People in small towns and villages need internet just as much as people in big towns and cities. Decent broadband connection is essential for everything from paying bills to running businesses. But for some places in the UK, the internet speed is either painfully slow or non-existent. It's time the government stepped up and fulfilled it's promise of decent broadband for everyone.

Already, fees for university are £9000 per year, and this is only for tuition. Students are leaving with massive debts which have the potential to loom over their heads for the rest of their lives. We are 15 years old. We want to go to university and we don't want to be repaying debts for the rest of our lives. We have a friend who came to school in tears, believing that she couldn't go to university as the fees are too monumental. We believe there are many others all over the country who believe the same thing, and we want to stand up and tell them, No More! We have been told we are the future, but soon the future will too expensive to materialise.

I am currently a single parent to 2 young children and am receiving very little in the way of financial support from the paying parent. The paying parent has seen a loophole in the law where they are in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance and are being financially supported by a working partner, therefore pays the bare minimum in child maintenance. The paying parent gets assistance from the partner with regards to household bills, yet I pay the full amount on my own. It is important that parents be responsible for as much financial support, for their children, as is affordable.

Mr Willie Welsh of Welcare Homes was planning to build a care home and sheltered housing on a site at the southern end of Langholm. He had the site dug out and foundations laid but was then unable to proceed with building works. The site has been left in a terrible mess for some years, which he has of yet refused to reinstate to its former condition. This is to the detriment of Langholm residents and visitors to the town. Action originally started by residents living next to the site, has broadened in to a community wide campaign. Langholm is worth more than the current treatment by businessmen living outside its bounds who do not have to suffer the every day implications to residents and the local tourism industry.

The 1999 Finance Act introduced the Cycle to Work scheme, a Government backed tax exemption scheme that allows employers to loan cycles and cyclists' safety equipment to employees as a tax-free benefit, which the employees can purchase at ‘acceptable market value’ at the end of the loan or hire period. The exemption was one of a series of measures introduced under the Government's Green Transport Plan to promote healthier journeys to work and to reduce environmental pollution. The scheme has proved very successful, with over 1 million employees participating. However, walking to work is also very healthy option for one’s commute. With even less manufacturing involved than cycling, with less embedded carbon associated with it, walking to walk can claim to be even better for the environment than cycling. Walking is obviously not an option for longer journeys, but for journeys of a few miles, a walk of up to an hour a day is a choice that can greatly improve health, take even more cars of the road and safe money on fuel or public transport fares. May 2016 is National Walking Month. In promoting this initiative the British Heart Foundation cites a ‘physical activity specialist’ as saying: "Walking is a fantastic way to keep active and maintain a healthy heart as it is fun, flexible and free.” Although correct on the health and other intangible benefits, regular commuting by foot in Britain cannot be described as ‘free’; it requires good quality, waterproof footwear and necessitates an investment in durable wet weather clothing. I therefore suggest a campaign to lobby government to amend the 1999 Finance Act to include a ‘Walk to Work’ scheme, whereby employees can gain benefits similar to those provided to cyclists by the Cycle to Work scheme, to acquire good quality, waterproof footwear and outer wear to make their regular walk to work more pleasant and beneficial.

People in small towns and villages need internet just as much as people in big towns and cities. Decent broadband connection is essential for everything from paying bills to running businesses. But for some places in the UK, the internet speed is either painfully slow or non-existent. It's time the government stepped up and fulfilled it's promise of decent broadband for everyone.

People in small towns and villages need internet just as much as people in big towns and cities. Decent broadband connection is essential for everything from paying bills to running businesses. But for some places in the UK, the internet speed is either painfully slow or non-existent. It's time the government stepped up and fulfilled it's promise of decent broadband for everyone.

People in small towns and villages need internet just as much as people in big towns and cities. Decent broadband connection is essential for everything from paying bills to running businesses. But for some places in the UK, the internet speed is either painfully slow or non-existent. It's time the government stepped up and fulfilled it's promise of decent broadband for everyone.

People in small towns and villages need internet just as much as people in big towns and cities. Decent broadband connection is essential for everything from paying bills to running businesses. But for some places in the UK, the internet speed is either painfully slow or non-existent. It's time the government stepped up and fulfilled it's promise of decent broadband for everyone.

People in small towns and villages need internet just as much as people in big towns and cities. Decent broadband connection is essential for everything from paying bills to running businesses. But for some places in the UK, the internet speed is either painfully slow or non-existent. It's time the government stepped up and fulfilled it's promise of decent broadband for everyone.

People in small towns and villages need internet just as much as people in big towns and cities. Decent broadband connection is essential for everything from paying bills to running businesses. But for some places in the UK, the internet speed is either painfully slow or non-existent. It's time the government stepped up and fulfilled it's promise of decent broadband for everyone.

People in small towns and villages need internet just as much as people in big towns and cities. Decent broadband connection is essential for everything from paying bills to running businesses. But for some places in the UK, the internet speed is either painfully slow or non-existent. It's time the government stepped up and fulfilled it's promise of decent broadband for everyone.