Fourteen UK petitions to No.10, serious to curious

[grahamg]

Fourteen petitions taken from the No.10 Downing Street website, out of eight hundred and fifty posted there over the last three months. From serious ones any of us might sign to ones which show that someone there still has a sense of humour (the more outlandish ones make you wonder what those not gaining approval must have been like). ATB, Graham

Petition No.1
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to introduce legislation granting legal rights to grandparents.

 http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/grandparents/
Grandparents play a substantial and vital role in the care of children, providing 60% of childcare, but their role is not recognised in law. A grandparent may have provided daycare for the children 5 days a week, but have no right to apply for contact in the event parents separate or die. We propose an amendment to the Children Act granting the automatic right for grandparents to apply to the court for Contact or Residence Orders. Grandparents should automatically be granted Parental Responsibility in the event of the death of the holder(s) of parental responsibility.We ask for the automatic right to involvement in care and adoption proceedings and the automatic right to apply. We ask that the Adoption and Children Act 2002 be amended to include grandparents alongside parents and guardians. These measures recognise the role and importance of grandparents while adhering to the principle that the child's welfare is of paramount importance.

Petition No.2

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Stop the misuse of the Family Court rulings in relation to Court Orders for non-resident parents

 http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/RP-NRPMISUSE/
Misuse of family court orders: This is in relation to Family Court Rulings that when a Resident Parent stop the Non- Resident Parent from seeing their children. It is about time the Family Court started looking at the misuse of their rulings by Resident Parents and Family Court Solicitors for breaking these conditions and advising the Resident Parent that they will never be Jailed, Fined or whatever. It is time that the family court becomes an equilateral party in the lives of families suffering in this way and started treating non resident parents the same as resident parents

Petition N.3

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop absent fathers ruining childrens lives.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/absent-dads/
If an unmarried couple part prior to the birth of a child due to a fear of harm or abuse and the father takes no interest in the child, we need to protect that child from future harm, current law allows a "father" to walk into a child life any time upto it's 16th birthday, this is detroying children and mothers lives, we need to make a stand to protect our children and grandchildren. I am asking the government to re look at the childrens act and take more interest in the effects on the caring parent and child. mothers are being threatend by the courts with seperation from there children and even imprisonment if they stand in the way of contact, even if the absent dad has taken no interest in the child until the day he went to court. the child on the other hand has no rights of contact with an absent father. I am looking for a change in the law . please help me

Petition No.4

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to pass a law to enforce absent parents to pay maintenance.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/law4maintenance/

It 'IS' against the law to not pay maintenance, yet there is no law in place to make parents pay...This is a contradiction in terms and this needs dealing with, with immediate effect to ensure that 'children' receive maintenance in order for them to not fall into the poverty trap hence enabling single parents to return to work. This is the sort of enforement this country needs to 'GET TOUGH WITH ABSENT PARENTS' by NOT allowing huge debts to accumulate and spiral out of control....these children need this money NOW not when they are in there 20's.

Petition No.5

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure that all absent fathers are made to pay towards their childrens upkeep and the c.s.a should not hold a womans second husband accountable for someone else's children.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/absentfathers/
the c.s.a should not discriminate against self employed absent fathers by letting them get away without paying TOWARDS (not FOR) their childrens upbringing. Remember the mother still pays more in the longrun, we only ask for HELP. My son has been refused the £30 weekly payment whilst at college because his step-father earns over £30,000-even though his birth father pays us nothing. Why do they assume the 'new' partner takes 100% financial responsibility. are we being penalised because my 2nd husband happens to earn well at the moment, even though he hes provided us all with a larger house to accomodate my children from a previous marriage. does the fact that i found happiness with another man mean my children dont deserve anything from their real father? had I still been alone would they have made more effort to force him to pay because then i would have help from the state towards my income.this is not acceptable. absent .fathers need to live up to their responsibilities

Petition No.6

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure that when a claim for Child Maintenance is made,that all the children in the household are mentioned on the forms
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/parenting/
The parent with care does not always put all the children down on their forms when dealing with the CSA. Therefore some fathers are getting away scot free while the rest of us get fleeced! The Child Support Agency or it's new title must ensure that all information is on file to ensure fairness to the Non Resident Parent.

