Michael MacDonald was arrested on the night of the 16th February when he was at home alone looking after his young son. The arrest followed an incident earlier in the day when MacDonald, known by friends and colleagues as 'Don', engaged with Nick Forbes, the the Labour Council leader, in the street. 'Don' wanted to discuss with Forbes, the effects of the cuts to Newcastle's youth services, which the youth worker fears will have a devastating effect on the most vulnerable residents of the city. Don was not threatening to him. He didn't swear. He only tried to explain to Forbes, as a professional youth worker, the effects these cuts would have on the city's services. The actions taken by Forbes and the police are not what we expect of those who are meant to serve and protect the residents of Newcastle. It is important that situations involving the police as outlined above are not allowed to occur, which serve to intimidate and disturb the people of Newcastle who exercise their right to peaceful protest and freedom of speech. Although a minor offence, if charged Don would be left with a criminal record and there would a black mark against this hard-working and well respected community worker. Don was served a fixed penalty notice under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, but has returned this notice to the court and has stated his intention to fight the accusation. His arrest has serious implications for public protest and freedom of expression in Newcastle and nationally. We stand with him against this attack on the right to protest. The accusation is unjust, meant to intimidate and is preposterous. It is clear that: 1. A civil servant has used their authority to demand an arrest. 2. The police have removed a family man from his home in the middle of the night when he had sole responsibility for his six year old child, detained him for four hours on the basis of a minor charge, during which time he was encouraged to accept a fixed penalty fine for doing nothing more than exercising the rights we all have as residents of Newcastle. Initial signatories: John McDonnell MP Kate Hudson, national secretary Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Jerry Hicks, Unite Grassroots Left Dot Gibson, National Secretary Pensioner Convention Bill Bowring, Haldane Society Socialist Lawyers Andrew Burgin, vice chair Coalition of Resistance

In our village, farmland is under threat by many large developers. They obviously find fields an attractive proposition as they can just clear away the trees and hedges and build and this is more profitable than using brownfield sites however this is NOT the answer. Apart from homes, more importantly we need food that is safe to eat. I am sure this problem is an issue all over England since the government decided it was fine to build on green spaces which have previously been protected. Farmland is not just beneficial for providing food, it also helps with absorbing water and giving space to wildlife all of which assist our own health and well being.

Under the new qualifier, if you can walk from your vehicle to the other side of the road, you probably won't qualify for Higher Mobility Allowance! My Motability vehicle is my contact with the outside world. I can't use public transport, and would therefore be dependent on the goodwill of others. Many thousands are in this position, and would be trapped in their homes or deprived of the allowance under the current legislation. I have a degenerative condition of the spine. As things currently stand I would not qualify for the higher mobility allowance because it is deemed that by walking 20 metres you have sufficient mobility and therefore do not qualify. This is obviously not true. My condition means that it can be difficult to walk those distances. But under the rules as they stand I would not qualify. This will have a huge impact on my life, my wife and children. I was eligible for an adapted car, but under these news rules it may be that I don't qualify. There are countless people like me, facing losing mobility assistance and becoming prisoners in their own homes. The government must rethink this rule change.

Potash is a vital source of potassium which is an essential nutrient for plant growth that strengthens cell walls, increases disease resistance and aids the absorption of nitrogen and phosphorous. The York Potash Project will mine polyhalite, a unique source of potassium, magnesium, sulphur and calcium, which can play a key role in balanced fertilisation across the world. With growing world populations it is vital for food security that the UK has a long term supply of this mineral. The York Potash deposit is the largest and highest grade deposit in the world and a new, deep mine with infrastructure that is below ground or hidden behind extensive landscaping can set new benchmarks for sensitive development, whilst creating thousands of jobs and giving a major boost to local and national economies.

The BBC reported last November: “An ‘intolerable risk’ is being posed by hazardous waste stored in run-down buildings at Sellafield nuclear plant, a watchdog has found.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-20228176 The report by the National Audit Office (NAO) stated: “Some of the older facilities at Sellafield containing highly hazardous radioactive waste have deteriorated so much that their contents pose significant risks to people and the environment." http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/1213/sellafield_risk_reduction.aspx This waste has already been created, and it has to be kept safe until a proper solution is in place for dealing with it. West Cumbria urgently needs government investment to enable it to safeguard this material on behalf of us all. What's more, the problem is growing - there’s 44 tonnes more waste currently being moved down from Dounreay, with another 30 tonnes in the pipeline. The Government must immediately commit the investment to make Sellafield safe. This is one item of expenditure that simply must not be cut back. The Government must also order the NDA to stop shipping waste into Sellafield, until the facilities are given a clean bill of health by the NAO.

