The London Borough of Barnet is fortunate to have four excellent nursery schools (Brookhill, Hampden Way, Moss Hall and St Margaret’s) all of which have been graded 'outstanding' by OFSTED. All four are under threat from the latest Barnet Council proposal. http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s18692/Nursery%20School%20Review.pdf All four nursery schools put in place the essential building blocks of education in a safe, social and rated ‘outstanding’ environment. Barnet Council Officers are proposing changes to meet the planned cuts in funding which, we are concerned, could spell the end for the 'outstanding' level of education offered by our community nursery schools. Currently each school has its own head teacher, deputy head teacher and each class has a teacher to achieve its outstanding status. This level of staffing cannot remain with the proposed changes to funding. We believe it is wrong that providers delivering basic childcare are funded at the same rate as schools providing ‘outstanding education’. This funding formula will result in drastic cuts in staffing which will directly undermine the schools' ability to provide the same high standard of education and support to parents and the community. We also fear the schools are at risk of ending up being stripped back to providing only basic childcare in 'bare minimum Barnet'. If these draconian proposals are put in place the damage will be irreversible.

It is important to stop further privatisation of the NHS. Read more here: http://news.sky.com/story/1356686/nhs-sale-plan-controversy-risk-for-ministers

It's a well known fact that the British population is a big target of social manipulation. From the newspapers to social networking. We are told how to think by what we view. Obviously not everybody believes in everything our media sources tell us. But when politicians give us figures to bolster their laws and regulations, that is when it too can get lost in translation. FOR EXAMPLE: The TTIP (transatlantic trade and investment partnership) has predicted an additional £10bn being added to the UK economy, with the EU reaping dividend of some £100bn if the agreement is sealed within 12 months. These statistics are a complete fallacy. There is no truth, no mathematical procedure, nor evidence to suggest that this trade deal will bring in such figures. In fact IBtimes, recently posted that A report commissioned by the Left political grouping in the European Parliament, released in March, echoed these views. The report found that "estimated gains from TTIP are very small"; that it will likely have minimal impact on EU unemployment and that any impact on EU exports (a maximum 10% increase) will take place over a number of decades, rather than immediately. The Left group added that the most zealous projections around TTIP fail to include the social and environmental impact of the treaty. But these factors are more nebulous, whereas the figures are just wrong. It is dangerous for our governments to blatantly lie through their teeth with false statistics to benefit their own agendas. This needs to stop. Right now. With your help we can make sure that the Government provides factual statistics, backed up with a mathematical, and practical procedure as to how they got that result, when contributing to political debates.

The utility of excessive homework even at secondary level is far from clear and at primary level and below is deeply resented by growing numbers of children, their parents and their teachers.Ridiculous amounts of homework are routinely imposed on young children as a short term means of - for the teachers' and headteachers' benefits - passing tests and meeting targets that are themselves narrow, methodologically unsound, unnecessary and politically motivated. Whilst some might argue that 'moderate' or 'reasonable' loads of homework are not detrimental, the present structuring of education to such short-term school goals and the failure of the teaching profession to resist the associated attack on decent educational values ensures that such moderation now exists only rarely. Instead, teachers and headteachers are consumed in 'races to the top' of league tables directly at the expense of the children in their care. In the short term children are denied the leisures and pleasures (many of which are of far more learning value than homework) of the different childhoods they could otherwise have had. In the longer term, an inevitable and resentful disengagement from the love of learning scandalously underline the intellectual and moral poverty of our educational 'leaders'.

So Scotland gets the exact revenues from fisheries and oil and gas revenues that is due Rightfully due to Scotland.

The establishments threatened have long proven to be a hub of creativity and independent entrepreneurial talent, supporting both artists and creative endeavours which in return attracts valuable assets such as investors, students and visitors interested in our city. These local businesses and retailers are an important part of our economy, character and identity. The eradication of these cherished and unique aspects to our landscape would be a crisis both economically and culturally. For example, Rare and Racy are one of the few independent traders in Sheffield left who support local and national underground record labels, publishers, magazines ect. Syd and Mallory's are a highly respected grassroots Sheffield designer emporium, whose countless achievements include national fashion shows, training of future designers and most recently they have been commissioned to design the costumes for the critically acclaimed 'This is England' series. The eradication of these cherished and unique aspects to our landscape would be a crisis both economically and culturally.

Despite years of equality legislation and the declared will of many policy-makers, women continue to be subject to economic, health, safety and power inequality in the UK. These inequalities are experienced strongly in England where women’s inequality is increasing under current public policies. In recent years we have seen attacks on legislation intended to promote greater equality, existing legislation not being implemented adequately and a regression in public attitudes to the principles of equality and social progress. The recent Queen's speech and Government Programme address only some of these issues and only in part. The SW Women's Manifesto calls for action are now even more important. We call on The Minister and all Government and Opposition MPs to pledge support to our ‘calls to action’. We have identified a number of positive, achievable actions that would make a significant difference to women’s lives, making women: • safer; • healthier; • more financially secure; • a greater presence in public policy making We believe these policies would improve the lives of children, vulnerable adults and the elderly, irrespective of gender. We are particularly concerned that women from BME communities continue to be more disadvantaged, even more than other women, and that the position of women is becoming worse relative to that of men. The discussions are moving more towards ‘families’ and women as individuals are disappearing from the agenda. See: http://www.fairplaysouthwest.org.uk/manifesto

