People have lived on the Levels for centuries, all villages and farms are on land approx 10 m above sea levels, fields are not. The storms over the last two years have been devastating. I know as I have photographs of the area. Most of these people provide food.

It's not important it is essential - families have to work together; from teaching right and wrong, to learning life skills - so that you raise a child, not an android in society. There are enough pressures on children from an early age and yet the Government is trying to impose more. I feel as a working Mum of three, that one very important point has been missed from all conversations - that of Child Welfare. This is at the heart of my campaign, and is supported by unicef's Convention of the Rights of the Child: "Children have the right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities." Article 31 (Leisure, Play & Culture) "Governments should respect the rights and responsibilities of families to direct and guide their children so that, as they grow, they learn to use their rights properly. Helping children to understand their rights does not mean pushing them to make choices with consequences that they are too young to handle." Article 5 (Parental Guidance) Also, longer hours will not ensure better standards. OECD data shows that English pupils already spend more time in compulsory education between the ages of 7 and 14 than in Finland, Korea and Japan - countries that have very high education standards. In fact "when it comes to learning, it’s the quality of teaching at school and students’ attitude towards learning that count most, not the number of hours students spend studying.” ~ Pisa In Focus. By signing this petition it shows Government that parents do not support the idea of longer school hours. References: http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2013/04/gove-misleads-spectator-conference-about-longer-school-days-and-shorter-holidays-in-the-far-east/ http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf

This plan will decimate early years provision in the town. The council plans to reduce the number of centres from 22 to 9- leaving many areas without provision, staff facing redudancy, and families losing essential services in their community. We are holding a family event on Saturday 29 March which will start with a march from the Town Hall at 12 heading to All Saints Square for live music, face painting, speakers and more! Public consultation meetings are being held in the coming months- http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/consultations/Childrens_Centre_consultation/index.php

Horizontal hydraulic fracturing, ‘fracking’, is a way of extracting oil and/or gas. Water, sand and toxic chemicals are injected at high pressure into underground rocks to shatter them. This releases the gas/oil which can be collected. But investing in carbon-intensive fossil fuels is a distraction from the need to decarbonise our electricity supply. And it's hazardous. Studies show that fracking pollutes water supplies (with arsenic and lead), causes earthquakes, and spoils local communities. The Island's environment is particularly precious to its vital tourist industry and its water table is a resource we cannot afford to put at risk. We very much urge the Isle of Wight Council to live up to its proclaimed 'green' aspirations by instead actively encouraging micro-generation of 'green' renewable energy on the Island.

The BBC television programme ‘Fake or Fortune’ broadcast an item on 2 February in which one of my constituents, Mr Martin Lang of Leeds, had bought in good faith a painting by Marc Chagall entitled Nude 1909-1910 for GBP 100,000. Research conducted by the programme suggested that the picture may be a forgery. A final opinion was sought from the Paris-based Chagall Committee, presided over by the artist’s grand-daughters. They assert that the picture is a forgery and have now threatened to invoke their right under French law to destroy the picture, possibly immediately. I hope that a less drastic alternative can be found as I believe that this piece should be preserved for its own sake. At the very least, the picture may be used as evidence in any future criminal proceedings.

Michael Gove believes "...that from time to time you need to refresh the person who is in charge of an organisation." Time to refresh the Education Secretary. Michael Gove has repeatedly shown that his ideas are out of step with those of experienced education professionals. It is high time he is replaced by someone with competence in the field.

The closure of respite care and transfers for after care from hospital to Winifred Kettle home in Westhoughton is very important to our community Many people have used the facilities of this wonderful care home over many years. The services of dedicated staff from cleaners, domestics, carers and managers is exemplary. We all may need the services in the future. The elderly population is increasing, but more homes are closing. Many carers are elderly themselves and circumstances do not allow them to look after loved ones. We must rally round together to put pressure on Bolton councillors to change their minds.

We must protect our children.

Its a no brainer. People are hungry and poor and food is being wasted. Three men were recently arrested for taking food from a supermarket skip, this food would be wasted and yet the needy get arrested for taking it.

