Tag: petition

Saving Pride Bridge: Sustrans support gives hope to campaigners

Efforts to save Leith’s much-loved Lindsay Road Bridge (also known as Pride Bridge) have moved a step closer thanks to a funding award through Sustrans’ Places for Everyone programme.

The 1930’s bridge, originally built for vehicular traffic, was closed off to motor vehicles in 2008 and has since served as a key walking, wheeling, and cycling route over Hawthornvale Path. In 2021 community members painted the bridge in rainbow colours, leading to it being named locally as the ‘Rainbow’ or ‘Pride’ Bridge.

In December 2021 the bridge, which is at the end of its lifespan, was closed due to concerns around health and safety.

Council officers have since made a successful application for Transport Scotland funding through Sustrans for the design of a replacement bridge deck, with £232,700 awarded. A designer will now be appointed to progress the design, to be developed in consultation with stakeholders and the community.

This process is expected to last a year and, once it’s complete, officers intend to apply to Sustrans for 70% of the construction funding required to build the bridge.

The work will be delivered alongside the Leith Connections project which is making improvements to community spaces and providing better connections for anyone walking, wheeling or cycling through the streets of Leith.

The Leith Connections project was awarded funding through Places for Everyone, an active travel infrastructure programme backed by Transport Scotland and administered by Sustrans.

Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, said: I’m delighted that this funding award gives new hope for the future of Pride Bridge.

“This structure is a local landmark, a link to Leith’s industrial past and a reminder of the pandemic, but above all else for me it is a celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride. It also provides a safe and convenient walking and cycling route between North Fort Street and Newhaven area.

“Thanks to all those involved who have campaigned for its preservation.”

Kasper Schwartz from Sustrans said: “The Pride Bridge serves as a vital walking, wheeling, and cycling connection for the people of Newhaven.

“It not only provides a direct and accessible link to local shops, businesses, and public transport in the area, but also stands as a vibrant symbol of community resilience.

“We’re excited to be able to support the design and development of a new bridge deck, and in due course, see this important link reinstated.”

Róisín Thérèse from the Save the Pride Bridge campaign said: “We are delighted to hear that Sustrans has agreed to fund a full design with community consultation.

“We believe the Pride Bridge to be a very important piece of local history and heritage, an essential safe and accessible active travel route, and a much loved community space.

“We also believe that, especially in light of rising hate crime statistics, it is really important for us to show both our solidarity with the LGBTQ community and our commitment to their safety and inclusion.

“The Save The Pride Bridge group is looking forward to working closely with the council to find a suitable solution to restore this important local landmark.” 

Members of the Transport and Environment Committee will receive an update on the funding award on Thursday (12 October). Watch committee live via webcast from 10am.

The impact of the UK’s exit from the European Union to be debated by MPs

On Monday 24 April, MPs will debate a petition relating to the impact of the UK’s exit from the European Union.

Martyn Day MP, a member of the Petitions Committee, has been asked by the Committee to open the debate. MPs from all parties can take part, and the Government will send a minister to respond.

We call upon the Government to hold a Public Inquiry into the impact of Brexit

The petition, which has more than 137,000 signatures, states: “The benefits that were promised if the UK exited the European Union have not been delivered, so we call upon the Government to hold a Public Inquiry to assess the impact that Brexit has had on this country and its citizens.”

In its response to the petition, provided on 5 December 2022, the Government said: “The UK’s departure from the EU was a democratic choice and the UK-EU institutions are functioning as intended. The Government does not believe this to be an appropriate subject for a public inquiry.”

What are petitions debates?

Petitions debates are ‘general’ debates which allow MPs from all parties to discuss the important issues raised by one or more petitions, and put their concerns to Government Ministers.

Petition debates don’t end with a vote to implement the request of a petition. This means MPs will not vote on whether to hold a public inquiry into the impact of the UK’s exit from the European Union.  

