by Ms Susan Corcoran
If you receive Working Tax Credits you are not entitled to claim even though your total household income may be less than this. Parents who work are under much greater expense due to travelling to work etc. and are therefore being financially penalised for working.Anyone on any other benefit can claim as long as their income is under £16040. This injustice needs to be put right.
Ah, the inflated sense of self-entitlement that comes of being a parent in the UK with a poor understanding of why exactly the unemployed actually receive benefits.
Also, that’s an oddly specific amount of money.
by Richard Wood
Many parents put their children through privately funded schools. Whilst this is an independent choice of those involved, by doing so they reduce the burden on the state education system. Therefore this petition aims to allow parents to gain tax relief for their choice by allowing them tax relief on payments made in relation to school fees. Under existing arrangements parents and guardians are currently taxed for services which they do not benefit from.
You don’t benefit from them because you’ve opted not to. And how does asking the government to give you some money back reduce the burden on the educational system? Where do you think your rebate would come from?
by mr james marr
i have been charged, £115 on one month ,then the next month ,i am c £68, where is the fareness,the banks know im on benifits,yet there charge system is over the top,the bank is one you bailed out ,lloyds tsb,i personaly have had to do with out food and heating ,is that fare ,
As you can also see, Mr Marr has also had to cancel the English lessons he so sorely needs. Not to mention a new keyboard.
by Edward Manning
For those with special needs should be able to have free access into all attractions and places to visit so that it helps them with their budgeting, helps them be more active and they have a more enjoyable life and know that there are places out there for them to enjoy without any fee.
All the government need to do is see if this would be a possible thing with all the attractions/companies and places we visit and say it is for the benefit of those with special needs. Also to think, the government could also look at those with special needs having a card/pass that entitles them free access.
This I believe would also help those with special needs living independently manage their money and have more freedom!
If this could ever be considered as a new rule for those who suffer with special needs, this would be a great thing for those and help them so much with money management.
Possibly, in one of his endless and near-identical petitions he has mentioned it, but I don’t off-hand remember whether Edward Manning has a dependent with special needs or if he himself has special needs (although the quality of his prose is not entirely silent on the issue). But the point is that he appears to spend a worrying amount of his time petitioning the government for such people to be given almost everything for free which other people have to pay for. His other petitions argue against ATM service charges, demand cheaper food and taxis, or ask for cash prizes for quitting smoking.
We have now featured eight of Mr Manning’s petitions on this website, and seven of those have been nothing more than him trying to wrangle free stuff out of Gordon Brown. Three of these have illogically played the ’special needs’ card.
If you’re reading this, Edward Manning, allow me to clarify: you are not entitled to free stuff.
by ian miller (rejected)
By submitting a petition, do the creators know that they may be influencing or even creating government policy?
The government are using this system to boost the policy units ideas, no doubt as they are bereft of many themselves.
Its an excellent idea, getting people involved, however, its also using them on the cheap.
How much does the goverment pay its policy devisers, its special advisers and closest confidants?
Lots of our taxpayers money, lots and lots indeed.
So, pay us, the real policy creators, for the decent petitions we write, as we are the thinkers and do the work, too.
don’t you think that’s fair, or is this country not fair?
And wear a tie, dammit.
by Mr S Miller
I am disabled, get £90 per week in benefits, yet because I do not get income support, I have to pay for prescriptions, at £7.20 per go. If I get 2 in a week, that is nearly 1/3 of my total money per week. Some, not all retired have savings in excess of 100s of thousands of pounds, and ex beatles and Rolling Stones members are entitled to free prescriptions purely because they are over 65, yet are very wealthy, some reputed in excess of 100s of millions. So I plead to decency to make ALL benefits means tested, its illogical and unfair for people with millions to claim free charges, whilst some with little have to pay. For a fairer society this MUST happen
I love the assumption that because the surviving members of the Beatles and the Stones are old enough to get free prescriptions then logically they must be doing so.
by Gabriella Alberti
to be honest i dont think it is fair for people that have families that earn over £30,000 cant recieve ema for there children, if people are paid for going to college i still think everyone should by the goverment
Listen, people: If you’re going to write a petition to the Prime Minister that is in some way connected to the educational system, for the love of God, The Devil, and Bob could you at least get the spelling and grammar right in your ridiculous, overinflated-sense-of-self-entitlement requests? If not for me, then for yourselves?
by Angela Cameron
Instead of handing over money directly to the banks, pay into each taxpayers rent, mortgage or savings account an equal amount of money.. the money will encourage joe public to spend, will still aid the banks & will kick start the economy! win.. win.. win!