The UK throws away over 5.3 million tonnes (£12 billion worth) of edible food each year. In a time of economic hardship its grotesque that such a huge quantity of food is wasted whilst more and more people are becoming reliant on food banks. Supermarkets are one of the worst contributors to food waste but rather than donate their excess food to charity, many supermarkets send it to landfill or to be incinerated. This is partly due to fear of prosecution should someone become ill and partly out of a desire to maintain their profit margins - if people are getting food for free then they don't need to buy it from you. At the most basic level people take food from bins out of desperation, because they need to eat to survive. However, many others rescue food because they wish to reduce their environmental impact or because of an anti-consumerist ideology. Many of these freegans donate rescued food to charity or share it with their friends, family and neighbours. Technically something which has been thrown away still belongs to the person who threw it out and taking it can be seen as theft. People who rescue food from bins are charged with "theft by finding" or similar offences. But how can someone "steal" food which has been thrown away and is destined to rot on a landfill site? Below are some links containing more information and details of some of the arrests and prosecutions: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13037808 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6933744.stm http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-bin-raiders-revelations-on-waste-food-put-21st-century-scavengers-in-the-spotlight-8904765.html http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/28/three-charged-vagrancy-act-food-skip-iceland

''A man will stand trial next month after being caught taking some tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese from the dustbins behind a branch of Iceland.........May, 35, along with Jason Chan and William James, all residents of a squat in north London, were arrested on 25 October, just before midnight, after a member of the public called the police to report three men climbing over a wall at the back of Iceland in Kentish Town...The total value of the items taken allegedly amounted to £33 and they were of low value." (from The Guardian). In this time of austerity we must stand up for those who can't afford to feed themselves, and who are also prepared to use food that would otherwise be interred in landfills. This is a call for humanity to triumph over the kind of greed and ignorance that causes the death and suffering of the most poor and vulnerable. Should this case be prosecuted, the implications for others who may find themselves in need, and who may choose, therefore, to skip, could be serious. Please sign this petition to stop a precedent being set by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service - Baljit Ublhey is the head of the CPS in London: let's send her a message. It's time to stand up for what is morally right.

We understand the need for Sellafield to routinely cull animals on site in an effort to contain the spread of radiation. However, if as Sellafield says the deer have not entered the site and are not contaminated in any way then surely a more humane solution would be to permanently remove the new double fencing in the woodland area and instead reinforce the original fence another way. As well as preventing the "need" for a cull, this would be a goodwill gesture and would benefit the whole ecosystem of the woodland. Roe Deer ... are native to this country and part of Europe’s Rewilding project. The roe became extinct in England during the 18th century, but survived in parts of Scotland. Now they are back and are a joy to see with their velvety eyes and elegant forms. They do exaggerated leaps high in the air (pronking) when running but not high enough to scale the new Sellafield fence trapping them. There is a season for shooting animals. But Sellafield propose to cull these deer out of season in February/April over 15 days, shooting approximately one deer a day. In other words this cull will take place when the females are likely to be carrying young. The New Fence... costing millions of pounds encloses woodlands previously open and accessible to deer . The government, through the Department of Energy & Climate Change, has ordered the second fence in, they say, the face of a rising threat to “sensitive” installations worldwide from Al Qaeda. The “new” fence stretches 11 miles around the Sellafield plant. Rather than culling the deer a solution would be to remove the double fence at the woodland allowing the deer free access. The original fence could then be reinforced another way instead of being double at that point. Sellafield Reprocessing Plant is... the reason for the Government’s extreme nervousness with 120 tonne stockpile of plutonium. Quite rightly the UK Government gets hysterical if other countries want to produce plutonium. Plutonium is the material necessary for nuclear bombs. Reprocessing is a toxic liability producing ever more plutonium requiring these expanding fences manned by armed nuclear policemen. The bleak and awful plight of the wild deer is a metaphor for the rest of us - the nuclear industry will give us nowhere to run. Please Sign the Petition to Free the Sellafield Deer Lets Work to Contain and Cull Nuclear - and Free the Deer British Deer Society - Close Seasons for Deer http://www.bds.org.uk/close_seasons_for_deer.html Security fence at Sellafield http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/extra-security-at-sellafield-1.964864 Plutonium Mountain http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qm4pt Roe Deer Pronking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng0xOhP69Gs Sellafield Statement http://www.sellafieldsites.com/2014/01/sellafield-ltd-statement-wildlife-management/ Sellafield's Running Deer - Nowhere to Run http://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/sellafields-running-deer-no-where-to-run-on-cumbrias-unearth/