Currently, in the UK everyone has to pass their maths and English language GCSE, regardless of any disabilities that may prevent them from doing so. Since 2013, all 16 to 18-year-old students who do not already have a grade C in English or maths have to continue studying the subjects. Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has said: “Inspection evidence shows that, for some students, having to retake their GCSE can be demotivating and that attendance at these lessons is lower.” My mother works in the field of special education and says it is upsetting and unfair to those with learning difficulties who just can't pass. It is obvious that some people are more able than others, and judging everyone by the same standards is unfair and wrong. I know of a 19-year-old resitting his GCSE maths and English for the fourth time this summer, and planning to continue trying for another two years. He is perfectly eloquent, has a job, and plans to join the army. The only thing holding him back is his dyslexia and dyscalculia (number and letter blindness) that means he can't read the test papers and is stopping him continuing with his life. We plan to ask the government to allow people with a diagnosed learning difficulty to stop repeating their GCSE Mathematics and English after they have completed full-time education (at 18) if they and a specialist learning support member both agree they do not wish to continue. The government should then be more flexible with other qualifications and job prospects.

On 23 January 2017 President Trump signed an executive order reinstating the Global Gag Rule, or the Mexico City Policy. This order denies U.S. funding to global health and family planning organisations if they use money from other donors to provide abortion services, counselling or referrals—even if abortion is legal in a country. It blocks critical funding for life-saving health services like contraception, maternal health, Zika and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment for any organisation that refuses to sign it. It will have a devastating effect. The World Health Organisation estimates that every day, 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth and 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries. The Policy will hit hardest women living at the margins of society – the poorest, the most remote and those under 25. Zika and HIV are more likely to spread. Millions will suffer. The Global Gag Rule jeopardises the investment the UK Government has made in women’s health globally. Due to close inter-linkages between women’s health and poverty, environmental degradation, forced migration and conflict, these trends will worsen. The Global Gag Rule is an attempt to silence the voice, choice, and control of the world’s poorest women. The Policy is an assault on every woman, everywhere. In the spirit of the Women’s Marches last weekend, we call on the UK government to join other governments in championing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights both politically and financially. So please sign and share our petition asking the UK Government to champion life-saving services for women across the world. Many thanks, The IPPF team For more on the Global Gag Rule: http://www.ippf.org/news/why-we-will-not-sign-global-gag-rule

The new X20 bus route no longer passes through the North Broomhill & Togston villages, the residents now face up to a 3 mile rural walk to the nearest bus stop based in Hadston village to use the X20 bus service to reach the two nearest towns. We have elderly, frail & young members of our community whom are too vulnerable to make an approximate 30 minute walk between rural villages and cannot navigate the suggested alternative bus routes as they all require bus changes in different villages with a considerable distance between bus stations. An alternative service (X18) allowing passengers to commute from North Broomhill & Togston village to Hadston village and only runs once an hour, has the bus stop located at what is known as the 'road end' thus these vulnerable members of our community have to walk a considerable distance in order to access their local Doctors surgery, Children's Care Centre, Community Centre, pharmacy and shopping precinct. We would really appreciate your help in highlighting our concerns and asking DR Manfred Rudhart CEO Arriva North East to reinstate a vital bus route for those most with need and vulnerability in our community. Many thanks for taking the time to read this.

The Belfast Telegraph recently published an article outlining plans to demolish the Movie House on Dublin Road. "Plans are now under way to knock down the Movie House cinema on Dublin Road and build a £65m 12-storey office scheme with a capacity for 3,000 staff." You can read more here http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/65m-office-block-at-belfast-movie-house-site-will-create-600-jobs-35398523.html I believe that the Movie House on Dublin Road is one of the best cinemas in the city, out of the very few that we have. Losing it would be yet another nail in the coffin for the arts in Belfast for the sake of the commercial and financial gain of the minority. Any proposal to demolish this wonderful cinema would be yet another example of the rampant 'beigification' of Belfast. Those of us who want to save the Movie House from such shameful fate need to fight for it right now. A petition signed by 1000s of people whilst an open consultation process is ongoing may just make developers think twice about demolishing our cinema. We need the power of signatures to help us convince developers that the cinema is worth keeping and important to many people. We must unite and reject any proposals to destroy our arts scene.