No it won’t. They tried the same thing over here in the US last year and it didn’t work.
by MISS AMANDA WATERSON
the goverment want young people to go to work when leaving school the people who cant afford to go to uni or other extra education who want to do the right thing an support themselves get no help as we dont qualify for anything if you are single work full time for minimum wage what can you do you dont qualify for any benefits or council properties to rent unless you wait between 10 and 20 years . the only thing you qualify for is 25%off your council tax its hard to look for further education because if you work full time you are restricted to times and if you finish work at 6 you cant get to collage by 6.30 on public transport so most courses are unavailiable and you have to pay to do them anyway ,so if your struggleing to live on minimum wage how do you pay there needs to be support for people who want to work and help themselves otherwise if they dont know what to do they take the easy way and get others to pay.
Your appalling spelling aside (and I hope one of the classes you’re taking in College is English because, frankly, what the Hell), you do realise you contradict yourself in this petition, right? You say single people don’t qualify for any concessions and then, one run on sentence later, state that they get 25% off of their Council Tax. 25%? That’s almost a quarter!
by Evangeline Bircham
I have gone into further educaion but do not recieve EMA as my parents earn above the limit to recieve it. Many students that go to the 6th form that i am studying at, also do not recieve EMA, we all think that people who choose to study in further education believe that we should recieve some money as EMA (£15 – £20) This would help most of the students as it is very hard to find jobs with the current recession that is taking place.
Ah, the self-entitlement that comes with being a student coupled with the self-entitlement that comes with being British. What a potent combination.
by david mashiter
as a bus company we only recieve a percentage for the now card(old age pensioner free travel cards) at the moment its about 50p in the pound so because of this we are losing out other councils still get the same money even if they only get 100 visitors or 7 million a year which is unfair so because of this the bus company may have to lose up to 80 jobs the goverment therefore need to allow more funding as to size of issuing town and as per visitor
Two problems here. Firstly, “50p in the pound” is 50% of all total earnings, which is not too shabby if you ask me. Secondly, you’re supposedly representing “the bus company”, whichever one that may be, and you can’t even be arsed to use proper grammar and punctuation in your petition? A petition that ideally you’d like the Prime Minister to read and perhaps do something about? Do you not see what is wrong with that?
The first person to spot all of the flaws in this sterling plan wins a smug sense of self-satisfaction.
by Eamond Mohammed
A better way would be for the government to give every British citizen a good c are service would be a card to use as a pay and go system to pay for there hospital treatment that way people would receive a good standard of service and therefore would be seen and dealt with by consultants and doctors nurses e.t.c… quicker!
For those whom have problems they get extra put onto there cards and if not used the government cant take back that credit of say for example £5,000 person per year. And an extra £1,000 to help for every problem you may have like Diabetics, Cancer, Asthma e.t.c!
Yet if you need more money its down to yourself and family to find the remaining and that’s the way the government should go forward with medical care for the country.
So for example somebody of the age of 18 may not need to use there card for 10 years that means by then they would have accrued £50,000 on there card and may need to use it later on in life.
But all under 18’s are free of charge like the NHS is at the moment this would then be fare to all.
by master christopher norton
students are low on money and paper rounds are low so i think students 13 and over should get E.M.A
Aww, bless him.
by Mr Toby Ratcliffe
Statistics say that women are better drivers as they are more careful and more considerate drivers than men. In the not so distant past men and women have fought for equality between the sexes and races, and now car insurance companies are hiding behind their statistics that are seen to be sexist in the eyes of equality protesters. All everybody wants is to be equal between each other and no company or corporation should be able to hide behind any statistics that judge you on your gender or what colour your skin is, and so this is why I believe that insurance companies should create equal costs for car insurance for men and women.
