Voters are apathetic, as they perceive the establishment parties as not giving them enough choice. We need plurality in politics, not just the Establishment parties plus UKIP.

Onshore wind is the most efficient form of clean energy. Strict local planning procedures are in place to prevent them being built in places where they might spoil the environment. But Eric Pickles, scared by the climate deniers in UKIP is riding roughshod over local preferences by stalling the planning procedures. Please stop.

Last year, the UK government said it was no longer willing to support rescue missions in the Mediterranean designed to come to the help of migrants who find themselves in distress at sea. This is in violation of internationally recognized minimum humanitarian standards. More than 20,000 men, women, and children are estimated to have lost their lives in the past two decades, while trying to cross the Mediterranean in search of a safe place to live. The majority of these people are refugees escaping violence, persecution, and hardship from countries like Libya and Syria. It is the duty of the international community and in particular the EU to minimize loss of life and do as much as possible to rescue as many people as possible.

In June this year I visited the Lebanon. Whilst there I saw destitute refugee women and children begging on the streets, and I met young Syrians fleeing from their country. When I asked a teenager whose leg was bandaged whether he was studying, he shook his head. By way of explanation he told me he was from Syria. He raised his hands to his chest and gestured a broken heart as he said this. The UNHCR has confirmed that there are now over 3.2 million refugees from Syria. Over half are children. Most are in situations that are not sustainable in the long term. 80,000 refugees alone live in Zaatari, one of the world's largest refugee camps in the desert of Jordan. These are people who have lost loved ones, experienced violence and are unable to return to the places where they grew up and the lives that they had before. They are seeking safety. In her recent TED talk, the UNHCR's Melissa Fleming said that the average time a refugee spends in exile is 17 years. When we could be offering some thousands the chance of safety and education and a future in the UK, 'to thrive not just survive' as Melissa Fleming puts it, we are choosing not to do so. In January this year, the UK announced a commitment to resettling the most vulnerable Syrian refugees but since then we have resettled just 50. (4000 Syrians in total since the war began according to Home Office figures). By contrast Germany and Sweden sheltered 42,000 refugees last year. The UK's commitment to resettlement is not enough if we are not prepared to help people get here. I am calling on the leaders of the main political parties to show compassion and commit the UK government to giving resources to transport Syrian refugees here and fund their resettlement in the UK. Each person sheltered can be a life changed for the better. Let us lead the way and work with European countries to care for some of the victims of this devastating conflict. (Picture is of 3 year old Aisha Nour from Azaz, Syria, outside the container in which she and her family live at the 'Container City' refugee camp in Oncupinar, Turkey. Photograph by Sam Tarling.) More information: Refugee Council news 'UK resettles just 50 refugees from Syria' http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/latest/news/4144_uk_resettles_just_50_refugees_from_syria You can see UNHCR's Melissa Fleming's TED talk here http://www.ted.com/talks/melissa_fleming_let_s_help_refugees_thrive_not_just_survive?language=en

-The steps are an iconic place. They have been used extensively by demonstrators. For instance, in the run up to the Scottish Independence Referendum, the steps were widely used by both "Yes" and "No thanks" campaigners. -The steps are popular. Many people use them as a place to sit, eat their lunch, socialise and listen to buskers. -There aren't many places in Glasgow City Centre to sit. Apart from George Square, there really isn't anywhere you can sit. -The steps provide excellent views over Buchanan Street and beyond. These views are captured by local photographers and artists.

We didn't cause the financial crisis, the bankers did and our politicians decided to bail them out without asking us for our opinion on it first. They should therefore make some sacrifice too. The current basic MP salary is £67,000 and a cabinet minister earns around £135,000. This is between 3 and 6 times the average salary of the population and coupled with their generous expenses package, this makes them very comfortable indeed; the rest of us are suffering with low pay increases and rising living costs. Share the pain with us, as you are elected representatives of us; or are you all just in for yourselves and what you can get out of it?

Because this is an experiment and there is no proof that it is working in the very limited way it is being operated in pilot areas at present. The IT systems on which it relies are not ready or fit for purpose. Yet it is to be extended nationally next year. DWP staff, poorly trained, are already stretched beyond the point where they can deliver an efficient and humane service. And it is about the finances of the poorest, most vulnerable and least resilient people in our society.