Letter sent to MP: I write to you requesting your urgent attention on the untenable traffic situation in Carshalton Road which is becoming virtually impossible to access my stables without fear of accident. We raised this issue in 2010, yet it was deemed not dangerous enough to warrant action given that nobody had been killed. This I found to be completely unacceptable and I have had no other option than taking this matter further again giving how significantly worse the situation has become. To ignore it, and literally wait for an accident to happen would be neglectful and irresponisble. I do not wish to have it on my conscience that I had not done all that I could to protect the safety of myself, my animals and others should a serious accident occur. I would therefore strongly urge you to challenge the previous response I received and argue that nobody should have to die unnecessarily on this road before action is taken. Cars and Lorries consistently exceed speed limits and do not adhere to legal Highway Code requirements by giving no consideration to riders, pedestrians, animals or other traffic. In the past month one of my horses, whilst being ridden by myself, was hit by a car yet the driver did not stop and just continued to drive. Fortunately my horse was fine but I fell and had significant bruising to my thigh and my GP told me that I was lucky not to have been seriously injured. Within the same week, I also witnessed on one occassion school children almost being knocked over, despite them wearing high visibility jackets and being carefully escorted by their school teacher. These are not an isolated incidents and in fact dangerous driving has now become the norm. Other tenants at my stables have been forced to relocate their animals as they can no longer tolerate the situation. They and myself, sadly now feel unable to take our horses out for a ride and enjoy the beautiful green belt that we are fortunate to have on our doorstep, for fear of being killed. My view is shared by many other residents, land owners and tenants on Carshalton Road and we all feel that we are being left vulnerable and in grave danger. I would be extremely grateful for a response and advice as to how we can resolve this dangerous situation. You and your colleagues would be more than welcome to visit my stables and witness the situation for yourselves should you require it. Looking forward to receiving your response. King regards, Miss Jacqueline Cooksey

If the continuing build up of sediment continues and annual rainfall increases it is only a matter of time till more major flooding takes place along the banks of the River Tyne and more subsidence occurs, if dredging could be done it would create jobs as well as create leisure opportunities on the river with a more free flowing river.

One in twenty adults in this country is affected by thyroid disease. Women with hypothyroidism outnumber men by ten to one. Symptoms include anxiety and depression, cardiological problems, hair loss, lack of libido, physical pain, exhaustion, hypertension, high cholesterol and weight gain. Some GPs also tell patients that diabetes is an inevitable long term consequence. The NHS diagnosis and management of the condition is usually through one blood test which measures thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). The lower the thyroid hormones in the pituitary gland, the more TSH the pituitary secretes. For decades now, this condition has been treated almost exclusively with Levothyroxine, a synthetic form of one thyroid hormone: T4. For most patients, T4 in the Levothyroxine converts to T3, which is then used by the body for energy. However, for a large proportion of hypothyroidism patients, this treatment either stops working or never quite starts. Even though these people’s TSH readings might fall into the ‘normal’ range (which, depending on your GP, can be anywhere between under 5 and under 10) their symptoms soon return and worsen over time. They are then told it’s ‘all in their mind’ or due to their lifestyle, and they receive no further help to cope with an ever-decreasing quality of life. Some may, in the meantime, be prescribed anti-depressants or be diagnosed with Fibromyalgia or CFS. Others develop heart conditions, particularly atrial fibrillation, which can occur both through under and over medication: this highlights the need for a more nuanced approach to their thyroid blood tests. Most, at any rate, simply have to deal with their condition(s) on their own with very limited help from the NHS. Much success has been achieved through some enlightened NHS endocrinologists or privately, however, using a combination of levothyroxine and liothyronine (T3) or natural desiccated thyroid, the old standard treatment before Levothyroxine. There is a growing trend amongst patients to feel the need to take their treatment into their own hands, including more extensive blood tests to show the real extent of their thyroid’s condition and activity, and thereby more accurately gauge the effectiveness of medication. This does, however, mostly have to happen privately due to the limited guidelines of the NHS. This means that, apart from the individual expense, monitoring of the treatment and condition is not regulated and information/research is not being gathered by the extensive NHS network to improve its understanding and treatment of hypothyroidism. We call on you to reconsider the NHS's adherence to the TSH reading as the principal guideline for diagnosing and monitoring hypothyroidism, to take patients’ symptoms more into consideration and to routinely use a full panel of FT4, FT3 and TSH blood tests for anyone still displaying symptoms of under-active thyroid, particularly when on thyroid hormone treatment. We also call on the NHS to make the combined medication of T3 – liothyronine – with Levothyroxine much more easily available to patients whose symptoms do not sufficiently improve on T4 alone. Considering the amount of work days lost and lack of quality of life for such a large number of tax payers, it is in the country’s interest that these patients should get more help. Their symptoms of exhaustion, physical pain, depression and anxiety, along with the increased tendency to develop cardiac disease and diabetes, should not be dismissed as just another malaise of middle age when there is a growing body of evidence to the contrary from people who have managed to treat themselves back to a level of health and vitality that they, and their GPs, thought they had lost for ever.

We the undersigned are fed up with the lies and deceit that comes from Westminster. The empty and broken promises from before and after the referendum left many angry from both the Yes and No camps. We can not watch any more of our countries recourses being plundered when millions are being forced to use foodbanks. We will not allow any fracking or nuclear waste to destroy or land. The only way to get the powers that Scotland need to survive is to become a full independent nation with or without Westminster's permission.

The police on our frontline that have to deal with crime on a daily basis are being treated horrendously and all the government is doing is cutting or not replacing frontline police officers. If our officers on the frontline are not supported and are put in danger every time they go to work because of numbers or because other departments are just trying to hit targets how can they do a job of a police officer. Our government has wasted endless amounts of money on police commissioners that are paid £100k per year and do nothing to help make our communities safer. As a society without a strong structured police forces that is supported to do a great job we will Find crime isn't being solved but left for us to deal with. This is an important public service that as a community we should be fighting for and also looking at the police officers on the front line that are being treated and put in further danger everyday.