Portavoe holds a special place in our hearts, and it would be devastating to lose such a haven of beauty and tranquility. The decommissioning of our open reservoirs and placing them onto the open market has quite rightly caused outcry from us, the public, who have enjoyed them for so many years. A local property developer has won a recent High Court battle with Northern Ireland Water in his wider bid to buy lands, and if successful could completely ban the public from them. NI Waters fought the case at the High Court as hard as they could, but the judgement could be subject to appeal. Ards/North Down Councils had also expressed interest in purchasing the land for the benefit of all residents. Please sign the petition to show your support for keeping Portavoe accessible to all! For more information please follow "Friends of Portavoe" page on Facebook.

This is important because it is an outdated and ignorant approach to modern day work life. I left my role within a very large law firm as I was unable to continue working for a company who said that I cannot be taken seriously and would never have a successful career if I did not wear makeup or wear a specific nail colour. This archaic approach made me feel very uncomfortable and disheartened that as a woman, my looks were considered far more important and influential than my abilities to fulfill a role. Dress length, make-up, nail colours, heels are all things that don't define your ability to do a job, so they should not be made part of a company policy. I'd love Intelligent Office to take a stand on this and show the way for other companies on these sexist policies

Waiting time for appointments should depend on need not the basic ability to pay. Do we need to go back to pre NHS times just so extremely well paid GP's can increase their coffers? It is basically dangerous. Already the poorer members of our society have a lower life expectancy and generally poorer health, paying for a GP will just excesserbate the current situation. GP appointments for medical reasons, should always be free at the point of contact and remain a basic tenet of the NHS.

In the UK we use a staggering 38.5 million single-use plastic bottles and a further 58 million cans every day! Only half of these are recycled, so it’s no surprise that many of these end up on our beaches and in our oceans. Plastic bottles take 450 years to break down, killing marine life, harming the coastal ecosystem and ruining our beaches. Placing a small deposit on plastic bottles and cans would dramatically increase recycling and reduce marine plastic pollution. This petition has been set up by Surfers Against Sewage, a marine conservation charity. Find out more about Surfers Against Sewage here: www.sas.org.uk For more information on deposit return systems please visit Surfers Against Sewage’s Message In A Bottle campaign site. https://www.sas.org.uk/messageinabottle/ A delegation from Surfers Against Sewage will deliver the petition signatures to the Governments in Westminster (London), Holyrood (Edinburgh), Senedd (Cardiff) and Stormont (Belfast).

Lewes District Council has just announced that it will no longer calculate Council Tax Relief based on self-employed people’s actual income and that it will now use an arbitrary income figure based on a calculation of 37 hours times the Minimum Wage. This will have the effect of immediately cutting the amount given in Relief to many of our hard-working self-employed. In this area many local residents are self-employed and together make a huge economic contribution to our area. They are to be valued, not penalised.

Juggling Jim has been a huge presence in King's Lynn and will be sadly missed. As far as we know he has no family and we don't want him to be forgotten

This is the last bank in Speyside, the closure means traveling 13.6 miles to Keith which is the branch customers are being transferred to. There is no direct bus link to Keith. Customers will need to take a bus to Elgin first (15 miles) then on to Keith (17 miles) The bus is also expensive. We have been told that we can use the local post office but as the local post offices have also closed this is not acceptable. The post office is now a counter in a local shop with no privacy and can't offer all the services of a bank. Pensioners don't feel secure going there and using the counter for their pensions. Many customers with a post office benefits account received letters asking them to change to a bank card which they did only to have their branch close. The people of Tomintoul had to travel 23 miles to use this branch after theirs was closed already.

As a father of a disabled daughter