Petition debates are scheduled by the Petitions Committee. Only e-petitions started on the parliament petitions site are considered by the Petitions Committee.

Scotland Demands Better!

The Scottish Government has been warned not to ‘abandon’ communities as Scotland’s largest trade union body, equality and anti-poverty organisations launch Scotland’s largest national campaign against the cost-of-living emergency.

Ahead of SNP Conference and as Challenge Poverty Week ends, The Scottish TUC, the Poverty Alliance and groups across the country launched the ‘Scotland Demands Better’ campaign. The campaign outlines the ‘People’s Plan for Action’ demanding nine actions from the Scottish Government to alleviate the crisis.

Demands include increased public sector pay, rent controls, wealth taxes and universal free school meals. The campaign further calls for increased social security payments, doubling the Scottish Child Payment and increasing Carers Allowance payments. The plan follows the STUC and Poverty Alliance joint summit on the cost-of-living crisis earlier this year.

Launching the campaign, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer and Poverty Alliance Director Peter Kelly have written to the First Minister calling for a joint roundtable meeting to help implement the plan.

Commenting, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer: “This campaign represents the voices of our communities. Government cannot abandon them in their hour of need and we’re seeking an urgent meeting with the First Minister to directly support workers impacted by this crisis.

“The People’s Plan for Action sets out exactly what we need to see from the Scottish Government. Whilst Westminster remains unwilling and uncaring to help ordinary workers, the Scottish Government must take a different path.

“Increasing public sector pay, accelerating rent controls and implementing wealth taxes gives Scotland’s poorest the lifeline they need to survive this emergency. Poverty and destitution are political choices. Scotland demands better than the devastation and hardship wilfully inflicted upon our most in need.”

Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “We want to put justice and compassion back at the heart of public life in Scotland – so we can build support for practical action to tackle poverty.

“With this plan, we can start to rebuild and renew our social security, boost incomes for workers, invest in the public services we all rely on, and give people the urgent help they need with rocketing costs.

“This crisis is a moment for decision for all of us – and especially our politicians. We can create a better Scotland where poverty is a thing of the past.”

To tackle the cost of living for the people of Scotland, we demand the following –

1. A real pay rise for all public service workers

2. A social security system that loosens the grip of poverty

3. Warm homes, through municipal energy companies

4. Sustained action to tackle rent costs

5. Share the wealth, through income, wealth and business taxes

6. Universal free school meals

7. Cheap, publicly controlled public transport

8. More support for childcare

9. Enforcement of Fair Work

Other countries are helping families with energy costs: why can’t we?

Governments across the world are raising wages, cutting tax and announcing hefty financial aid packages for people and workplaces affected by the energy crisis (writes TUC’s NINA REECE):

Last month, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a package of support that he claimed would help UK workers and businesses survive crippling energy costs. But it failed to boost pay, raise benefits or help low-income households.

War in Ukraine is exposing the cracks in a global energy system that privileges profit over people and the climate and is too reliant on international trade in fossil fuels. The result is a massive increase in energy costs that is hurling people into poverty while energy companies announce another year of eye-watering profit.

But the Conservative government’s decision not to help the people or sectors most affected by the energy crisis is the exception, not the rule. Here is how other governments across Europe are providing support.

Germany

In Germany, €16billion (£13.4billion) has been made available to ease the burden of rising costs. The support package includes a €9 pass for commuters, giving them a month’s unlimited use of public transport. Making public transport more accessible in the UK is key to reaching our emissions targets. 

There is a one-off €300 tax cut for individuals, extra discounts for low-income families and fuel taxes will be cut for three months, with the price per litre cut by €0.30 for petrol and €0.14 for diesel. 

Importantly, this package includes a commitment to reducing German reliance on gas, oil and fossil fuels long term. 

Germany is also set to raise the national minimum wage by 15 per cent, benefitting nearly 6.2 million low-paid workers – two thirds of them women – giving Germany the second-highest minimum wage in Europe. The rise, agreed as part of the coalition deal, will also cover self-employed and flexible workers.

