The BBC have behaved disgracefully for suspending Gary Lineker and they should resign

Outside the headquarters of the BBC in London is a statue of the writer George Orwell. It bears the words: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear.” In a series of tweets Gary Lineker did just that. He told the Government that its policies to tackle illegal migration were inhumane and cruel. Rather than accept the freelance sports presenter was speaking from a position of genuine compassion, right-wing MPs immediately called for him to be removed from the BBC. The broadcaster should have stood up to this baying mob. If it values free speech and, above all, if it values its independence it should have defended Lineker’s right to voice views which may be unpalatable to others. The BBC has undermined its own reputation for impartiality by caving into the demands of the right-wing press and loudmouth Tory MPs. To take Lineker off air is not only craven but hypocritical. The BBC chairman, Richard Sharp, remains in place despite helping facilitate a loan guarantee for Boris Johnson. Other presenters have not been silenced despite airing right-wing views. The Mirror has launched a petition calling for Lineker to be reinstated. We urge anyone who values liberty and free speech to sign it.

The CPZ does not: • Address safety, the main concern for residents* • Propose safe crossing points for school children notably for Prendergast School children crossing Manwood Road • Tackle dangerous driving behaviours particularly from those using local roads as cut-throughs to reduce their journey time • Improve the safety of pedestrians and cyclists The CPZ does: • Impose additional costs on residents in the middle of a cost of living crisis • Increase bureaucracy and stress for residents • Reduce parking spaces for the schemes sake e.g. at the top of Bexhill Road • Cite CPZ existing in other inner London areas as a justification to implement it • Create unnecessary stress for residents as parking spaces are reduced and people scramble for space • Remove trees and replace them with new – trees have a high failure rate when planted new and if sustainability is a key council priority, this proposal runs counter to this. The section 8 area and surrounds are very neighbourly and have a wonderful community feel. We are voicing our disappointment that the Council has failed to invest time and effort in bringing a proposal forward to improve the neighbourhood further by tackling the real issues. We oppose the CPZ and call for proposals that genuinely and comprehensively address safety. See details of the proposal in Cabinet meeting decision papers: https://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/documents/s105243/Sustainable+Transport+and+Parking+Improvements+report.pdf *There does appear to be one element within the CPZ that potentially addresses safety and that is the proposed parking bans at the junction of Codrington Hill, Stillness and Crofton Park Roads. Applied in the correct way, this will increase the field of vision of drivers and pedestrians helping to reduce collisions at this hot spot.

The people of Leeds have been let down yet again by this government, who have failed to award any of the £2 billion Levelling Up Funding to the city - the second biggest local authority area in the country. This is not good enough, and must be reconsidered urgently. Leeds City Council submitted six excellent bids to Round 2 of the government’s Levelling Up Fund, which covered every constituency in Leeds not already in receipt of government funds. These bids covered some of the most deprived communities in the country and they have all been rejected. The bids focused on breathing new life into parks, transport infrastructure and local economies right across the council area through inner city areas and suburbs to former mining villages. The decision to not allocate a penny to Leeds sends a message to the people of our city that that the Government do not think we are worth anything. We demand that the government stops overlooking Leeds, and comes back with a new offer, giving Leeds its fair share from this £2billion pot.

While people up and down the country followed the rules, made sacrifices and lost loved ones Boris Johnson held parties - and then lied about it. I don't want a penny of the tax I pay on my NHS wage to be spent defending a wealthy former Prime Minister who broke Covid lockdown rules while my colleagues were risking their lives. And right now so many Brits can't afford to eat or heat their homes, they do not need another expense. Most of us were brought up to believe that when we were found to be telling a lie, it was important to accept responsibility and apologise. Boris seems to have been brought up to say if you're caught with your pants on fire, you lie, lie and lie again! There is no shame at all. No one in Whitehall - or outside of it - seriously believes that Johnson is innocent of misleading parliament. His colleagues in the Conservative Party should tell him to stand up, admit fault and accept his punishment. Instead they're approving him using our money to try and weasel out of it.

Anyone who believes (or at least hopes) that our elected representatives adhere to a high standard of conduct cannot condone Williamson's alleged appalling behaviour.

