Britain joined the Common market in 1973 on the premise that the country was joining a trade and customs union with no essential loss of sovereignty. This was done WITHOUT a popular vote from the people. The Wilson governemnt in 1975 did offer the people a say on the matter and in 1975 Britain narrowly voted to stay within the common market (still under the impression that Britain was staying within a trade and customs union). Since that time the nature of the E.U. has changed dramatically via emerging new E.U. driven legislation and new treaties that have the slowly eroded the sovereignty of the UK Parliament and therefore democracy. No one under the age of 57 has ever been given a say on whether or not the UK should be subsumed by a foreign governmental structure (the E.U. in Brussels) a move that is close to occurring. If the British people are not given the opportunity to have a say on the matter then they will at a point (in not too distant future) be forced to accept that virtually every aspect of their lives will be governed by what is considered by many to be a remote, unelected group of Bureaucrats (the E.U. Commission) and a Brussels Parliament that is non legislative i.e it cannot propose legislation and can only rubber stamp what is placed before it (by the unelected E.U Commissioners). This flies in the face of the democratic values known, understood and enjoyed by the British people since the time of Oliver Cromwell. It has been clearly demonstrated by several highly respected think tanks that Britain would actually enjoy a significant economic boost by leaving behind the constraints of E.U. membership and this can be seen by following this link: http://www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/EUCosts_Factsheet.pdf The U.K. independent of E.U rule can have a very full and productive part to play in Europe cooperating in many areas such as trade, defence and world development As a Island nation physically separated from Europe/E.U and with a proud tradition of democracy and independence many feel that we must maintain our right to conduct out own affairs and that being "hustled" into a "united states of Europe" is not in our national interest. The question the British public need to ask themselves is "what is it that could be achieved by handing over the right democracy, self determination and national sovereignty that couldn't as easily be achieved by simple helpful cooperation and collaboration with our European neighbors whilst mainlining the absolute right to say NO when the circumstances call for it"? Now is the time for the nation to have its say, NOTin 2017 when treaty changes (Lisbon) coming into force will make proposed re-negotiation and utlimatly leaving the E.U. (succession) legally difficult or likely even impossible. Lets just for once let the people have a free, fair and legally binding say on the E.U as this is the most important question of our time and it needs to be answered freely and fairly one way or the other.

This is important because the voters of this country who only have the influence of a single vote at election time deserve to know who the influence peddlers are and who is paying them.

The only way the BBC will learn that we are disgusted with the overt bias they have given UKIP over the past year is to vote with our feet; well, remote controls. If viewing figures drop they may then get the hint. (This is also the best way to have a more pleasurable evening!)

Ignoring the rise in Green Party successes membership is an obvious move towards discrediting them. You are telling your readers that the Green Party is a negligible entity, which discourages them from voting for this party. This kind of partiality and political complacency is extremely disappointing in one of the most respected newspapers of the UK - a newspaper that likes to remind its readers of the prizes it's won.

Elections should require the individual candidates to make their case for being elected. There should be space for good local independent candidates to win on their merit. Local elections often become about national politics and nothing to do with local issues. Poor candidates often succeed in getting elected, not because they will be any good, but because they are the candidate for a given party. Candidates will still be able to stand as the candidate for a given party, but they will have to get their name known by going out out and campaigning, instead of relying on a party vote that can see candidates getting elected without having seen a single leaflet delivered, door knocked on, or telephone call made.

It is important that each MP has served in various sectors of the very services, jobs and people they represent. All I ask is that all MP before taking office has worked in various sections that make up local life. From a Teaching Assistant in a school, to a care home, or in a NHS ward, or small business, working alongside people with various disabilities. The MP working the same hours as the worker to gain essential first hand experiences about the people they are going to represent.

In case you haven’t already heard, it turns out that barbarism very much exists in the year 2014. Many people, myself included, will often try to convince ourselves that we exist in a sleek chrome sort of place where we giggle at youtubers, slurp frappalappachinos and worry about deadlines. Unfortunately, time and time again this palatable fabrication is ripped away from beneath us as if by a poorly trained waiter. Everything we had propped up to comfort ourselves comes crashing down and we see a stark reality. A woman has been sentenced to death for apostasy. The victim in question is called Meriam. She is a Somalian who upon marrying a Christian man and converting from Islam has been charged with adultery. She was sentenced in Khartoum and will be put to death by hanging in two years. Don’t jump to conclusions though. It turns out that the judge is a fairly progressive man. Not only did he give the woman the chance to recant, which she flatly refused, but he even postponed the sentence for two years to allow her to give birth. Progressive, that would be, if we were living in the sixteenth century. Perhaps the most dispiriting aspect of the case would be that she refused to recant. If someone who changes their faith refuses to deny their new belief under the threat of death, you would almost expect a depraved zealot to respect that conviction. A judge issuing such a verdict either can’t recognize blatant martyrdom or chooses to ignore it because it isn’t in the name of the required deity. I would suggest that he did recognize this and purposefully chose to convict her of adultery instead of apostasy, in a disgusting attempt to sully this brave woman’s name. I call on the British government to demand that Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag be freed

MP's appear to work very hard to get elected and then they go off the boil - let's turn that on it's head and make them work equally hard once the dust settles.

MI6 is alleged to have "organised" two high-profile murders in 1961: Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba in January and UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld in September. Together with the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the South African Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB), MI6 is also alleged to have targeted UN Assistant Secretary-General Bernt Carlsson on Pan Am Flight 103 which was sabotaged over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988. In 2014, because incriminating evidence has recently come to light, the United Nations is expected to launch an inquiry into these state sponsored murders. (https://wikispooks.com/wiki/The_How,_Why_and_Who_of_Pan_Am_Flight_103#Naming_names)

As I near retirement I realise that my body cannot physically do the things I could do only a few years ago. The mind is willing but the body is weak. This is despite me performing an office based role for my career. I believe it to be socially unacceptable for this government to expect citizens to perform heavy manual labour for their living beyond the age of 65. To expect people in these job sectors to work beyond the age of 65 will impact on their long term health and life expectancy.

It is apparent from experience that choosing parties on the basis of stated agendas is not enough to guarantee we achieve anything. The actions rarely mirror the bold promises once in office. It can appear Breach Of Contract is is just an abstract concept to our Political Parties who show exceptional finesse in being able to do a complete 180, seamlessly, without too much trouble, and yet keep voters aligned to them somehow. It's like a collective amnesia where we're forcing ourselves to replay history over and over, convincing ourselves we won't get short-changed again, ignoring the in-built weaknesses and Conflicts Of Interest arising from our current Democratic System.

As it stands now, we can only vote for the candidates listed on the ballet paper. If you do not like any of them, it's a choice to either to not indicate any or defile the paper. Both options are against the law and could have repercussions. With the addition of a none of the above option you will be able to register your dissatisfaction with the candidates and not brake the law. But still support the electoral system.