Nordic countries

A six million Swedish kronor (£473m) pot was set aside by the Swedish government to soften the impact of soaring bills. This may not sound like a lot, but with population that is fraction of that of the UK – it is significant. The government has also issued winter bill subsidies of up to 6000 kronor (£488) for 1.8m households from winter into 2022.

The Norwegian government’s package of measures to help households totals more than eight billion kronor (£664m). In January, Norway even committed to covering 80 per cent of electricity costs for a short period whenever the rate for electricity is above 70 Norwegian øre (6p) per kilowatt-hour.

France

President Macron is targeting energy companies.

EDF, the state energy provider, will charge electricity at below market rate and will take an €8.4bn financial hit. It has also been ordered to sell nuclear power to rivals at below current market rate as its reactors generate 70% of the country’s electricity.

This month, the CEO of Total Energie has also announced a freeze on dividends. In the UK, despite massive profits, no caps or restrictions have been placed on the Big Six energy providers.

The French government has also cut electricity taxes in a bid to slow the increase to bills. While here in the UK, gaps in the Chancellor’s support package means the energy crisis will hit the poorest families the hardest, in France 5.8million low-income households were given a €100 payment for energy bills in January this year.

Spain

The Spanish government’s €16billion response to the energy crisis is the most comprehensive. The focus is on curbing profits and protecting jobs.

Some €2billion will be raised from a windfall tax on energy providers. €500million in subsidies will be provided for electricity-intensive industries and companies that receive this aid won’t be able to dismiss staff to balance out their rising energy costs.

€10billion of state loans will also be given to companies in other industries who are forced to spend more on energy. There is protection for truckers and professional drivers with €450million in direct aid for transport professionals.

And for families and individuals, a fuel sales subsidy of €1.4billion will reduce prices by €0.20 a litre, making a full tank about €9 cheaper, far better than Rishi Sunak’s 5p cut to fuel duty which would take just £2.25 off the cost of a full tank.

These responses from other countries show that our government can do more to help families and industries survive what the Governor of the Bank of England calls a ‘historic shock’ to our living standards. Households currently face an annual energy bill of £2000 and prices are to rise again in October.

That’s why the TUC is calling for an Emergency Budget: Rishi Sunak must come back and provide a proper package of support for families.

Sign petition to demand action from Rishi SunakRishi Sunak must come back to parliament and present an Emergency Budget. We need a proper package of economic support for families.

Sign petition

Letters: The Big Kitten Con

Dear Editor

With kitten season nearly here, Cats Protection is releasing a documentary highlighting the potentially tragic risks of buying underage kittens online from unscrupulous sellers who put profit before welfare.

The Big Kitten Con, narrated by Caroline Quentin, features traumatic accounts of kittens being sold at less than the legal age for commercial sale, which is eight-weeks, and sadly dying from debilitating illnesses.

Last year, 340,000 of the 500,000 cats that were purchased in the UK were found online on sites like Facebook, Gumtree, Pets 4 Homes and Preloved.

Though many sellers are responsible people, there are unscrupulous individuals who will exploit the anonymity of the internet to sell kittens that have been taken from their mums too young, denying them vital nutrients and social development, while passing them off as healthy, eight-week-old kittens.

As well as giving advice, we are encouraging the public to sign a petition calling on the Government to regulate cat breeding. It has just been introduced in Scotland and we would like to see England, Wales and Northern Ireland follow suit.

We want anyone who breeds two or more litters of kittens in a year to be licensed, which would make them subject to regular inspections.

To watch Cats Protection’s The Big Kitten Con video and to sign Cats Protection’s petition, please visit www.cats.org.uk/kitten-con

Yours faithfully

Madison Rogers,

Acting Head of Advocacy & Government Relations, Cats Protection

P&O Ferries illegal sackings scandal: Sign the Petition!

Sign the petition to call for UK government to stop DP World and P&O Ferries replacing 800 sacked workers with cheaper labour.

