After an overwhelming response from 38 Degrees members asking for the campaign to protect the NHS to continue, hundreds of thousands have signed the petition, and people all over the country are writing to their MPs to ask them to save the NHS.

Over the past month, 38 Degrees members across the country have been handing in the 250,000 strong Save our NHS petition to MPs on the scrutiny committee for the NHS Health Reform Bill – the committee which has been examining the government’s NHS plans.

If you haven’t already, you can sign the petition here

Across the country 38 Degrees members wanted to show their MPs that they really do care about the NHS in their MP’s local constituency surgery or coffee morning by handing in the petition. Now, people are writing to ask their MP’s what they think about the proposed changes to the NHS. If you want to send a letter to your local MP to see if they are supporting the Bill, you can use our Tell your MP to Protect the NHS here.

Photograph by 38 Degrees

NHS petition hand-in, Islington

Photograph by 38 Degrees

Petition hand-in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich

Photograph by 38 Degrees

NHS petition hand-in Rother Valley

Photograph by 38 Degrees

NHS petition hand-in North Warwickshire

Photograph by 38 Degrees

NHS petition hand-in Halton

In Winchester on Friday the 18th March 38 Degrees member Kate reported the following:

“A group of some 20 Winchester citizens, 8 of whom were either current or retired NHS employees (some at very senior level) crowded into the Conservative Constituency office on Friday last, to drop off the 38 Degrees national petition, with 200,000 signatures supporting the NHS against back- door privatisation. In the passionate but polite discussion that followed the point was made that where such major upheavals were proposed in the structure of huge and complex organisation, any prudent manager would run a pilot study, limited by area, rather than commit to a root and branch reorganisation, on an untested blueprint. It was pointed out that we are facing the virtual dis-memberment of a national organisation and that this fragmentation will be irreversible.”

Pam in Stourbridge states that her reasons to support the local hand in:
“For me, health is not a commodity, it’s a privilege. The NHS has always been there for me and my family, in sickness and in health, whenever I’ve needed it. Whether it’s for treatment that’s been planned carefully or for emergencies like when my mum had a heart attack, it’s been able to cope. These plans remind me of the USA’s health system; for many of their citizens reliable healthcare doesn’t exist.”

The hand in for Stafford was arranged by David who thinks:
“Doctors have enough work to do without having to run a county wide admin body. there are many implications which would indicate inefficiency from finance to staffing.” due to the indication that plans are “to take all hospitals over to foundation status, then get doctors to form admin/steering groups that control a budget who will select companies to tender for contracts to run services.”

Southport had a petition hand-in organised by Lynn, who said “The NHS is our ‘jewel in the crown’ and too precious to leave to market forces, where clinical decision making is directed by financial considerations. I believe that this will ultimately lead to the destruction of the NHS as we know it. I hope that by handing in the petition of over 150,000 signatures, Dr Pugh takes on board the concerns of his constituents, and we can inspire more individuals to fight to have the Bill removed.“

15 hand-ins took place all over the UK which you can find on this map:
View Save Our NHS – petition hand-ins in a larger map

There have also been loads of local media reports as well which you can find here:

• http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/8939233.NHS_campaigners_lobby_Winchester_MP/
• http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/news/8941956.NHS_reform_fight_arrives_on_Stourbridge_MP_s_doorstep/?ref=rss
• http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/system/zine/2011/03/23/1069/nottssos_newsletter_4_march_april_2011_final.pdf
• http://www.runcornandwidnesweeklynews.co.uk/runcorn-widnes-news/runcorn-widnes-local-news/2011/03/31/campaigners-from-38-degrees-hand-200-000-signatures-to-halton-mp-derek-twigg-55368-28430339/
• http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/southport-news/southport-southport-news/2011/03/18/nhs-rebel-mp-pugh-to-receive-150-000-petition-against-reform-bill-101022-28356052/
• http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/local/nhs_protests_attract_massive_support_1_3257660
• http://defendournhsyork.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/presenting-the-38-degrees-petition/

And we’ve got a few pictures from some of the hand-ins sent in by 38 Degrees members on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38degrees/sets/72157626349456348/

A big thank you and well done to all of the 38 Degrees members that got involved in the local hand-ins.

Just when we thought that Murdoch had the deal in the bag, his media empire has confessed to hacking the phones of various celebrities and politicians.  [1]

The media outcry around the phone hacking scandal has given us the chance to step up our campaign to try and limit Murdoch’s empire by putting together an emergency petition with Avaaz. We demand that the government calls a full inquiry into the phone hacking, and halts the BSkyB takeover process until all the facts have been established.