I’m a 23 year-old male. You know how expensive car insurance is for me? It’s not cheap, I’ll tell you that much. That’s the nature of car insurance – the young pay more than the old, the men pay more than the women. If you’re in a demographic which is statistically more likely to get in an accident then, well, you’re going to pay more for your insurance. Stop your whining, and stop trying to force sexism in a place where it doesn’t belong.
by Clare Walker
I propose that the government starts treating hard working citizens of this country with more respect and giving them better benefits. It is not right that in this day and age you are better off on benefits than out working. I work full time only to be taxed and for my taxes to go and pay people who choose not to work. I am not against people getting benefits who cant work for whatever reason but there are too many families on benefits whose lives are made to easy for them by this government by providing them with grants, free products etc where people who are working are basically thrown to the wayside as we just seem to be a means of extra income for our government
And this petition was, of course, rejected for not actually requesting any action. Oh wait, no, sorry. My mistake. It was approved. What…?
by Miss Jade Wilcox
I feel everyone should get EMA, as we are all in education and trying to make something of our lives and we need money to supply things such as travel fayres and coursebooks. I do not think it’s fair also that those on jobseekers allowance that are not getting out there and actually searching for jobs are earning around £100 every two weeks which is what i earn in 5 (I am on £20 a week EMA). I feel EMA should be increased to the same amount as job seekers over the two weeks and everyone in full time education should receive this and not at subsidised amounts depending on what parents earn. It’s not parents that go to college is it? It’s us young people who need to buy our own equipment and travel fayres. I just feel that people when they actually get jobseekers allowance spend it on alcohol and not things which they actually need anyway and taxpayers such as my parents are benefitting their drinking fund with money that could go on my education. I do hope you take note of this petition as young people never really get a say and the chance to show how they feel.
Congratulations for completely failing to understand how EMA works, what it’s for, and what you as a young person should be expecting from the government. I’m trying to work out whether you should spend more time in College or whether it’s simply a waste of time for you.
by Katie Claire Braham
My perants earn more than £30,000 per year but still can not afford to give me £30 per week. They can not afford for my sister to go on all of the trip she is offard to go on which her friend who rescive £3o a week can afford to go on. I therefore think that the bracket should be extended. Your support for this issue would be apprciated and would benifit many people if this was changed. I think ema discriminates against against the middle people whose perants earn to much to get ema but not enough to be able to aford to give there children £30 a week.
Except you won’t earn any EMA because you clearly aren’t attending any classes. Also: I love the logical leap from the kind, friendly “Please help me out” to “I think ema discriminates against against the middle people!” Who are “middle people”, I wonder? Hobbits, perhaps?
by mrs kim furneaux
stop taking income tax on overtime worked. we work overtime to earn extra money to live and pay our bills and for the extra things we need and the government has the cheek to tax that as well, so we are still no better off why don’t you have done with it and just take the lot!
Income Tax, in case you are unfamiliar with the concept, is Tax on your Income. When you work overtime, you earn more income, and therefore you are taxed upon it. This is not a difficult concept.
by Mr James Wand
We believe (PDCP) that the government should assist families with children and working class people as they dont recieve help but are not naturally rich.
“Dear Government. I have a family and a job. Please give me free money. Yours sincerely, A. Sponger.”
by Mr Alan Taylor
Stop borrowing money and building up the National Debt. Money is bits of paper coming off a printing press. Let the presses run for a few extra hours producing Real New Money. Use this money on all sorts of national and local projects and for gradually buying in the National Debt for a start. Inflationary? The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Chairman of the Bank of England must have powers between them to prevent this. This measure will help overcome the recession. You and your advisers have brains enough to make this work.