People with disabilities are being denied grants enabling them to obtain adapted vehicles yet the company is rich. Are the disabled being ripped off with the price they pay to Motability and are they not receiving a fair discount that Motability receive from manufactures. Read more here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2789975/motability-boss-paid-1million-bonuses-sparking-calls-parliament-investigate.html

It is important that everyone in the country feels they have an equal stake in society based on merit, rather than the current system of hereditary rule, where the highest political office that one could aspire to as head of state, is based purely on being born into the house of Windsor, therefore negating meritocracy and democracy as irrelevant.

Why it matters I am addressing this petition to the above three party leaders because I have no real idea who will form the next government after May 2015. Our national railways were privatised in the 1990 with the usual promises of better services, cheaper fares, less or no pull on the taxpayer and ownership by us, the British public. Despite the fact of course that we already owned the railway. As with every privatisation before and after it the results have been very different to those promised. However it is true that many train companies that run franchises in the UK are publicly owned, but by other European countries. Arriva is a wholly owned subsidiary of the German national rail company Deutsche Bahn, and runs the Arriva Trains Wales and Cross Country franchises. The French national rail operator SNCF has a majority stake in Keolis, which operates the Trans Pennine franchise in partnership with FirstGroup. Keolis is also a minority partner in the Govia rail operating company, which runs the Southern, Southeastern and London Midland services. The Dutch state railway company Nederlandse Spoorwegen owns Abellio, which has a 50% stake in Serco-Abellio, which runs the Merseyrail and Northern Rail franchises. Abellio also runs Scotrail. European governments make millions of pounds a year in dividends from their British operations. From the subsidies paid by British tax payers. Please do not read this piece as an 'anti-foreigner' rant. I simply do not understand how paying other governments vast profits to run our railways is good for the British people. Since privatisation billions of pounds of tax payer subsidised profits have gone into the coffers of other governments. There is one railway still at the moment in the hands of the UK tax payer. The state-owned East Coast railway paid £225m to the government in the year to March 2014. In our hands now but for how long. We are about to sell our stake in Eurostar. Who to? It seems the French State Railways SNCF. As a side word I can tell you that last year I travelled First Class on SNCF from Tarbes in the South West of France to Paris, a journey of about 600 Km, for a cost of 45 Euros. Subsidised? Probably. Should I thank the British taxpayer for their contribution? So the publicly owned East Coast Railway paid £225m in 'profits' to the UK taxpayers. What should we do with it now? Privatise it seems. And one of the front runners to take over this publicly owned success story? It seems its a joint venture between Keolis and Eurostar, subsidiaries of France's state-owned railway company, SNCF. So should I book my return journey to Tarbes now or wait a little while. After all it could be even cheaper in a few months.

Apart from Scotland more and more power has been taken by central government in London. Recently Jim O'Neill has proposed that 15 big cities should have devolved budgets. George Osborne is reported to agree with the idea but not necessarily 15 cities. Scotland has been promised even more devolution. The rest of the UK should start the same process. Senior politicians talk about 'localism' but that means nothing without local budgets. And why 15 cities. All areas both built up and rural should have increased power. This might also reverse the increasing voter apathy which is damaging our democracy

The "NHS Bill 2015" campaign is calling on all General Election candidates to sign up to the new "NHS Reinstatement Bill", and is already attracting cross-party support. The “Campaign for an NHS Reinstatement Bill 2015" has produced an “NHS Reinstatement Bill” which sets out the legal steps needed not only to reverse the failings of the Health & Social Care Act 2012, but to fully restore the NHS in England as an accountable public service. Unless we all keep the pressure on MP's of all parties in the run up to the next election, our voices will be lost in the spin, sound bites and agendas. We were fooled in 2010 by false the promise of no NHS re-organisations. With the secret TTIP negotiations ongoing, now, more then ever, everyone has to make their voices heard regarding the NHS. Please contact your MP and prospective parliamentary candidates and ask them to support Professor Pollock's "NHS Reinstatement Bill", and ask them if they do not, why not? You can reach your MP via https://www.writetothem.com/ For further information, please see: https://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/caroline-molloy/new-law-proposed-to-stop-nhs-becoming-simply-memory