Lives are at risk by not letting people donate who can donate. Every drop counts, even if it extends a life by just a few years. When a couple is together for a year, they can get a aids test done and let that result be the green or red light for donations. There is a higher risk in heterosexual couples who participate in "dogging" , if blood stocks are that low as they claim it is, every drop of blood counts. If this works then another campaign can be tagged on this one to allow people donating after ten years after the transfusion date. The symptoms should show by then to proof you have it or not.

I am a consultant for additional educational and emotional needs. I have spent most of the last 50 years working with young people who have complex learning difficulties. We, as a society, must show understanding and compassion. DR MIC CAROLAN

Newbiggin Library is a vitally important public service. Without consultation Northumberland County Council have decided to move it to the Sports Centre leaving both the quality of the library service and the future of the seriously neglected, much loved former school building which it currently occupies uncertain. Newbiggin people should be properly consulted about such major decisions in their town.

If the government did this we would need one less nuclear power station. The cost of doing so is miniscule compared to the the cost of Hinkley Point and would only need to be done once and would last forever. Think of the small businesses and jobs that would be created and we would have lower energy bills.

Those of us in this area are equidistant between Clapham Common Tube (Northern Line) and Brixton (Victoria Line). TFL runs a double decker bus every 3-4 mins to Clapham Common but only one single decker every 10-15 mins to Brixton. Half of the passengers at my stop want to travel to Brixton but there is only 10% of the capacity that is destined for Clapham. As a result most of us are forced to go to Clapham and get on the Northern Line, then change at Stockwell. The Northern Line is then put under even more strain. TFL constantly ask Northern Line passengers to seek alternative routes but provide no viable alternative to those wishing to use the Victoria Line. Additionally one bus every 15 mins means that if you miss one, or can't get on due to overcrowding, you are invariably late for work. Very often there are more people standing than the legal limit and the "please move down inside the bus" message is on a loop the whole journey. Coming home the 355 leaves Brixton and is often too full to let anyone else board by the second stop on the route, due to lack of frequency. The route is hideously overcrowded between Clapham South and Brixton but under-utilised between Mitcham and Clapham South. Perhaps the solution is a regular and frequent shuttle between Clapham South and Brixton which would solve the problem AND take pressure off the Northern Line which is at breaking point.

Only a tiny percent of the billions of plastic cups thrown away are currently recycled. The waste is phenomenal and the destructive impact on the environment is appalling. What point have we got to in society where plastic is created, formed into a spoon, wrapped in more plastic and shipped, only to be used for a few seconds before being thrown away, never to be reused and to exist on the planet for the foreseeable future? Plastic cups and cutlery clog up our oceans injuring and killing all that live in there. In response to this France has just passed another ground breaking law. The law, which will come into effect in 2020, will ensure that all disposable plates, cups, knives and forks will have to be made of biologically-sourced materials and can be composted. And this is just the latest part of France’s transition into a greener country. Earlier this year, supermarkets and stores in France were told they could no longer hand out plastic bags. We in the UK should be following suit. The large packaging companies and their industry groups will be lobbying against any such suggestion. But our government needs to override such protectionism for the greater good of us all. Recyclable is not good enough - we have all seen how difficult it is to actually find places in the real world to recycle these types of apparently "recyclable" plastics. The law must be to ensure these single use products are compostable. Ensuring all disposable cutlery and crockery is fully compostable will cut both the energy used in plastic production and the waste and pollution caused by its disposal. We ask the Secretary of State to follow France's lead and ensure that by 2020 all disposable plates, cups, knives, forks and spoons are made of biologically sourced materials and can be composted.

Ireland has become the Puppy Farm Capital of Europe. A recent Panorama programme exposed the untold misery the animals endured. Filthy conditions. Kept in crates they can hardly turn around. Deprived to natural light, water & human company.

Small electric cars like the Peugeot Ion, Mitsubishi iMiev and Citroën Zero, do not have large enough batteries to use a full 30 minute charge. The maximum range of these cars at motorway speeds is 50-60 miles. Fast chargers only charge the battery to 80%, so that is 40-48 miles. Allow 10 miles probably already in the battery at the start of the charge, and that's 30-38 miles for £6. Compare with an ordinary diesel car, doing about 60 mpg, where each gallon costs about £5.50, and you will see it costs about twice as much to run a small car charged at an Ecotricity charging point as it does to run a diesel car filled at a pump. On the other hand, if you charge the electric car at home, it costs about half as much to run as the diesel (even with full price green electricity).

Ms Cafferkey selflessly risked her own life to leave the comfort of her home and care for sick and dying Ebola victims in Sierra Leone. After contracting the disease herself, she nearly died on two occasions but has bravely fought the disease and returned to her work as a nurse in Blantyre, Scotland. Her bravery and caring for others is truly exceptional and she deserves the recognition of our whole nation. She is a truly inspiring figure and role model for us all.

The cuts to funding will hinder people with learning disabilities, who want to live independently, as well as homeless projects, potentially creating a Postcode lottery. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dwp-disability-cuts-supported-housing-mencap-womens-refuges-homeless-hostels-a7309466.html#gallery Ministers say it is needed for efficiently, but picking on vulnerable members of society, will only increase problems further down the line. Steps to tackle corporate tax dodging would be a better way of making these savings. As someone who is disabled myself, I feel very strongly, that people like us should be able to live independently, and contribute to society, and not be made to feel we are being cast out. Growing up, I was made to feel a second class citizen by peoples attitudes, and have felt we have made a lot of progress through coverage of the Paralympics, being a great example.

Its much important for the prosperity of both the UK Government the illegal immigrants as well..because the government can collect a huge tax and for the immigrants they will feel safety and harmony inside in UK.

Brexit demonstrated the disengagement many people feel from 'the Westminster bubble'.The state of northern cities - and seaside towns - has changed little in the decades since de-industrialisation; much of the north still feels like JB Priestley's 1930s account in his 'English Journey'. And yet the north has a fabulous heritage of Victorian buildings lying idle that people would die for in the south. The whole focus of the country's economy needs to move out of the overheated south east where housing is impossibly expensive for the younger generation and the infrastructure is groaning. If Bonn can move to Berlin, then London can move to Manchester or Liverpool & put their money where their mouth is on realising a 'northern powerhouse'. Democracy needs renewal - symbolised by a modern building that incorporates and renews a significant element of our built heritage. Something of the scale of Stanley Docks in Liverpool comes to mind.