Alan clearly doesn’t know how an economy works. But then again nor does anyone else.
by Mr Ian Longstaff
Please find below my suggestion for fixing Britain’s economy. Instead of giving billions of pounds to banks that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:
There are about 20 million people over 50 in the work force. – Pay them £1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Twenty million job openings – Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new British CAR. Twenty million cars ordered – Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage – Housing Crisis fixed.
4) They must send their kids to school / college /university – Crime rate fixed
5) Buy £50 of alcohol / tobacco a week there’s your money back in duty / tax etc
P.S. If more money is needed, have all members of parliament pay back there falsely claimed expenses and second home allowances
Ignoring the crushing financial blow of the Government giving away £20,000,000,000,000, let’s address each point individually:
- Workforce shortage, plus a potential shortage of people who may be qualified to perform the tasks previously performed by the over-50s – British companies come grinding to a halt.
- There aren’t 20 million cars currently in existence. They would have to be manufactured first. 20 million cars cannot be pulled out of thin air, especially when there are precious few car factories within the UK. In order to meet the quota, current factories have to divert all attention to the new cars. Sales of other cars are crippled because demand cannot meet supply. – Auto industry even more screwed.
- Not everyone who owns a house is over 50 years old. – Housing Crisis only patched temporarily.
- It is naive to think that just giving kids an education will “fix” the Crime Rate. I went to school with plenty of people who have become criminals of varying degrees. – Crime Rate remains unchanged.
- People over 50 wind up becoming dependent on alcohol and tobacco, costing the NHS even more money when they inevitably die, become seriously ill, or try to overcome their addiction.
Honestly, this is probably the single worst idea I have ever seen anyone petition the Prime Minister with. It’s a disaster across the board.
by Tom
Smoking has become too much of a plague, it forces babies to die before they are born and causes lung cancer for innocent passers-by. It is time we did something about this. My dad always told me “If we banned smoking, there would be more crime” but hasn’t already happened with illegal (pardon my spelling) drugs? Stop the manufacture and when the supply runs dry, ban smoking, crime goes up a little, smoking related deaths go down a lot! Cigerettes are worse than cocaine, as they harm people around you as well as you.
It’s never going to happen. You’ve wasted your time writing this petition.
by Malcolm Paul of Private
Throughout the UK, there are too many dogs owned by too many irresponsible people. By re-introducing an annual dog licence that costs an amount per dog that is enough to put these people off, dog problems (mess, barking, attacks etc) will be reduced.
When you say “irresponsible people” I’m sure you mean “poor people, who are all stupid.”
by Andrew Hope
For example, if the predicted billions being given to banks to prop them up were diverted and given to private homes, and commercial/industrial premises as grants for insulation and micro generation (photovoltaic, solar water heating, ground source heat pump, air source heat pump, wind turbines, hydrogen generators, rain water collection, grey water recycling etc) as appropriate. This would make all properties carbon negative, producing more electricity and hydrogen gas than they need, and contributing to national grids for energy, and fuelling transport. With all these properties generating surplus power there would be no need for new nuclear PowerStation’s, freeing further billions of pounds for coastal protection against sea level rise, protecting millions of acres of housing, industry and agriculture. Defences like the Severn Barrage could also generate power. All this would create new industries making, installing and maintaining these systems, eliminating unemployment.
An interesting idea, if totally unrealistic and ungrounded in reality. Also, I find myself wondering if Andrew Hope is the main character in a bizarre geek-parody of “Crank”, in which he has to keep himself alive by constantly typing as much as possible. If he stops typing, he dies. Exciting stuff.
by Teresa Cooper of No2abuse
Make it protocol that all social workers working with children and families undergo a mental health assesement at regular intervals by independent psychiatrists – ones that are not used in cases against families.
Due to the growing pressures and demands of the job and problems faced, mistakes are made and families suffer due to authoritive incompetence. A mental health assesment of all social workers will ensure public confidence and avoid future mistakes by social workers mental health which to date is unquestioned.
The mental health screening and background checks including medical files of social workers should be made compulsory when working families and children.