It is much more sensible to convert the wood which will be used in biomass energy generation into wood into everyday useful products like building materials and furniture that can last for tens of years rather than going up in smoke in seconds. Because of the payment of carbon credits, traditional users of this resource are not able to compete fairly. Energy generators are able to pay more than double the price paid by UK manufacturers who traditionally use wood to make their products. This has driven up prices by 60% in the last five years and, inevitably, these costs are passed onto all of us. Wood used in manufacturing ensures carbon is locked in for up to 35 years, then recycled and only then the remaining unusable scrap timber is burnt for heat generation instead of going to landfill sites. Whereas burning trees directly from the forests will release tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere now. Here’s the science: when wood is burnt, C02 is emitted – one tonne of dry wood burnt in a power station will emit 1.8 tonnes of CO2 which goes into the atmosphere. The DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) has ignored these emissions; they argue that the carbon released is offset by the carbon absorbed by the growing forest so they assume that wood used as biomass fuel is a ‘carbon-free asset’. This means that they can completely ignore the very real carbon emitted by the smokestacks of power plants, on the assumption that it is offset by the growth of trees. Unfortunately, this dismisses the fact that forests are already growing and already storing carbon. When the trees are harvested and burnt, that carbon storage is reduced and the carbon that was in the tree is released into the atmosphere. So the energy companies are being paid to increase carbon emissions now. And, to add insult to injury, the environmentally disastrous results of burning wood for energy is subsidised by almost a £1billion a year, with households providing the money for this subsidy via their energy bills – that’s you. If only half of the planning permission applications for biomass power stations are approved, they will have the capacity to consume many times the entire annual UK sustainable timber harvest. This subsidy has the potential to result in many negative outcomes: increased C02, loss of British jobs and manufacturing, unnecessary increased prices of wood-based products and also the possibility of endangering already fragile eco-systems across the world. As the price increases for items such as wood panels, builders may consider plywood instead from sources such as China. This raises more environmental issues as timber from these sources may have come from threatened rain forests and illegal logging. Timber from threatened rainforests in Brazil, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea is used in making plywood and it is still imported into the UK with the WWF estimating that around £712million a year is spent on illegal wood. This year the EU has at least passed a new directive to address this problem but it’s likely to be some time before the legislation is rigorously enforced. Meanwhile, more and more vital habitats for threatened species are being destroyed. So the knock-on effect of the government’s subsidies will have repercussions around the world, not only increasing C02 emissions produced by the energy companies but also indirectly adding further danger to the fragile ecosystem of the world’s dwindling rain forests. It can be stopped.

Only a full public inquiry can now get to the bottom of this story. We need to know how local and central government dealt with the Trump Organisation, what was offered by whom and when, and we need to establish why planning guidelines and environmental regulations were simply unable to protect our community and the unique environment we live in. Finally, we need to know what changes can be made so the planning system again works like it is supposed to.

The RSPB have asked the question, "when was the last time you saw a lapwing tumbling through the sky or a heard of turtle doves gently purring as you walked through fields" The loss of 44 Million Nesting Birds is hard to comprehend and is a direct result on the irresponsible actions of Human Beings! We must act now and care for these beautiful creatures in every way we can!

Those who cannot afford £75,000 can defer payment until after their death, and nobody would be forced to sell their home in their lifetime. But once the bill is settled by disposal of the property, many ordinary families will be left with little to show for what their relative has worked for all their life. In Liverpool, where the average home is worth around £132,000, there would be just £57,000 left over after settling the contribution to care costs. Stephen Burke, head of charity United for All Ages, called it “the dampest of damp squibs”. He added: “It is a con of the worst sort. There are fairer and better alternatives. The Government could have raised the capital threshold of paying for care to £200,000.” Labour peer Lord Warner, who sat on the Dilnot Commission, said members thought the cost cap should have been £50,000 at most. He added: “At that level, it would mean on average no-one would have to dispose of more than about a third of the value of their housing assets.” Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall said the package was a “small step forward” as the assets people could own and still qualify for help had increased five-fold from just £23,250. But she added: “It won’t be fair for people with modest homes.”

Over one and a half million hydrogen powered vehicles could be on UK roads by 2030 according to a joint Government-industry study published today. The forecast is made in an interim report commissioned to evaluate the benefits of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and ensure the UK is well positioned for their commercial roll-out. For more see: http://news.bis.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=422877&SubjectId=2

Over 30 000 pupils have taken part in their "Trading Challenge Workshop" in which students are split into teams of four and "introduced to the challenge of buying and selling oil on the 'International Markets'". This is full of blatant BP propaganda, misinformation and the obscuring of the full picture, as is obvious from the promotional video: http://www.netroadshow.com/custom/bp/bpflv3.asp?cf=090409b One pupil reported being removed from their scheduled GCSE lessons for two hours and threatened with being punished for truancy if they refused to participate in this workshop. In causing climate change, BP threatens the wellbeing and livelihoods of generations present and future. They threaten the survival of entire nations and peoples. That BP seeks to subject young people that are faced with the threat of the full effects of climate change to its propaganda is repulsive and morally repugnant. BP, or any other fossil fuel companies, should not be allowed to enter schools. We invite students, teachers, parents, governors, entire schools, Local Education Authorities, the Department for Education and others to stand up in opposition to this dangerous propaganda and ensure that oil companies are not allowed in classrooms over which you have control.

The wrongful arrest and detention of Palestinian children has a long history and is contrary to UN, EU and UK law The International Declaration of Human Rights protects and enshrines the rights of childre as does the UN constitution The treatment of Palestinian children in detention is in breach of both of these for further info please go to: www.palestinecampaign.org