiveness, Public Finances & Housing

1. Radically simplify regulation for business and the public sector by thinning and capping the amount of regulation, unifying areas of common ground, also applying a Dutch-style ‘one in – one out’ rule.

2. Simplify tax law and adopt a long term plan to lower and flatten direct taxes.

3. Long-term plan to cut small companies’ rate of Corporation Tax from 19% to 15% and main rate from 30% to 25%. Also increasing the number of years that companies can offset current trade losses against previous profits to claim back tax.

4. VAT should be scrapped and replaced with a simpler American-style Goods & Services Tax (GST).

5. Long-term Income Tax reform:
a. Increase personal allowance from £5,035 to £7,125 minimum.
b. Abolish starting rate of 10% (the personal allowance increase will make income at this level tax-free).
c. Increase dividend tax credit from 10% to 20%.
d. Increase basic dividend rate from 10% to 20% (net tax will be 0%).
e. Cut basic non-savings rate from 22% to 20%.
f. Increase higher dividend rate from 32.5% to 40% (net tax will be 20%, as opposed to the current 22.5%).

6. Re-instate Married Couple’s Allowance for all married couples and civil partners.

7. Allow private medical insurance to be a tax-free benefit or if paid by employee then allow for premiums to be a charge on income to gain tax relief.

8. Abolish the Gift Aid scheme and allow donations bestowed to charity to be a charge on income for greater Income Tax relief. Also allow all donations by companies to be expensed for Corporation Tax purposes.

9. Allow pension contributions to be treated as a charge on income to enhance Income Tax relief.

10. Every pensioner over 65 years should be entitled to a flat rate personal allowance of £10,000 minimum, which should not be tapered depending on income.

11. Re-instate a 20% dividend tax credit and abolish stamp duty for pension funds.

12. Set up a national pension fund insurance scheme to ensure that contributors are fully compensated for funds that go bust; this will restore confidence in pension funds.

13. Increase Inheritance Tax nil rate band to £500,000 and cut 40% rate.

14. Abolish the current system of tax credits and replace with a tax reducer system similar to Married Couple’s Allowance.

15. Allow a married or civil partner to transfer their tax-free personal allowance to their spouse, if one spouse decides to remain at home to spend more time with their family.

16. Write off tax credit overpayments, so that hard-up families do not endure anymore financial hardship.

17. Long-term plan to reduce Council Tax significantly and cut pensioners’ Council Tax bills by at least 50%.

18. Tax cuts should always be funded by economic growth and cuts in inefficient public sector areas such as excessive administration and middle management but NEVER from cutting frontline public sector staff and services.

19. Encourage high-class engineering with investment and tax-breaks in order to make certain the UK’s place in the manufacturing world which is being lost to the Far East.

20. Promote high-class engineering qualifications in schools, colleges and universities.

21. Scrap the useless New Deal programme and save circa £1 billion.

22. Thin down and simplify the welfare state but not to the detriment of those in genuine need.

23. Reform the benefits system to ensure that two-parent families are not penalised.

24. Encourage businesses to put into practice apprentice schemes so that leavers from education can be trained to succeed in a career the day they leave school, college or university.

25. Businesses should be encouraged to provide apprenticeships for mature adults who have to re-train in another field during their working life.

26. Cut excessive immigration to relax demand for housing.

27. Put into practice a mass council house building programme to increase supply of social housing, giving tenants the right to buy after 5 years and use the proceeds and rental income to fund further building.

28. A good economy has good infrastructure. Therefore the Department for Transport should endorse a mass road improvement programme, ensuring a good quality foundation of tarmac on our roads, bypasses where needed, extra lanes for busy motorways, rationalising our roads by cutting excessive road signs and placing pedestrian crossings in less interfering places.

29. A long-term plan to restore the four original rail companies, each owning their own track, with a rigorous punctuality arrangement including services for more regular trains.

30. Banning rail companies from charging double fares for peak journeys, as hard-working commuters should never be made to pay more just because they have to get to work.

31. Low budget airlines should not be taxed more; as such airlines are more efficient in filling up planes and making full use of capacity.

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This petition is written in hopes that the new grading system adopted in September 2006 will be abandoned. The new grading system does not allow for teachers to average grades.

Teachers have not been told how there are to grade the students work. This will greatly affect the calculation of a student’s grade point average. This is hurting Noble student’s chances of getting into the college of their choice. The classic American education is under attack at Noble.

The Noble High School administration is responsible for this and we as students and community members should let them know that we do not share their views.

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