What’s the issue?

Last week, 800 workers at P&O Ferries were sacked via Zoom call.

This shameful act is devastating for these workers, their families and communities. Workers must be reinstated immediately – and P&O Ferries must face serious consequences.

This is a national scandal – it can’t ever be allowed to happen again. This must be a turning point for workers’ rights in the UK.

The government can stop this,  but they will not act unless thousands of us speak up. If callous acts like this are allowed at P&O, they can happen anywhere.

We need your help!

Please support P&O workers by signing the petition and make sure no worker can be treated like this again.

Sign petition

Save Our Care Homes: protest lobby at City Chambers tomorrow

UNISON will be holding a static lobby outside the Edinburgh City Chambers tomorrow (Tuesday 17th August) from 9.30am to coincide with the meeting of the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board (EIJB) meeting taking place at 10am.

Although this meeting will not be making a final decision on care home closures, they will be planning to move forward with wider consultation on the issue, with the purpose of coming to a decision at a meeting in September.

It was UNISON’s quick actions that ensured the EIJB did not move forward with the proposed closures at their meeting on 22nd June 2021.

UNISON will be making a deputation to the meeting tomorrow and will be calling for:

  • the saving of our care homes;
  • meaningful engagement with the trade unions;
  • call for proper impact assessments; and
  • the need to have a wide-ranging meaningful public consultation.

UNISON want care homes to remain run by and for the public and not run by private companies for private profit.

If publicly owned and run care homes are not up to standard, then investment in adaptation, or the building of new care homes must be done to ensure that any demand can be met.

Staff in care home must be paid a decent wage, have access to developmental training and feel secure in their employment.

The lobby outside the City Chambers on Tuesday 17th August is only part of the union’s campaign to ‘Save Our Care Homes’ and UNISON plan to build to a bigger event for the September meeting.

You can sign UNISON’s petition here and click here for a link to a ready-made email to your MSP.

The Another Edinburgh is Possible campaign group is also urging the capital’s citizens to support the fight against care home closures:

‘Join the protest rally outside the City Chambers as the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board meets on Tuesday 17th August. It’s likely that the board will hold a special meeting in September to make the decision to close 5 out of the 9 local authority care homes in Edinburgh.

‘We want to build a campaign that is so strong that when that meeting takes place the board has no option but to drop its’ closure plans. Three Edinburgh City Councillors sit on the board. We’ve written to the leaders of all five party groups on the council demanding that their group takes a clear and unambiguous public position in opposition to the closures.’

Forth Ports poured cold water on Wardie Bay wild swimming plans

Following a Freedom of Information request the Scottish Government has released the following submission from Forth Ports:

Wardie Bay was not included on the list of Scotland’s designated bathing waters when it was published on 1st July.

The Wardie Bay Beachwatch environmental group appealed the decision and received the following response from the Scottish Government’s Environmental Quality Unit last month:

Thank you for your letter to Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, about the application for Bathing Waters designation at Wardie Bay, Edinburgh. Bathing Waters fall under the remit of Mairi McAllan, Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform, and I have been asked to reply.

The Bathing Waters Review Panel is multi-stakeholder group, chaired by SEPA, that considers and reviews the list of bathing waters, including new applications for designation and provides recommendations to Scottish Ministers. The Panel met on 8 December 2020 and made recommendations to the Minister for Wardie Bay bathing water designation application in May 2021.

The panel recognised numerous positive aspects of the Wardie Bay application and agreed that user number criteria was met in 2020 and seemed sustainable. However, Forth Ports provided a submission which mentioned swimmer safety in relation to offshore vessel/harbour activity, and this would have to be managed by clear beach management and bather information.

The relevant local authority, City of Edinburgh Council, indicated overall support in principle for the application. However, despite the Transport and Environment committee outcomes you mention in your letter, there are still on-going discussions at Committee level on their current roles and resource to perform beach management functions.