If you don’t want Murdoch to get away with it, sign the petition now:

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/stop-murdoch

38 Degrees have already handed in 60,000 messages to Ofcom asking them to put the BskyB bid in front of the Competition Commission, back in November.  Last Christmas we put together an Emergency Petition to let the government know that Jeremy Hunt is not the right person to judge the BskyB deal.

Right now, we have a chance to make our voices heard and demand that the government make a full inquiry into the phone hacking scandal and put on hold the BskyB takeover that Murdoch is chasing.

Please add your name and build the pressure for Murdoch to be reined in:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/stop-murdoch

The petition will be handed in this Friday, in full view of the media to the High Court in London.

Photograph by World Economic Forum

[1] News Of The World statement: http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/notw/public/nol_public_news/1266448/News-International-statement-News-of-the-World-says-sorry.html

For more information on the phone hacking scandal:

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/apr/11/rebekah-brooks-phone-hacking

[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13034848

[3] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/rebekah-brooks-backtracks-on-admission-about-police-payments-2266448.html

[4] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8444890/I-know-nothing-about-payments-to-police-says-News-International-chief-executive-Rebekah-Brooks.html

Brilliant news! After many months of campaigning by tens of thousands of 38 Degrees members, the Independent on Sunday and our friends at Anti-Slavery International, the government has said it’s going to sign up to the EU Directive on Human Trafficking.

On the 19th March, we went along to 10 Downing Street with Anti-slavery International and the Independent on Sunday to hand in a petition of over 45,000 signatures.  The petition was handed in by Oxana, who is a survivor of human trafficking from the Ukraine to the UK.

We were asking the government to sign up to the new EU Directive on Human Trafficking, so that there is more co-operation across Europe to protect victims of human trafficking. And it worked, the government has agreed to the Directive.

When we first heard that the government was refusing to take action on trafficking, we teamed up with specialist groups Anti-Slavery International and ECPAT.  Nearly 50,000 of us signed the petition and thousands of us emailed our MPs to make sure the government took action on this issue.

Now, the victims of trafficking will have better protection provided by the EU Directive, with countries across Europe working together to target the criminal gangs and traffickers that are exploiting people. This decision is important, but won’t stop human trafficking altogether. It is a big step in the right direction towards justice and protection for victims of human trafficking.

You can find out more about the campaign on Anti-Slavery International’s website here.

Click here to find out more about Human Trafficking.

Photograph by 38 Degrees

Here are a few photos from the hand-in:

Photograph by 38 Degrees

Photograph by 38 Degrees

Photograph by Bruno D Rodrigues

David Cameron is on the brink of breaking his climate change promises. He’s under pressure from the Treasury to block bold new emissions targets that have been recommended by the government’s own climate change experts. We can’t let this happen. We need to tell him that we want him to keep his promise to lead “the greenest government ever.” Email David Cameron from this link: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/action-on-climate-change

Here’s the text of an email we just sent out about this issue:

Dear friend,

David Cameron has always promised to tackle climate change, but it looks like he might be on the brink of ditching that promise. We need to move fast to stop that happening.

Government climate change experts are recommending bold but realistic new targets. But hardliners in the Treasury are trying to block their progress. [1] It’s being reported that the government is “deeply divided” on what to do next. [2] If we act now, we can make sure the decision goes the right way.

The next two weeks are vital. If Cameron and Clegg are hearing from thousands of us, they’ll know that breaking their promises on climate change would mean uproar.

Click here send a message to David Cameron and Nick Clegg: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/action-on-climate-change

Last year Cameron promised to tackle climate change, saying he wanted to lead “the greenest government ever”. [3] It would be a disaster if this promise was broken. If we water down our targets, we won’t bring down emissions fast enough to stop dangerous climate change. And if we’re watering down our own targets, how can we ever hope to persuade the rest of the world to take action?

It was people power that pushed the last government to agree to set targets to tackle climate change in the first place. [4] It was people power that pushed Cameron and Clegg to promise to make climate change a priority. Now people power can persuade Cameron and Clegg to keep their climate promise.

Email Cameron and Clegg now telling them to accept the expert advice:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/action-on-climate-change

38 Degrees members have a great history of pushing the government to do better on the environment. Back in 2009, thousands of us phoned the then Climate Minister Ed Miliband just before he left for international climate talks. Last month, half a million of us helped stop government plans to sell off our forests. Just two weeks ago, tens of thousands of us voted to keep climate change a priority campaign for 38 Degrees. So now, let’s keep up the pressure and make sure Clegg and Cameron know they can’t water down our climate targets.

