There is a deadline of 14th April for us to make our views known to government about which subjects should remain part of the national curriculum. Many arts subjects are at risk. For example, no conservative MPs thought that music should remain in the national curriculum and only 1 in ten labour MPs thought it should remain. The arts should not be a luxurious add-on. They should be part of every child's basic entitlement. Music, for example, can be academically rigorous, and is also a feature of every known human culture. It has been part of the core curriculum for civilised nations over 2,000 years since the time of Plato. Removing the arts from the national curriculum will de-value them, lead to a lottery of education with individual schools choosing whether or not to provide arts education for their children. Even if you don't agree with me about the arts, we should at least let the government know what we think about which subjects should be compulsory for our schools to teach.

No to the privatisation of the Police!

West Midlands and Surrey Police Force have recently announced that they are to put £1.5 billion of Police Force responsibilities out for grabs to the private sector. This is likely to include frontline services such as:

 bringing offenders to justice
 investigating crimes
 detaining suspects
 protecting vulnerable individuals
 supporting victims and witnesses
 managing road safety.

For the full list look here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/interactive/2012/mar/02/contract-note-bidders-police-services?fb=native

The private sector must not be allowed to reep profits from such vital public services. Institutions that are there to protect the safety of the public do not need the third party involvement of private companies.
History has repeatedly shown that when private companies that are incentivised by profit margins are allowed to deliver essential public services, accountability goes astray. Giving the authority that is currently vested in the police to private companies jeapordises the rights and liberties of all UK citizens.

Home Secretary Theresa May believes that handing the power of policing to private companies will protect frontline policing; we say it won’t, and that there are alternatives to making drastic cuts to policing, and indeed, destroying the concept of the Police as a trusted and dependable public institution.

There are far too many issues at stake to summarise them all in this brief call to arms, but other than the basic morality at stake they include:

 Social care and responsibility: ‘the Police’ is far more than a crime-fighting force. What will happen to victims who need access to social workers, counsellors and so on?

 Training: who will ensure that privately trained officers are not in fact privately trained security guards? Our current police force has to train, sit exams and meet required standards. Will the taxpayer then fund yet another private body to take on this crucial role?
 Ensuring the rights of both victims and suspected criminals are protected, and that everyone has a fair trial and is innocent until proven guilty. For example, the UK already has one of the lowest rape conviction rates in the Western world, with the few victims that do come forward often commenting that they feel on trial themselves. How will a profit-driven business model improve our already appalling statistics in such areas?

The list of specific issues is long, and we will be adding to it as this campaign builds. For now, we need you to please register your support and add your comments and feedback. Please act now – before it’s too late!
Share with your friends!

We petition the UK Government to reconsider the privatisation of public sector prisons and withdraw from the contract with G4S to operate HMP Birmingham, which will be the first public sector prison to be privatised. Staff at HMP Birmingham went through a 2 year bidding process, always believing that the prison would remain public.

There is no evidence to prove that private is better then public, In fact, a private prison costs on average £1000 more per prisoner place per year then it costs in the public sector, with no rehabilitation improvement.

Should a private company be allowed to gain financial profit from crime?

Should shareholders have increased dividends paid from profit that is gained from criminal activities?

G4S estimate costs to operate HMP Birmingham, and newly built Featherstone 2 in the West Midlands, at £750 million to the tax payer. Featherstone 2 has already been built at the tax payer’s expense and now will be run for profit. This can not be right; it must be stopped before more prisons are privatised. Support this campaign. HMP Birmingham is your prison. It is not for profit.

Unemployment amongst 16 to 25 year olds in the UK has reached record levels with more than a million young people struggling to find work; yet, following cuts to the Connexions service, thousands of young people across the UK now have either very limited or no access to face-to-face career guidance, a situation caused directly by the Government's decision to place the statutory duty to ensure impartial careers guidance on schools, who have been given no additional funds to deliver such important services; and calls on the Government to reverse its policy and instead to provide sufficient funding to the Careers and Connexions Service to help our young people plan and organise their futures.

Today (31st January 2011), The Sun ran the front page headline 'Anarchists Target Wills and Kate' as part of a 'Sun Investigation' into actions planned by certain anarchist groups to disrupt the royal wedding.

This petition/campaign is not aimed at supporting the anarchists in their actions to do this, but to open the question to the great British public of 'Do We Really Care?' - There are already a few campaigns in regards to the cost of the wedding to the British taxpayer etc., but other than an extra day or so off from work, does the royal wedding really merit so much media attention?

This campign/petition is a chance to show your indifference to the royal wedding, and to the media who play it up as such an important occasion.

Please take the time to vote on this.

Thank You!

My name is John Langley, and the original driver behind the campaign to petition the Monarch to NOT grant Royal Assent of the Health Bill.

Since starting this campaign on Twitter at 6am yesterday (March 8th 2012) I have so far engaged the support of Lord Toby Harris to be the conduit for rallying the support of his House of Lords colleagues in petitioning the Queen.

It isn't as simple as communicating with Her Majesty direct, as it requires the 'Barons' to petition on our behalf.

The right to petition the Monarch is embedded in Article 61 of the Magna Carta, and as Common Law takes precedence over Statutory Law and is therefore equally embedded within our Constitutional rights.

On the Coronation of Her Majesty, she took an oath to act within the best interests of her people and uphold our wishes.

The Health Bill, as it currently stands, is about breaking up our NHS by the back door towards privatisation in a way which is a win-win for the current Government regardless of the result at the next general election.

If they succeed in their current actions it opens the door to further privatisation legislation being introduced at a later date because they have set a precedence.

If they win by having this Health Bill made statutory and open up further possibilities prior to the next general election and they happen to lose governance to one of the other parties, then it places the incoming Govermnent in a position where it is too far forward to back down from and there is no alternative except to proceed with the Tory/LibDem legacy.

A win-win either way.

If you don't want to see the Health Service broken up into small pieces like British Rail then you absolutely HAVE to support this campaign and stop Royal assent

Despite the false promises that surestart children centres would not be closed, their funding was not ringfenced. It was reported last week that up to 250 of these vital, vibrant sources of our future generations development and essential childcare services could close as local authorities would not be able to continue to fund amongst their cuts. Well it's already started happening in Birmingham and elswhere at my sons centre which will close by Mar 2011. There are hardly any affordable childcare places left & competition fiece for the free 3 yr plus places. Surely our kids are entitled to the very best start in life and families access to these important services?