Societies are judged by how they take care of their most vulnerable. As you yourself, Mr Cameron, put it so very well: "...Fairness means giving money to help the poorest in society. People who are sick, who are vulnerable, the elderly - I want you to know we will always look after you. That's the sign of a civilised society and it's what I believe..." ... David Cameron 6 Oct 2010 Those in power should not be cynically trying to distract the public by attacking the weakest; the young, students, immigrants, sick, disabled and elderly. Don't expect everyone to be fooled by these tactics for too much longer. Sooner or later, they'll wake up and realise that they're next in line. Why not make our democratic society fairer by asking more from those who can afford it - those who have profited most from the shrinkage and privatisation of our national assets; the corporate companies, the bankers, CEOs and executives, the politicians with their own private health care companies, beancounters and lawyers, shareholders, the hedgefund managers, the private equity companies, PFI contractors, russian oligarchs, and other rich and thriving individuals? The lucky wealthy have grown richer by exploiting the poor and powerless, and this 'Bedroom Tax' is yet another attempt to reduce the welfare state. Meanwhile the government continues to cut, chipping away at our welfare state, disparaging worker representation through Unions, closing hospitals, schools, public housing, swimming pools, libraries, welfare benefits, ad nauseum. The rich don't need, and don't want to pay for, any of the welfare state - they just want to benefit from the rich prizes of opportunity as public services collapse, and they pick up the cherries. And, of course their wealth has grown enormously since the recession started. Despite the poor losing their homes, the wealthy continue to do very nicely "Thank you very much" on their fat salaries and fat pensions, insider / offshore dealings, their directorships, private schools, investments, private healthcare, property portfolio, gyms, golf clubs, not forgetting their offshore: bank accounts, companies, and lavish homes with untaxed spare bedrooms galore. Why are they so greedy? Why do they need my bedroom? Will they force me out of my home?

The law is a discriminatory one which relies on an individual police officer's judgement and, as such, is open to abuse. The police officer is open to criticism for misuse of the order and under 16 year old's are vulnerable to overzealous application and miss-accusations. The discriminatory nature of the order encourages the hatred and fear of young people and allows some to feel justified in discriminatory attitudes toward them. It encourages those who have suffered at the hands of badly behaved youths to believe that they are all like that and to become more afraid. It will only serve to alienate young people and make them feel that the police are there simply to control them but not to protect them. Already young people in Bangor are avoiding going out to the cinema and to after school clubs for fear of being caught in the curfew or of being beaten up by the marauding gangs that this order implies are on the loose in the city center. Bangor is a lovely historic place with much to offer young and old alike. It suffers from very little anti-social behavior apart from a very few people in limited areas and the usual after pub and club problems present in all cities. It is suffering in the downturn from an empty high street (the longest in the country) but there was no rioting in Bangor last year, the out of town JJB sports, PC World etc were not ransacked as was seen in other towns and cities across the UK, so why Bangor? There was no consultation with the public or even their elected representatives on the City Council. This is despite the ACPO guidance that there should be consultation with the effected community and a Rowntree report, which concludes that these laws have only been effective where consultation and involvement had taken place. This law is badly worded, heavy handed, discriminatory and draconian and it should be stopped now!

The Channel Island of Sark has just 600 inhabitants. They lead a peaceful and historic way of life that has remained largely unchanged for hundreds of years. The islanders get around on bikes or by horse and cart - there are no cars or tarmac roads on the island. It is a unique and beautiful place, a rare piece of tranquillity in a chaotic modern world. But now the billionaire owners of The Telegraph newspaper, the Barclay brothers, are threatening that way of life. Twenty years ago, they bought the tiny neighbouring island of Brecqhou and built a huge mock gothic castle that looms over Sark. Ever since, they have been buying up every hotel, small business and piece of land they can get their hands on. The islands status as a tax haven means the brothers have to pay no tax on their fortune back to the UK. The Sarkees have been doing everything they can to resist their power over the island. In 2008, the Barclays tried to flood the island's first democratically elected government with their allies. When the islanders emphatically rejected them in favour of their own representatives, the brothers retaliated by firing everyone who worked in any of the businesses they had bought out - that amounted to a sixth of Sark's population losing their jobs. It doesn't end there. Those who speak out against the brothers' stranglehold on the island are publicly dragged through the dirt in the Sark Newsletter - a weekly propaganda piece written by the Barclays' lieutenant, Kevin Delaney. The islanders recently told the Guardian and BBC that they live in fear in a "culture of bullying and intimidation." The Barclay brothers company Sark Estate Management (SEM) has turned much of their good quality agricultural land over to vineyards, land that was traditionally used by the islanders for centuries for growing crops and grazing livestock. In November 2012 a peaceful protest at the Sark Mill vineyards against the spread of vines resulted in 120 Sark residents signing a petition asking the Barclays to reconsider their vineyard project but this was ignored. SEM continue to spray the vineyards with chemicals and residents fear for the health of Sark's pristine ecosystem and their fresh water supplies which come from under the ground. Sark is a dependency of the Crown but, so far, our government has left the islanders to fend for themselves. The Department of Justice has admitted that it has an "ultimate responsibility to ensure good governance" of Sark. They are aware of what's going on - former Justice Minister Lord McNally has already been to visit the island. It's time Lord Faulks, the new Justice Minister and Chris Grayling, the Secretary of State for Justice, lived up to that responsibility. You can find out more about the situation in Sark in this recent Panorama show: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01px74c/Panorama_The_Tax_Haven_Twins/ Or this earlier Today programme piece: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9709000/9709518.stm