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/action-on-climate-change

Thanks for getting involved,

Johnny, Hannah, David and the 38 Degrees team

Notes:
[1] The really important recommendations are
- A domestic action fourth carbon budget of 1950 MtCO2e
- An indicative 2030 target to reduce emissions by 60% relative to 1990 levels (46% relative to 2009 levels)
- An adjustment of the second and third budgets to reflect the level of ambition in the intended budget for the non-traded sector, giving an economy-wide reduction of 37% in 2020 relative to 1990.
The full report can be seen here: http://www.theccc.org.uk/reports/fourth-carbon-budget

[2] The Guardian reports: “The news comes ahead of a crucial cabinet discussion of the UK’s climate change targets beyond 2020. There are still deep divisions between the Department of Energy and Climate Change, which is calling for tough targets to stimulate green growth, and the Treasury and the Department of Business, which argue that the current economic situation calls for less stringent targets in 10 years’ time.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/29/uk-global-green-investment-rankings

[3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/14/cameron-wants-greenest-government-ever

[4] http://www.foe.co.uk/news/climate_law_world_first_16014.html

Update: Thousands of us have written to our MPs. You can share what your MP replied, and see what other 38 Degrees members have recieved back from their MPs here: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/nhs-what-your-mp-said

We’ve just sent out an email about Andrew Lansley’s damaging plans for the NHS. David Cameron & Nick Clegg are having crunch meetings soon to discuss the future of our health service. We have to act now: if we all tell our MPs that we demand a rethink of the plans, it will send a powerful message to Lansley, Cameron and Clegg. Can you add your voice? Use this link to write to your MP: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/NHS-email-MP

When you get a reply from your MP, please upload it here: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/nhs-what-your-mp-said. You can also view responses from other 38 Degrees members’ MPs.

Here’s the text of the email we just sent out:

Dear friend,

Is it starting to work? Yesterday’s Times newspaper reported that Cameron and Clegg are starting to worry about the huge public opposition to the NHS plans. It’s a clear sign that public pressure can save the NHS.

The Times said that David Cameron and Nick Clegg will sit down “in the next week or two” to “plan the way ahead”. [1] That means the future of the NHS is on a knife edge. They could decide to carry on forcing the changes through. Or they could decide to stop. We need to increase our pressure now, before these critical meetings.

If MPs receive a flood of emails ahead of the crunch meetings, it could tip the balance and persuade the government to back off. Can you email your MP now?

Take two minutes to tell your MP to take our message to Cameron and Clegg: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/NHS-email-MP

We need Clegg and Cameron to be hearing from hundreds of MPs all giving them the same message: “my voters don’t want these changes to the NHS”. They’ll be left in no doubt about how many of us don’t want the plans to go ahead.

250,000 of us have already signed the save the NHS petition. We know that we’re getting people’s attention. But now we need to make sure that every MP sees just how many of their own voters are against these dangerous plans for the NHS.

Tell your MP we don’t want the government to ruin the NHS: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/NHS-email-MP

So many different groups are worried about Andrew Lansley’s plans for the NHS. Doctors, nurses, patient groups, health charities, academics, unions, and even a growing number of Lib Dem and Conservative politicians. Now we need to tell every MP that it’s time for the government to start listening.

We know that shining a spotlight on MPs can transform things. When thousands of us emailed our MPs about the forests sell-off vote, their support for the plan started to melt away. Just last week, we heard that the government had changed its mind about protecting victims of human trafficking, after thousands of 38 Degrees members got their MPs to raise their concerns. Now, let’s do the same for the NHS by emailing our MPs ahead of this key meeting.

Turn up the heat on your MP, send them an email and ask them to take our message to Cameron and Clegg: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/NHS-email-MP

Thanks for being involved,
Johnny, Hannah, David and the 38 Degrees team

PS: Over the last couple of weeks, local 38 Degrees members delivered copies of our petition – nearly a quarter of a million strong – to key MPs on the health committee. But now we need to make sure every MP hears our message and passes it on to Cameron and Clegg. So please email yours now: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/NHS-email-MP

NOTES:
[1] You can read about the Times article here: http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/03/lansley-reforms-nhs-cameron. The article itself is behind the Times paywall, here: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/health/news/article2967342.ece