The chancellor has recently changed the annuity laws allowing people to to take their pension in a lump sum. Pensioners who recently cashed in their annuity, because they had no option at the time, are now stuck with pitifully small monthly pensions that will quickly lose their value with yearly inflation. This is especially true of small annuity funds with a value under £30'000. Due to the recession many people are trapped with debt that they have little chance of paying off. Allowing people to take their own money in a lump sum is just and fair. The chancellor has seen this and is changing the law, but what about those people who cannot take their money because the law does not allow it?

This is important to all of us as at current a large lump sum of taxpayers money goes towards paying the salaries of individuals who claim to be working for the care and benefit of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain. Courtesy of Google, I can tell you that there are 650 Ministers of Parliament. The basic annual salary for an MP from 1 April 2014 is £67,060. MPs also receive expenses to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London and in their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency. Making their current annual salaries combine to a total worth of £43,589000. 43 Million, 589 thousand pounds. I'm sure you'll agree that £67,060 is an amazing price to retail one persons opinion at. Well, if they care so much isn't it about time that they show this; without their benefits courtesy of us!

Because the old school is part of our heritage there are people in County Durham whose careers were started in this school, the building has been left without maintenance for a number of years, this is a grand old building and could be put to better use as a Youth Club there are lots of rooms which could be used for various projects, the huge school field could be used as a running track for budding athletes, there is enough room for a rubgy/football/cricket pitches, the children at this end of Spennymoor are lacking playing areas. I think Spennymoor has more than done their bit with regards to houses, the government/county council should now be looking elsewhere for spare land to build more houses, we are inundated and don't need more. The building was used recently for a BBC1 production of George Gentley and there must be other uses to numerous to mention here where the old school could be used.

My arm is itchy and I've got to use a plastic knife to scratch it and I think if I get Nick's autograph plastered over the plaster-cast it will take my mind of things.

Gordon Brown promised the people of Scotland before the referendum vote that they would get Federalism if they voted No http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/gordon-brown-backs-federalism-in-event-of-no-vote-1-3511291 He is now calling on Scots to sign a petition asking the three unionist party leaders to keep their promise. He promised something he was not in a position to deliver and should therefore resign.

For many it is not learning them anything, they can come back the next day and do the same things. If you remove that person from the class that they are misbehaving in to a room where they cant get distracted and can fully focus on there work. lunch detentions take up 30-40 mins of there lunch hour which irritates the pupils ending in break of bonds within the school, which most likely leads to that person giving up in school. After school detentions do the same to the pupils but added on removes there after school time/ personal time further more breaking there education thoughts

In 2011, only 35% of young people voted in the Welsh Assembly elections, compared to 70% of those aged 65+. Young people are disengaged, disinterested and overlooked. But how can we expect young people to take an interest in something they've never been educated about? #TheAmendment will set in law things that Bite The Ballot have been doing for the last five years: > We believe local Electoral Registration Officers have a duty to make sure everyone is registered to vote. > If certain groups of people are less likely to be registered, then Electoral Registration Officers need to go that extra mile to get those groups on the register. > As well as targeting these groups, we believe Electoral Registration Officers should go into Welsh schools and colleges to run voter engagement sessions. The final thing that #TheAmendment will do is make registering to vote as easy and straightforward as possible: > We want to make it possible to register to vote by simply ticking a box at the bottom of a driver's license or a passport application form (this is only on an 'opt-in' basis - none of your details will be shared, unless you agree). On 24 September 2014, Members of the Welsh Assembly, by an overwhelming majority, voted in favour of our idea. But, the Welsh Assembly cannot make laws about voting or elections. This is decided at Westminster. That's why we are calling on all Members of the House of Lords to listen to us and vote in favour of #TheAmendment. And that's why we need you to to persuade them to listen, turn up to the debate - and vote.

55 Broadway is London’s first skyscraper and part of British heritage. TFL has just revealed its proposed residential re-design of the iconic Grade 1 Listed building. If allowed to proceed, TFL will take a Grade 1 listed public body building into multiple private ownership (of apartments) and therefore out of public access. In a shocking show of greed, TFL even proposes to construct concrete newbuilds to obliterate the historic garden terraces on the 10th floor . These gardens famously offer impressive views from the unique location of the building, significantly positioned by TFL’s visionary leader Frank Pick to be midway between Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. One of the gardens was even dedicated in honour of an early environmental campaigner associated with TFL. The form and proportions of the original building and Charles Holden’s vision will be damaged irreparably. It is obvious that if the original architect considered it aesthetic and safe, the extra floor would already exist instead of the gardens. Funded by tax-payers, TFL calls itself a ‘custodian’ of London property. What kind of custodian except one acting in breach of duty and good faith will pursue cynical financial gain at the expense of history and our legacy? It must also be a matter of concern whether the rest of the building from the 1920s, is best preserved by a new construction on its wings. TFL is trying to sell off one of our most important heritage assets designed by Charles Holden as apartments to the rich. What next – the Houses of Parliament? Reckless renovation of our heritage for unsuitable use as multi-unit luxury apartments will destroy the soul of our city. TFL is supposed to connect and unite the city. How does it reconcile its ethos and reason for existence with converting its iconic HQ – our heritage as much as theirs - into private apartments for the rich? How does this ‘benefit the city’ (TFL’s own words) and tax-payers?

For too long we have sung "Flower of Scotland" in official capacities despite it not being our national anthem. While the song had a relevance in the late '70s and '80s, we now have a devolved parliament and a collective push to build a better Scotland. What does it say about us that we sing Flower of Scotland? Why then do we consider it appropriate to sing a song which mentions our nearest neighbours, as if to define ourselves, we can only do so by exclaiming what we are not? Why do we sing about an indecisive victory from 700 years ago and not the wealth of ideas, inventions and progresses we have given to the world? Why do we choose not to sing about the wonderful things that make Scotland such a great nation? Why do we choose to sing a slow, backward-looking dirge in an attempt to energise and inspire our sporting teams? It is time for the people of Scotland to have a national anthem that energises and inspires them and their sporting teams. It is time for the people of this proud nation to think about their national anthem and choose a song which better represents them

Streetlights were introduced for our safety, society hasn't got safer, it is a basic necessity in the modern world, to take this away from us, after large cuts to our police force is a very irresponsible act.

As you may or may not know, stardoll used to have a converter in which you could turn your starcoins to stardollars (10sc=1sd). Which most of us loved well <3 Bring it back by signing this!!!! ♡♡♡♡♡

Reduced School budgets will have a negative effect on the education of all children particularly in small schools. Although it looks as though school funding is increasing year on year, the expenditure faced by schools is increasing year on year. Budgets are not keeping pace with increases to pensions and staffing cost increases, as well as, the rapidly rising cost of heating and maintaining premises. This is a particular issue for small schools or schools in aging buildings. If this continues it will result in small schools closing especially in rural areas and hugely affect the education of all children in this country.