The age of criminal responsibility in England is one the lowest in Europe, and the statistics show that we are in danger of criminalising too many children and young people. The age of criminal responsibility needs to be reviewed in light of the standards set by the UN Convention and these international comparisons. Young children are simply not capable of the sophisticated mental reasoning required to be held fully responsible for criminal actions, and we need to take a far more "welfare based" approach in dealing with young people who commit serious crimes. Furthermore, there is concern among neuroscientists in this field that the age of criminal responsibility in the UK is unreasonably low given the emerging understanding of how slowly the brains of children mature, and the evidence of individual differences suggests that an arbitrary cut-off age may not be justifiable.

There is a NEED for this facility. This only highlights the councils need to sell off public amenities. We need to stop these changes and speak up for what is right.

News papers (both national and local) do a very important job of holding those in power to account. But the Thurrock Council chief executive Lyn Carpenter has decided not to be held to account by blocking the local newspaper and refusing to answer any questions. By this the people of Thurrock will be kept in the dark about what their council is doing. Are the hiding something? Today it is Thurrock council but if they get away with this then tomorrow it could be your or my council. I think we should all be concerned about our democracy and make sure that Thurrock Council don't get away with it and send out a message to other councils that they can't do the same. Read more on this story www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/advertiser-lends-support-to-press-freedom-battle-1-5646497 I live in a borough which has had it's elected mayor charged with corruption. This was brought about by journalist doing a good job so I know how important it is for journalist to be able to do their job.

Previous attempts by this and former governments to train chefs within specialized Training Centres of Excellence in the UK have consistently failed to produce the skilled chefs required to address the shortage. Closures of restaurants around the country are at an alarming rate of 3-4 per week. Heavy handed raids by UKBA and heavily imposed penalties add to the burden levied upon the restaurateurs eager to maintain and survive the current economic climate.

Safe crossing areas are essential to YGG Pontsionnorton and Pontypridd High. The area has not seen any funding or improvement for sometime however following the catastrophic accident recently involving a young person at Pontypridd High and car crash at YGG PSN residents wish to protect the most vulnerable and make areas more accessible whilst slowing the traffic to a safer speed.

There is no legal requirement for the prime minister to consult MPs before taking military action, or even to inform them. In 2007, shortly after entering No 10, Gordon Brown vowed to limit the Royal Prerogative under which the prime minister can unilaterally declare war. Parliament, Brown proposed, would be guaranteed the right to approve “significant, non-routine” deployments of the armed forces to “the greatest extent possible”. But absorbed by the 2008 financial crisis and the recession that followed, the government abandoned reform. Under the recent era of international relations and modern warfare catastrophic and irreparable damages to human and other life can be caused on errors of judgement. The constitutional powers, accordingly, need to be reviewed and renewed.

It is unfair to allow new students to access the new maintenance loans whereas existing students are unable to have the new loans at all. It is not justified and is seriously unfair for anyone who has already started their courses.

Medical Professionals in the UK Seeking Registration is a campaign group being launched through RAPAR of around 500 medical professionals - doctors, nurses, technicians, pharmacists and dentists - who are being prevented from working in the NHS because of the unreasonably high English language testing requirements currently set by the professional bodies responsible for registering them. This problem also affects many more medical professionals who are not yet members of the campaign group. The campaign is calling on the GMC and other bodies to return to more realistic and appropriate English language requirements. Doctors who passed the previous language test standards are currently working successfully in the NHS. But now highly qualified doctors – many of whom have been forced to flee their home countries for humanitarian reasons – are being stopped from using their skills and expertise. Four years ago, the GMC raised its already high score for doctors in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) even further. The exam tests general knowledge of English language and includes topics such as archaeology, jam making and current affairs – much of it irrelevant to the kind of terminology used by medical professionals. Dentists, pharmacists and technicians have also had their English language testing scores raised and want a return to the previous levels. In addition, they are asking the councils responsible for registering them to introduce the Occupational English Test (OET) which will cover medical contexts rather than topics that have nothing to do with their professions. Patients are in urgent need of these medical professionals - they should be given the opportunity to use their knowledge, proficiency and dedication to work in our struggling NHS.

Although we have now banned alcohol and tobacco advertising on TV there appears to be no control over the advertising of online gambling casino and bingo sites. These sites are largely endorsed by celebrities and are shown at times when our most vulnerable and lonely are viewing. I know from personal experience, through the death of my brother, by suicide. I was very close to him, but had no idea that he was a secret gambler. Gambling is as addictive as drinking and smoking, and in many ways more pernicious, causing other destructive behaviour. Often it those who an least afford to gamble who do so, people in financial trouble, who in a desperate attempt to pay off debts will gamble their last penny. The only winners are the sites themselves who load the odds against individuals winning. As a Samaritan listening volunteer I often take calls from desperate suicidal people who have become victims of such gambling sites.