As beach management is a key criteria for designation, until such times as the City of Edinburgh Council concludes its deliberations on these matters, the Panel was unable to recommend designation.

Having considered the Panel’s advice on the circumstances at Wardie Bay, the Minister accepted the Panel’s recommendation that Wardie Bay is not designated as a bathing water at this time, noting that the outcome of the Council’s current deliberations on beach management will inform the Panel’s future recommendation regarding this location.

I hope you find this information helpful.

The group’s petition to have Wardie Bay included on the list of designated bathing waters remains live on Change.org – over 1730 people have signed so far.

Sick Pay for All petition

The TUC is spearheading a #SickPayForAll campaign.

The union body says that as we move into winter, cases of coronavirus are surging rapidly. It adds that no one should be faced with both illness and the fear of being plunged into debt.

The TUC says however that 2 million people do not even qualify for sick pay.

Its petition demands the government scrap the minimum earnings threshold for statutory sick pay, increase the weekly level of sick pay to at least £330 per week, and give employers the resources to afford sick pay for their workers.

The TUC argues that even for those who do qualify, the current payment of £95.85 a week is not enough to pay the bills. Four in 10 workers would be forced into financial hardship.

“At a time of skyrocketing cases, fixing statutory sick pay can prevent the spread of the virus and ensure millions can get paid to quarantine safely at home,” the TUC #SickPayForAll petition notes.

It adds: “No one who self-isolates should worry about putting food on the table. No one should feel forced to go to work instead of recovering from the virus. Everyone has the right to decent sick pay.”

Sign the #SickPayForAll petition. 

See the video featuring TUC safety specialist Shelly Asquith below

Edinburgh residents welcome Tesco CEO with clear message: Stop selling industrial meat and cut ties with forest destroyers

On 4 October, posters appeared on the front window of Tesco on Leith Walk, exposing how Tesco sells industrial meat linked to forest destruction.

The same posters were placed on more than 30 Tesco stores across the UK earlier this month, from Falmouth to Aberdeen. 

The posters were accompanied by a letter from Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven, to make sure that the new Global CEO Ken Murphy gets the message that customers want Tesco to drop forest destroyers from their supply chains and reduce the amount of meat they sell by at least half – starting from phasing out industrial meat.  

Anke Bremer from Tollcross said: “I found it impossible to simply walk past this heartbreaking image of the Amazon burning to clear land for the production of industrial meat. The message to Tesco’s new CEO Ken Murphy couldn’t be clearer. Tesco must drop forest destroyers altogether and stop selling industrial meat.”

This year, the fire season in the Amazon has kicked off with worrying intensity, with the highest number recorded in August since 2007. Many fires which are destroying the Amazon and other forests are started deliberately to clear land to graze cattle or grow soya.

Protecting the Amazon is essential in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, protect the homes of indigenous people and wildlife, and reduce the risk of future pandemics. 

Tesco promised to end its part in deforestation for commodities such as soya by 2020, but in 2018 it quietly changed that goal to 2025 and still has not published a credible plan to show how this will be achieved.

Much of the chicken and pork on its shelves is fed on Brazilian soya, and produced by companies owned by JBS, the world’s biggest meat packing company, which has been repeatedly linked to deforestation in the Amazon, as well as human rights violations.

Tesco has recently made an announcement that it will increase its sales of plant-based food, which shows it is feeling the pressure – but this doesn’t go far enough.

In order to truly tackle its impact on forests, Tesco must reduce its overall meat and dairy footprint and stop doing business with companies owned by Amazon destroyers. 

Natalie Louw continued: “The Amazon may be 5000 miles away, but the products in my local Tesco – the very meat we eat with friends and family – are fuelling rainforest destruction.

“This summer, I started cutting my meat consumption because I can’t in good conscience keep eating food that contributes to forest destruction and to the climate crisis.

“Please join me in eating less meat, and sign our petition to supermarket chains and fast food companies on cutting forest destroyers from their supply chains.’’