Coventry City Council is supporting the proposal that it, alongside other Warwickshire councils in Coventry and Warwickshire’s Local Enterprise Partnership, joins the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP and Black Country LEP to form a West Midlands Combined Authority (this has been confirmed as the name of the CA). Despite the fact that many residents have concerns about Coventry playing very much the second fiddle to Birmingham, as it did in the old West Midlands County Council days, our Council is not intending to canvas the opinion of residents through a referendum. I do not believe that such a decision about the City, which will have an impact for decades ahead, should be made without full consultation and an extensive and public discussion of all the pros and cons.

It's important because for too long the media have given in to people who thrive and create careers from spewing hate. If we can get LBC and Global radio to come to their senses then we can send a message out to all broadcasters. Let's show the media and broadcasters that we are fed up with people who thrive on negativity and hate.

It important because it is both unhygienic and unsightly to have so much poo on the streets in Worthing. Something needs to be done about it.

A group of French MPs has tabled a draft law to make it compulsory for supermarkets to hand over all unsold food still fit for consumption to charity. Many supermarket chains in France already donate unsold produce to charities, but 63 MPs from across the political spectrum would like to see the practice enshrined in law. Late in July, they tabled a draft bill making it compulsory for supermarkets with 1,000 square metres (10,800 sq ft) of floor space to give their “unsold but still consumable food products to at least one food charity”. Belgium became the first European country to introduce a similar a law in May. Given that the UK is facing an ever-more worrying reliance on food banks, shouldn’t we be thinking along these lines too? Under the next 5 years of Conservative government, people will be encouraged to live an ever-more healthy life-style to reduce the pressure on the NHS. What better way to do this than to ensure the most needy have access to fresh fruit and vegetables and other basic essentials they currently can only class as a luxury if on benefits or a very low income? I propose an even more logical solution: Those of us who are lucky enough to be able to afford wonderful groceries delivered to our doorstep could donate an extra £2 per purchase to ensure that fresh fruit and veg and other essential groceries are delivered to someone in need en route to our homes. You might be utterly surprised, David Cameron, just how many of us would be willing to sign up to such a scheme, thus ensuring the sick, disabled and elderly have a much-needed helping hand. Please consider this idea very seriously as it is based upon pure logic and the sharing of resources that are currently simply wasted.

Future generations will need to be able to think critically, reason and question much more than their ancestors in order to enable them to more easily filter the enormous amount of data coming at them from numerous social, news and campaign media and help prevent them from succumbing to extremism.

This is important to us: myself, my partner, toddler and little one due in August, as we are a small family business and the decision to not allow us to be involved in this and other recent events, directly effects the viability of our business - our livelihood. We have demonstrated our commitment to the community and the centre, by operating our cafe at the centre over the past 2 years. In order for us to continue trading, in what is a difficult financial time for many us, we need to be able to trade at events, especially key ones in our local calendar, as without these opportunities, our future is under threat. We feel passionately about our community and privileged to be able to be involved and run our cafe business in the heart of our community, our home. We have received positive support from the local and wider community, with so many positive comments about our food and friendliness. We source as many of our products locally with a focus on fair-trade and organic where possible. We provide our food at affordable prices, so that we can offer something for all members of our community. We have shown our continued commitment to those that use our cafe but also all users of the Easton Community Centre and care about the connections and interactions that we have with all of those who we encounter. If we are excluded from certain key events then this will be the end of our business, so please sign our petition so that those who have the power to do so will enable us to continue trading by allowing us to be involved in weekend events too as was agreed in our initial interview when we first took on the tenancy and as we have continued to request. We had lots of positive feedback at the last Easton Arts Trail from traders, performers and the public at large. Please show your support so that those who have made the decision to offer this opportunity and other such opportunities to outside caterers hear your voice and ours, which will mean they too will hopefully show their support and allow us to open our cafe at this key event as previously agreed. Thank you in advance for sharing your voice in support of our small family business, so that we are able to continue trading. Pachamama: Geoff, Lavinia, Theo & baby bump x

If we remember Margaret Thatcher in this way it would be disrespectful not to build a similar museum for Clement Attlee, where it could be argued he did more for the greater good of the Country rather than promote self interest. A few years ago there were rumours that the museum could be publicly funded. But no matter who's paying for this museum, even building it is in poor taste because Thatcher was the architect of so many damaging government policies. We don't need or want an expensive museum to remember her by!