Being an MP is a full time job. It is not something that should be done with half measures. Right now during a cost of living crisis and government unrest, it is of extreme importance that all MPs serve their constituencies the best they can. Taking on second jobs or going on holidays outside of parliamentary recess can simply not be better for the good of constituents and the UK as a whole. When someone decides to become a teacher, they do so knowing it means they will be limited on when they can go on holiday. If you choose to run for Parliament it should be with the same understanding.

Matt Hancock isn’t a ‘celebrity’, he’s the health secretary who oversaw the UK having one of the highest death tolls in the world from Covid-19 whilst breaking his own lockdown rules. The fact that he is trying to cash in on his terrible legacy, rather than showing some humility or seeking to reflect on the appalling consequences of his time in Government says it all about the sort of his person he is. Families were ripped apart by Matt Hancock’s actions, and turning on the TV to see him being paraded around as a joke is sickening. If he had any respect for families who lost loved ones to Covid-19, he would be sharing his private emails with the Covid Inquiry, not eating bugs on TV. Then again, perhaps if those emails came to light no TV station would touch him with a barge pole. ITV should do the decent thing and remove him from the programme.Over 200,000 people lost their lives to Covid-19 across the UK. Matt Hancock was at the very centre of decisions such as locking down late, allowing large scale sporting events to go ahead as the virus ran rampant and failed to get our healthcare workers the PPE they needed. On top of that he was fired after breaking the rules he helped set. His profiteering and shameless search for publicity in the run up to his book launch is another insult to already grieving families.

Suella Braverman used inflammatory language about Refugees - comparing their arrival in the UK to an "invasion". Her words came just days after a migrant centre in Kent was attacked. These kind of dangerous words stoke hatred and even her own party's MPs have condemned her for them. This comes less than two weeks after, Suella Braverman was forced to resign as Home Secretary after admitting she broke ministerial code and sent confidential documents outside the government from her private email. Five days later new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reappointed her in the exact same post! In her role as Home Secretary she will have access to sensitive information around matters of national security. Rishi Sunak is playing games to appease different parts of the Conservative Party while putting our national security in the hands of someone who has proven they can't be trusted to handle confidential and sensitive information securely. The Prime Minister must rethink his decision to reappoint Suella Braverman and put our country before his party.

Liz didn't even last 3 months, there is no other occupation that would grant you anything for that, no honest one anyway. Instead she fell at the first hurdle, making huge and avoidable mistakes because of her arrogance. Consequently the people of the UK experienced even more worry and suffering. It now must be made law that a PM that resigns or is forced to go before a year has passed, has no rights to the perks of the job after leaving. It is insulting and ridiculous that she should be able to set her friends up in the House of Lords, receive severance pay and other perks after being such an appalling PM. She blamed circumstance and not herself. She chose such an appalling cabinet that wasn't fit for purpose. She managed one thing, she attended the Queen's funeral, even Larry the cat could have managed that if they'd provided a comfy enough chair! Stop this nonsense NOW!

The public has spoken. They want a general election now. A poll commissioned by the Mirror found that two-thirds of the general public want to head to the polls by the summer. After 14 years of Tory rule - and a host of failed leaders being chosen by a few thousand Conservative members rather than at the ballot box - people have had enough. Rishi Sunak has appeared to promise a vote will be held during this calendar year - before the theoretical deadline of January 2025 set out by the Fixed-term Parliament Act. But many in Westminster believe the Tories will cling on for a few more months and refrain from calling a vote until October. This is simply too long. Rishi Sunak has run Britain since October 2022. Never at any stage has the electorate been asked to choose him as their Prime Minister. This wait must end now. (Deltapoll interviewed 1,642 adults online between December 22 and 29. The data have been weighted to be representative of the British adult population as a whole.)

Boris Johnson resigned in disgrace. But despite his actions around the Partygate scandal he's still had an honours list approved that gives the likes of Jacob Rees Mogg and Priti Patel knighthood and damehood. People who tried to defend and prop up Johnson's dodgy behaviour should not be rewarded with a lifetime position in the House of Lords. Right now the list has been approved, but the honours have not yet been awarded. A huge public outcry could get Rishi Sunak to rethink this list - and block it before it goes any further!