It was announced today that the renovations to the Palace of Westminster will cost up to £4billion and involved the MPs moving out for 6 years. This will leave us (the British people) with a magnificent looking building, but a parliament in the same state it is now with MPs involved in a scrum to attend each morning to bag a seat! In addition, the UK is already too London centric; despite rhetoric about building a "Northern Power House" the government has yet to do anything practical in this direction. The current debating chambers are not fit for purpose; there are insufficient seats for every member of parliament. A new building could provide to the needs of a 21st century and offer both space as well as technology solutions such as telepresence so that MPs can be involved in debates while not attending in person; allowing better use of their time as well as allowing a better family life / work life balance. Cost and time overruns are likely to make renovations cost much higher than the estimated £4 billion and we will still be faced by an antiquated building not fit for purpose. So lets look to the future not to the past and consider what is BEST, not what is convinient for individual MPs.

Because there are too many empty properties and too many homeless people

This is important because the UK is one of the least wooded countries within the whole of Europe. The country was completly covered in trees when the first people arrived. Now only 13% of our land area is wooded. Woodland is the naturally occuring habitat for this country. Fields, wildflowers, breakland and heathland although great for wildlife are habitats that arose in the abscense of our woodlands. Without woodlands on our east coast the land is being lost to the sea due to erosion. Without woodlands in our uplands the soil and wildlife are suffering amd floods downstream in our urban areas are rife. Most of the UK' indigenous biodiversity resides in our wooded areas because that is the natural habitat they would have had in this country before the great clearances of the forests. Surely for a country which is naturally of woodland habitat it is the duty of the Government to make sure there is plenty of this rich habitat left and that it expands. -Woodlands hold our greatest biodiversity. -Woodlands act as a windbreak (when enough of them) so should reduce effects of wind on urban areas. -They are brilliant places for people to escape to. -Trees help give us clean air and beautify the landscape. -They slow down and in some cases prevent soil erosion. -Trees help to prevent flooding by slowing down the process of water falling as rain getting to the sea. I believe if this cannot be done then the east coast of the country should at least be focused on. We loose meters of land a year to the North sea on the Holderness coast due to soil erosion. Houses cant be built on the cliffs, its a danger for people to be there. With the addition of trees the soil wound be bound together, it would be less saturated and as a result erosion would be a fraction of the rate it is now.

TTIP may be dead but worse still is the upcoming Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta). Not only the NHS but every service will be totally controlled by corporations that can simply sue governments for any supposed future profits that it claims to lose if action is taken to protect the public. We elect governments and hold them to account - we do not elect corporations to decide what is best for us.

ACOBA (Advisory Committee On Business Appointments) seems essentially ineffective in scrutinising the appointment of ex ministers and civil servants into positions within big corporations. It is "advisory" only, therefore can be ignored. It rarely advises against any such appointment, and it is time limited in scope. These business appointments leave open the strong possibility that the appointees can use their knowledge of, and contacts within government to the corporations' advantage. Given the often very senior positions they have held within government, we can not be sure that the possibility of a future job does not affect their departmental decision-making, in favour of these corporations. This affects significant areas such as defence, health, social security and justice. It risks blurring the boundaries between private and public benefit. It reduces trust in government.

Workers' rights in this country have been hard-won, but Brexit now gives the Government the chance to strip workers in Britain of their protections and rights at work. We can't allow that to happen. The Workers' Rights (Maintenance of EU Standards) Bill seeks to ensure that there is a floor of workers' rights below which no contract or employer can sink. This applies to rights such as protecting workers from redundancy if their company changes hands, health and safety rules and measures to protect employee representatives against detrimental treatment for carrying out their role. Please sign to support this bill and write to your MP to ask them to do the same. Draft letter here- http://www.melanieonn.co.uk/10_minute_rule

The inability to use Paypal's global electronic money transfer system, is hindering the progress of Palestinian owned businesses to exploit markets necessary to their healthy growth, in an location where this is vital. They should have the right to compete on a more even footing with Israeli settlers who suffer no such restrictions.