British expatriates are not happy and are demanding their human rights. Thousands of British citizens are married to citizens from other countries around the world, known as non-EU or non-EEA (European Economic Area) nationals. Since 2014 the UK government opened the doors to citizens from the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar whose citizens can travel to the UK with an Electronic Visa Waiver (EVW) document. This allows them to visit the UK for up to six months without a visa and free from any payment. Travellers from these three countries only need to complete their Electronic Visa Waiver online at least 48 hours before departure and present a printed copy on departure and again on arrival in the UK. No surprise then, that when British nationals living and working in many countries around the Middle East, who are married to non-EU citizens e.g. South Africans, Russians, Ukrainians and many other countries, discovered this form of discrimination against their spouses and families they were not too happy. The non-EU spouses of all British nationals living outside the UK are required to obtain a visa which must be valid for each visit when flying back into any UK airport. British citizens feel they are discriminated against because they are married to non-EU citizens. Why should they have to go through the process of having to prove that their spouse has the right to accompany them each and every time they return to the UK.? A campaign has been launched to provide awareness of this discrimination towards British citizens and their families. See: https://www.facebook.com/britishcitizensandtheirfamilies

Wild animals are still being used in horrific conditions for the sole purpose of 'enjoyment' but when they are held captive in cramped housing, forced against their will to train and perform and are subject to loud noises from crowds of people, how can a civilised society call this entertainment? I hope that in 15 years from now that the next generation of children don’t have to witness animals in these conditions and if they ask what a circus is, we can tell them the use of wild animals was a barbaric form of entertainment that ended many years ago. Help us make this a reality. 90% of the British public support a ban on wild animals being used in circuses (The Guardian). David Cameron has called it an "outdated practise" (The Independent). Despite this clear majority of support, three Conservative MP's are blocking this law from being passed. Those Members of Parliament are Christopher Cope of Christchurch, Andrew Rosindell of Romford and Phillip Davies of Shipley. Animal Defenders International, the British Veterinary Association, RSPCA and Ricky Gervais are among the high-profile supporters who back this key piece of legislation. Sign the petition now to show these MP's how severely out of touch they are and the media backlash they face from not allowing the law to pass through Parliament. For further reading, see the government's policy paper on animal welfare and their progress made on banning wild animals performing in circuses: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-animal-welfare/2010-to-2015-government-policy-animal-welfare#appendix-3-wild-animals-in-travelling-circuses www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/05/law-to-ban-wild-animals-in-uk-circuses-being-blocked-by-three-tory-mps www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ban-on-wild-animals-in-circus-blocked-by-tory-backbenchers-10092779.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2230913.stm

In the forthcoming license fee review, the Government will endeavour to impose severe cuts upon the BBC in order to benefit the commercial broadcasters. The Government is too close to commercial broadcasting lobbyists, and is acting in their interests, not in the public interest. In particular, abolishing the BBC Trust would serve to greatly undermine the independence of the BBC from political interference. The BBC is one of the greatest and most valuable assets to the United Kingdom, and forcing cuts for purely political, ideological purposes would represent a terrible act of cultural vandalism. The British people need to show a collective will to resist such damaging changes, and demonstrate to the Government that any actions towards privatizing the BBC would cause severe electoral consequences for the Conservative party in the future.

We saw lots of tiny corrections following big (and incorrect!) headlines during this election campaign. The changes to the way corrections are published was a key recommendation from the Leveson Inquiry that both the Conservatives and Labour agreed to adopt. It's time for Ofcom to make sure corrections are the proper size and place. The Times front page from 24th April 2015 had the headline 'Labour's £1000 tax on families' - it was completely inaccurate. The Times published a correction on the 2nd May, but it was buried deep in the paper. If they had to publish their correction on the front page - where the original article sat - it would have been a prominent and therefore just correction. The front page would have looked like this: 'Our headline about Labour's tax on families was inaccurate: Some of these taxes and levies will only apply to companies, and the others will affect a small minority of families, not “every working family” as we reported.' It would be a just and fair way to report corrections that would have a deterrent effect on mistakes, media bias and failure to check facts.

We need to bring the 20mph zones to a part of Otley that has so many young families, along with traffic calming measures and assurances from local police that they will also work alongside the council. The rest of Otley has the 20mph zones so its time to bring the whole of Ashfield in line.... lets not let it take a serious accident.