Petition No.7

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to close the Csa.Let the non resident parent decide what they can pay
 http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/dictator/
I beleive it should be up to the individal on how much they wish to contribute to the up bring of thier own child.Not to be forced to pay what you cannot afford or what a third party decides. Your Child Your Responsibility!..

Petition No.8

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Scrap the Child Maintenance and other payments bill and return the subject to the Courts.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/abolishcsac-mec/
To support and improve families the Bill to be scrapped. Power to be given back to the family law courts and away from the CSA. If you did that, then you would be promoting family life and happier society. If you chase nrps for load of money all you will get will be lots of unhappy people and disenfranchised absent from their children nomadic men. In the first instance it should be up to families to sort their own issues out, if not then the court, not government promoting family breakdown.

Petition No.9

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Change the law to ensure it is the norm for there to be joint custody when parents divorce/separate.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Family-equality/
At present the law favours women in terms of custody of children, taking it as the norm that children remain with the mother. I feel this breaches human rights and equal opportunity laws discriminating against the rights of children and men. In many European countries the norm is joint custody by law. If the UK law were reversed and men were the beneficiaries then I am certain womens' lobbists would decry this as sexual discrimination. We are often told Fathers are equal parents when referrring to financial responsibilities but this is also the case in terms of emotional development for children. As such they deserve equal footing with mothers. Men and women are supposed to be treated with equality for employment, education and criminal law and women's rights are protected by UK, European and Interantional law as well as a host of campaigners. Should not family law then provide for the same equal treatment regardless of gender?

Petition No.10

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Give fathers an equal chance to be awarded custody of children in event of divorce
 http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/custody4fathers/
At the moment, when a marriage breaks down, if the couple have children, the law states that, "Officially", the custody is chosen on the basis of each individual case. However, a disproportionate number of women are given sole custody, depriving thousands of loving fathers of seeing their children. The law should be enforced properly, so that the courts are not biased towards the mother in these cases.

Petition No.11

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to End the secrecy of the family courts
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/secrecyfamily/
Many cases brought before the family courts involve domestic violence and other crimes against women and children. Some perpetrators use child contact cases to continue abuse of these people without fear of conviction or exposure in public. They can do this because victims are made to remain silent about their cases for fear of losing custody of their children. This should not be allowed to continue. If secrecy of family courts were ended, the continuing abuse of victims would be reduced.

Petition No.12

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to reinstate the fault clause and care, custody and control of children in divorce law
 http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/fairdivorcelaw/
This is in order that the guilty party in a divorce case bears overall responsibility for the breakdown of the marriage and is treated as such, i.e. the innocent party should get care, custody and control of any children. Similarly, they should get the greater share of the proceeds of the sale of the matrimonial home and not have to suffer the unfairness and indignity of the guilty party getting the same treatment as them.

Petition No.13

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to STOP ALLOWING JUST ANYONE TO GIVE BIRTH!!.
 http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ChildrensFuture/
How hard is it to take home an animal from a shelter?Endless personal checks &weekly visits before you can think about taking that animal home!Adopting a child?Not just anyonecan do it &there're very good reasons why Think about it anybody can give birth, anybody can have a child Anybody!?No checks no way of ensuring the child will be cared for &provided for No way of checking if that child is being born into a life of drug &alcohol abuse or if the mother is stable &can offer her child a secure home &give her child what it needs Let's not be ignorant, in the world we live in today if a child is to survive it needs more than love Let's give the children of the future what they deserve & stop the starving, homeless &emotionally screwed up children suffering anymoreStop allowing anyone to have a childWhen you& I are no more &the generations after that &after that who will be here?? We need to make a big change &where better to start than with the beginning of a life Please support me

Petition No.14

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to change the ruling on cockrels being able to live in housing areas.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/cockrels/
I would like the legislation on owning cockrels to change. I think cockrels should only be able to live in areas such as the country or on farms. People have human rights to sleep but you wont do anything about people who own cockrels on main roads where there are over 200 houses. I work, pay taxes so why shouldnt I be able to sleep?

