Natalie Bennett

Green Party leader

One in 10 British workers is working fewer hours than they'd like to. Forced casualisation is a reality for millions. The 'underemployment rate' for 16-24-year-olds is 30%. Retail workers are being offered 12-hour weeks, at a level that puts them below the national insurance payment threshold.

Seth Freedman

Whistleblower at the centre of the UK gas price-fixing story

The knives are out for the energy companies in the press and political spheres alike, with public outrage increasing with every new revelation aired. But their anger is not directed solely at the likes of BP and Shell, but also at the lax regulatory environment which has allowed such alleged abuses to flourish for years.

Stef Benstead

Researcher in disability and social security. Currently diagnosed as having ME/CFS

I'm seeing the problem now; I know people who are struggling; I'm seeing what happens when there isn't enough money and there isn't enough health. I'm seeing the despair... People have ended their lives. People are going without food and medicine. People are becoming homeless.
And this is because of the changes this government is making.

Grainne Gillis

Interested in the art of politics, and the politics of art

The real issue here is that men are finally starting to be held accountable for their bad behaviour (as a gender) - and they don't like it. It is akin to children throwing their toys out of the pram, because they are asked to share them.

Dr Raj Persaud and Adrian Furnham

The detrimental effect of age-progressed images is most probably partly a psychological effect: The addition of an age-progressed image somehow changes observers' decision-making strategies, and does so in a profoundly unhelpful way.

Ben Gregor

Film Director and Dad

So your kid likes acting and singing and wants to be famous? You want them to be the next Harry Potter? Justin Bieber? Well, as a film director I have to say that the first thing you need to do is... STOP!

Planet Ivy

News for the bored generation

The fact is that as a graduate, you realise that on leaving university you are confronted with a ladder infinitely longer, more complex and scarier than the one you had to climb in education. This means that even more optimism and drive is required to tackle it.

Mark Wilkinson

Leading designer of fine British furniture

There's a case that students, who could be the next generation of leading scientists, architects, designers and mathematicians, could be slipping through the net through lack of awareness about visual/spatial thinking and the skills that those with a bias towards such thinking can bring to the table.

Claire Blackburn

Senior Communications Officer for Action Against Hunger

Learning and accountability is firmly on the NGO agenda nowadays and for Action Against Hunger, it is something we take very seriously. We dedicate a lot of energy into evaluating our programmes, learning from them and, fundamentally, holding ourselves to account for them.

Amy Abrahams

Writer, runner, lipstick lover, Deputy Chief Sub-Editor at GLAMOUR

People keep giving me pity eyes. "You're very brave," they say, rubbing my shoulder, as if I'm ill. But I'm not ill. What I am, though, is terrified. Because this week I'll be making my stand-up comedy debut in front of about 300 people. Am a comedian? No. I'm a sub editor

William Davie

Second-year journalism student at the University of Gloucestershire

One day, and maybe one day soon, we are going to have to face up to the mistakes we have made when it comes to the climate. I'm not saying we are facing a 'Day after Tomorrow' style extinction event, but whatever happens it's not going to be good.

Richard Stephens

Media and intellectual property lawyer at Capital Law

Belgian chocolate is renowned around the world for its high quality and skill. However, its brand does not actually benefit from EU protected status, and so any producer importing potentially inferior chocolates into the EU can use the word 'Belgian', even if the product is made thousands of miles away.

John Worne

Director of Strategy, the British Council

But in these austere times she also asked for better evidence of the value of culture. In short, her point was that if we want UK Government to continue investing in culture - as public spending gets the squeeze - we in the cultural industries need to demonstrate a return on that investment

Bertrand Audoin

Executive Director of the International AIDS Society

As many of my colleagues will undoubtedly reiterate over the coming days, the role of HIV science in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has also changed forever the way in which we deal with global health.

Maria Miller

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for Women and Equalities

There is no doubt about the fundamental value that we place upon marriage and its role at the heart of our society. Marriage embodies the principles of love, loyalty and commitment - all vital components of a strong society. And it is those principles that we are championing through the Equal Marriage Bill which continues its journey through Parliament tonight.

Mehdi Hasan

Political director of The Huffington Post UK

As a supporter of secularism, I am willing to accept same-sex weddings in a state-sanctioned register office, on grounds of equity. As a believer in Islam, however, I insist that no mosque be forced to hold one against its wishes.

Damian Collins

Conservative MP and PPS

I believe that everyone should be equal in the eyes of the law, and that the lifelong commitment people make to each other when they make their marriage vows means something profound to them, and benefits society as a whole. I believe that these vows have great significance to the couples taking them regardless of their sex or sexuality.

David Burrowes MP

Member of Parliament for Enfield, Southgate

My amendments today give MPs the opportunity to give clarity and protection for freedom of speech and conscience that are under threat from the Marriage Bill. We have the opportunity today and tomorrow to uphold the fine British traditions of free speech, tolerance and marriage. I hope we don't miss it.

Gabriel Byng

Historian, writer and director of ChurchGuides.co.uk

One is a monstrous addition to the London skyline which dominates views of the city and has divided public opinion between those who hate it and those who loathe it. The other is the Shard.

Francis FitzGibbon

QC at Doughty Street Chambers in London. He practises criminal law and sits part-time as an immigration judge.

You have been mistakenly identified from CCTV footage; a student has falsely accused you of molesting her; you have been charged with assault while defending yourself from a drunk; you need a lawyer to advise you, but can't afford one.