Steve Brine's petition on the No.10 Downing Street website is heading towards 7,000 signatures.
A petition on the No.10 Downing Street website calling on the Government to help charities with funds frozen in the failed Icelandic bank has easily surpassed 6,500 signatures.
Steve Brine, the prospective Conservative MP for Winchester who created the petition, says it is important in putting increasing pressure on Ministers to live up to their words in support of charities such as Naomi House, near Winchester.
Steve says; “At one point we added more than 3,000 names in the space of a week, including local politicians from across the parties, but it’s not enough. We want to get much closer to 10,000 names before Gordon Brown opens his Christmas presents. Naomi House have already been forced to announce a reduction in the service they are able to offer local families so more than ever we need to show the Government the strength of feeling there is about this issue.
"They said charities caught up in the Iceland banking crisis wouldn’t be left on their own but all we have had so far is warm words and the promise of an ‘action plan’* from a Minister. Now is the time to leave spin behind and give these vital organisations the assurances they so desperately need.”
The petition (with a full list of signatures and latest totals) can be found at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/CharityHelp/
* Kevin Brenan MP, Minister for the third sector appeared on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme on Monday 1st December 2008. Listen again link via http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/pm/
The words of the petition are: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to do everything in his power to assist with the recovery of funds lost by UK charities in the failed Icelandic bank Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander.