Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)
I rise to present a petition on behalf of 68 of my constituents and people living near Slough.
I thank the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for writing to me about the issue before I presented the petition and want to tell the House how important my constituents, and largely those of Zimbabwean origin, believe the petition to be.
The petition states:
The Petition of the supporters of Zimbabweans who love peace, resident in the UK,
Declares that the Petitioners believe that elections held in Zimbabwe this summer were not free, peaceful and fair; further that the Mugabe regime has a long history of manipulating the entire process including pre-election, during voting and post-election and in 2008 Mugabe refused to accept the results in which his party was heavily defeated, he intimidated people, battered and killed MDC supporters before claiming victory; further that the 2013 elections have again been marked with massive irregularities and incomplete participation and there are serious questions about the credibility of the elections due to the number of irregularities both in the run-up to the ballot and on polling day.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons makes the world aware that the 2013 Zimbabwean election results are not credible and are not an expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people; and further requests that the House do all in its power to prevent the country plunging into another era of poverty and human suffering as it did in 2008, we ask for help to see human rights restored and support in the fight for a new Zimbabwe.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.
[P001223]
Mr Speaker
It is heartening to note that the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) has toddled into the Chamber in time by a few moments. We will enable him now to catch his breath, as I call Dr Thérèse Coffey to present her petition.
Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)
The petition requests the replacement of the Blaxhall post box. To give some context, a beautiful Victorian post box was stolen and has not been replaced, despite the fact that it is more than half a mile away from the nearest post box.
The petition states:
The Petition of residents of Blaxhall,
Declares that Royal Mail has declined to replace the stolen post box in the village despite Ofcom’s recent measures to protect rural post boxes from removal.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to support residents of Blaxhall in their request to Royal Mail to replace the post box.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.
[P001227]
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
I wish to present petitions on behalf of residents of the Hawkshead area and of the Coniston area—two separate petitions calling for the same thing, the retention of their two GP surgeries. I present the petitions on behalf of 928 people in the Coniston area and 1,228 people in the Hawkshead area.
The petitioners declare that they believe that the GP surgeries in Hawkshead and Coniston in Cumbria will close unless the Government’s funding formula is changed to support rural practices, and further declare that the petitioners believe that the GP surgeries in Hawkshead and in Coniston are vital to the local community and therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to change their funding formula.
Following is the full text of the petitions:
[The Petition of a resident of the UK,
Declares that the Petitioner believes that the GP Surgery in Coniston, Cumbria will close unless the Government’s funding formula is changed to support rural practices and further declares that the Petitioner believes that the GP Surgery in Coniston is vital to the local community as those in Ambelside and Ulverside are not easily accessible to Coniston residents.
The Petitioner therefore requests that the House of Commons urge the Government to change its funding formula.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.]
[P001229]
[The Petition of a resident of the UK,
Declares that the Petitioner believes that the GP Surgery in Hawkshead, Cumbria will close unless the Government’s funding formula is changed to support rural practices and further declares that the Petitioner believes that the GP Surgery in Hawkshead is vital to the local community.
The Petitioner therefore requests that the House of Commons urge the Government to change its funding formula.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.]
[P001230]