To allow the safe passage of innocent men, women and children out of Aleppo, cease the slaughter of innocent civilians and medical staff and allow crucial supplies to these beleaguered people. There are over 60 million refugees globally, people displaced by war and under constant and brutal attack. In my trips to the Jungle in Calais ( France) I met and heard some of the harrowing stories of many innocent and decent people and marvelled at some incredible feats of bravery. All of these stories affected me deeply, especially those concerning the children - hundreds of unaccompanied minors. We all deserve the right to a safe home. The number of displaced and traumatised individuals worldwide is a disgrace and Aleppo is rapidly adding to an already unmanageable crisis. I like many millions of others, want this to stop.

Arriva are planning major changes to services into Manchester without even bothering to ask passengers for their views. This is on top of increased fares and overcrowding. Sign this petition to stop Arriva in their tracks.

David Cameron announced we’ll welcome 20,000 more Syrian refugees. But there’s a catch. This will take 5 years, leaving thousands of refugees in limbo. It’s now up to us to show that in cities, towns and villages all across the country we’re ready to welcome people now. Aylan, the toddler who drowned fleeing Syria, was just three years old. His town was under attack by Isis. His five year old brother and his mum also died trying to reach safety.We don't want Britain to be the kind of country that turns its back as people drown in their desperation to flee places like Syria. So let's stand up for Britain's long tradition of helping refugees fleeing war. Let's show the Prime Minister that we, the people of the UK, are proud to do our part and provide refuge to people in their hour of need. Please sign and share, or start your own petition for your town or city here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/efforts/refugees-welcome

Philip Davies, as the MP for Shipley you are responsible for representing the needs of thousands of women. As former residents of Shipley, we feel that you are unable to do this job due to your history of voting against equality legislation, making anti-feminist comments and attending conferences with known misogynists. We respectfully request that you resign from your position so that it can be taken by someone who values the interests of women and recognises the discrimination that they face on a daily basis. You recently attended the International Conference on Men's Issues, which was organised by the Justice for Men and Boys group (J4MB). This group campaigns against gender equality initiatives, including the Gender Equality Act 2010, and hands out sexist 'awards' such as "whiny feminist of the month". Although you claim that you do not support this group, by speaking at this conference you have publicly demonstrated that, at the very least, you do not oppose its values. In your speech, you expressed anti-feminist views by saying, “In this day and age the feminist zealots really do want women to have their cake and eat it”. This shows a hatred, or at least a misunderstanding, of the feminist movement and everything that it stands for. Feminism aims to attain equality between people of all genders, which you have actively worked to prevent by arguing against equality targets in the workplace and tabling a private member’s bill to repeal the Sex Discrimination Act 2002. We believe that these actions and comments show that you are against gender equality, and therefore unfit to represent the women who live and work in your constituency. You have stated that you “don’t believe there’s an issue between men and women. The problem is being stirred up by those who can be described as militant feminists and the politically correct males who pander to this nonsense." This is despite the wealth of data and research that shows that women are paid less than men and are less likely to be promoted to a senior management role but far more likely to be sexually harassed or assaulted at work. As you are unable or unwilling to acknowledge the existence of sexism in British society, we believe that you are consequently unable to defend and stand up for the women of your constituency. As an MP, you are required to act in the best interests of your constituents, but your misogynistic attitudes make you incapable of doing so. We therefore request that you remove yourself from parliament so that the people of Shipley can benefit from an MP who has all of their best interests at heart.

Many Lords do not make use of their privilege, yet reportedly claim in full their allowances. An inherited title or given favour is poor guarantee that the person so elevated is actually qualified for shaping UK law. The inheritance of such influential positions is an outmoded mechanism of government and a huge waste of public funds. Likewise, the number of MPs inflates beyond reason the cost of running government.