So far, only kate dewsnap, the Petition Creator, has signed this petition.

[MixedBag]

because you're in England....

Do you have to post a petition on this site and then the government decides which ones will be granted a full hearing?

Yes, some seem ridiculous, and some worth hearing.

[Kent]

For a moment I was wondering why #3 and #5 only talk about fathers, and not about mothers.

But then I remembered; these petitions are about MONEY, and mothers are never required to pay for their children.

How could I forget...

[grahamg]

Dear All,

I think the issue of money is always going to come up, as seen in these petitions, both from the point of view of the residential parent, and the non-residential parent/father denied contact/access.

When reforming the CSA in the UK was being discussed in our media recently there we many examples of aggrieved residential parents and a few fathers saying they were being over-charged.

The TV presenteers failed to mention how many of us fathers are obstructed from seeing our children and/or have them alienated from us, and still expected to pay and behave as though we have been treated fairly.

As a cross section of opinion in the UK I guess this random selection it makes you think doesn't it (well its not random of course, because only those affected by family law or in some way connected to it bother to raise petitions obviously). No one has got a monopoly on feeling they have been badly done to during family law proceedings and therefore wishes to see change.

I'm one of the few people calling for real rights for parents, in my petition to No.10 Downing Street posted here earlier, and the fact that so many of those fourteen avoid asking for more parental rights is glaring to my eyes. I don't think people realise how disenfranchised we are, or certainly non-custodial/non-residential parents are.

The woman I married chose to behave as she did (hostile, always trying to prove she was the best/most perfect parent, controlling everything you tried to do as a parent, or trying to do so - there's no end to the level of interference they feel entitled to participate in), so cooperation over contact was always going to be limited with her. Nowadays I hear of women's groups who say that a father's relationship[ with their child is always going to be dependant upon the mothers wishes, or whims, so even more difficult for those fathers than I experienced I guess (I managed ten years of regular contact. My emphasis on the obligation of children to respect parents who love them and have cared for them doesn't seem to resonate with too many people, although I see it as vital.

The grandparents who wish to be given more rights (which I'd support too actually) would be given as much legal recognition as any non-residential parent/father if their petition became enacted and parents rights were not increased at the same time. I wonder if they realise that.

Anyway, must go, thanks for your interest - have you signed up to any of those petitions by the way?

Very best regards and wishes, Graham
   

[MixedBag]

I don't think many (if any) of us here are from another country.

[grahamg]

Dear Mixedbag,

I know there arer not many people on thios forum who can sign the No.10 Downing Street petitions, if they wanted to, but I still think they may be of interest anyway, as example of opinion in one country of the Western world.  

I've been discussing all this with a UK father (one who refuses to support my petition because he believes faulty court welfare service training and attitudes are the root cause of all failings in our family legal system).

He told me yesterday that maybe he should have relocated to live closer to his son, or was advised to do so, as a way of avoiding the alienation he's experienced (the son shows him very little respect and he gets the odd phone call only, usually asking for money, and hasn't seen him in over a year).

I told him his feelings of guilt or that he hadn't done enough, criticisng himself, are feelings that those who wish to exclude him from his son's life will always use or be prepared to use, like his ex. or her supporters. I then said it was another reason why my rebuttable presumption in favour of contact was so needed, because then those opposing decent parents getting contact would have to come up with good reasons to justify their actions.

I think it will be wasted effort, but after all why shouldn't I waste my time if I wish - we all do that from time to time surely.

I hope all my efforts here arte not wasted, and someone sees what I'm trying to get at.

Very best regards and wishes, Graham