Nurses also work with children. So do ice-cream van drivers. And Lollypop Ladies. And Early Learning Centre employees. And Nannies. And Build-A-Bear Workshop staff. And Punch & Judy Show performers. And people in costumes at theme parks. Would you like all of these people mentally assessed as well, just to be on the safe side?
I think people should be more specific in their petitions.
by Michael John Smith of citizen (rejected)
the abuse by Local authorities of Health & Safty Law concerning Falling over of Gravestones as It is being Enforced too heavy handedly thus causing many Bereaved people agreat deal of stress.
That said, I don’t think people should be
this specific:
by Jane banks (rejected)
More details cannot be shown
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s already illegal. Also, we’re bound by Petition Lore to rename you The People’s Jane.
And now, some other fun petitions from the recent batch:
by Barrie Skinnard (rejected)
The recession could be easily solved by giving all UK families one million pound sterling, this would boost the economy as the money would be spent in shops & saved in banks. This would mean a total investment by the government of approximately £40 million pounds with the current UK population of some 67 million people. The government has already thrown several billion pounds of tax payers money into the banking system yet banks are still failing to financially boost the economy with business’s going bust & repossessions at a all time high. With this proposal people would once again be able to pay their mortgages, there would be nobody on benefits as they would be over the threshold! There would be hardly any need for any social housing! The overall cost to the government would be considerably and progressively less as time went on; thus making Britain great again!!
This petition was rejected because:
Your figures are not accurate.
I assume this is referring to the idea that £1,000,000 × 67,000,000 ÷ (average family size) = £40,000,000. This is an unfair slander against Barrie Skinnard, who of course knows full well that the average family size is 1,675,000. This is why East Enders is so hard to follow these days. And also the origin of the name of new sitcom ‘One Million, Six Hundred And Seventy Four Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety Eight Children’. Hm.
Maybe his figures are wrong. I just wish the Government had made that response in the form of a lolcat.
by Jackie Carter (petitioner “savethelocalpub)
Tesco have already purchased a number of closed public houses which they intend to re-open as tesco stores selling more cheap alcohol. As the premises are already licensed to sell food and alcohol they do not need to apply for a change of use!! This has to be stopped NOW!! The pub trade is already under threat of becoming non existant, with thousands being thrown out of work.Enough is enough!!
So Tesco taking pubs that have already closed down and reopening them, which would create jobs, is somehow a bad thing?
by Stuart Addis
If you give UK born residents, over the age of 18, £100,000 each, the Billions of pounds will have to be deposited into bank accounts thus improving the banks ability to lend, allowing the public to spend with new cash and regenerate the enconomy. This will get the money flowing far better than having to meet bank criteria to borrow ‘the public money’ that they have been given – come on Gordon help the Public for real.
If the Government gave everybody £100,000, why would anyone need to take a loan? Oh, also the Government would be bankrupt. Good jorb!
Also:
by Victoria Ray
I believe it is time for the current government to start fulfilling the role for which they are employed and start acting in the interest of the British people as a whole.Continuing to throw good money after bad cannot possibly lead to a resolution to the economic problems that our country is facing. The deregulation of the banking system for which we have the previous government to thank was criminal enough, however I doubt that the consequences would have been so dire had our current government pulled the reins in at an earlier time. Having no manufacturing industry to speak of this country has depended to the expense of all else on the high economic activity that the finance sector has provided, this has now ground to a halt leaving Britain with very little. The German government have given money to the people rather than banks with incentives to purchase new cars, however our government will not give money to the British public for fear they might save it, their plan involves handing astronomical figures to the very people who we know are thieves and confidence tricksters. Place the money into the hands of the British people to whom it belongs before we go into complete meltdown.
Why does everybody think that the Government owes them a hojillion pounds now?
by Darren Hubbard
Tony Blair suffered from the lowest public approval rating of any British Prime Minister in history. By the new policy of obeying the “court of public opinion” (ref: Harriet Harman, 1/3/2009) surely the right and moral thing to do is to claw back the majority of this former-PM’s pension?
This is, of course, the logical conclusion.