Jonny Mulligan

Observer of Politics, Social Innovation and CSR

Thatcher's legacy is potent and ironically it has the potential to win the Conservatives the next election. At this point Labour has very nearly left it too late to convince the public of a clear direction. The Conservatives can retro-fit her legacy to give their current policies some meaning and identity.

Nash Riggins

American journalism student and politics geek based in Scotland

In the long-term, there really aren't many benefits where payday lenders are concerned, and the government should indeed do more to regulate their shady practices; however, the fact of the matter is that payday lenders are all some people have to get by right now.

Will Black

Writer with a background in anthropology and mental health care

Thatcher's attacks on unionised industries devastated vibrant communities. The impact is still being felt, with high levels of unemployment and drug abuse. Her cull of manufacturing, mining, steelworks and shipbuilding led to the current unsustainable situation where our core industry is finance, with volatile banks run by questionable people.

Bonnie Greer

American-born, London-based playwright, author and novelist

David and Ed Miliband's family lost over 40 family members to the Holocaust, the supreme expression of fascism and anti-Semitism. Their late father and their mother barely escaped extermination themselves. What the hell did anyone expect this man to do but resign from a football club whose manager has made the 'Roman salute' and who has reportedly stated, according to the BBC, that Mussolini "was deeply misunderstood".

Claudia Tomlinson

London based freelance writer and blogger

Younger siblings always want what the elder has; this is a common dynamic, universally observed to be part of family life. It starts with a glance at big brother's more exciting toys and games and finding them more attractive.

Matt Carr

Author, freelance journalist and blogger

David Cameron is not the only British politician who has attempted to stir the dank waters of prejudice, bitterness, xenophobia, racism, paranoia and ignorance where the likes of Ukip and the Daily Mail swim, in the hope of gaining some political advantage from them.

Halina Ward

Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development

Our contention, sharpened by years of research and global consultation, is two-fold: first, world leaders have failed to make democracy fit to tackle the environmental and social threats facing humanity; second, and despite the lot of them, democracy remains the only hope to tackle those threats.

Keith Taylor

Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the South East region

Over the last month we've seen Britain's big three political parties trip over each other as they bid to out-Farage one another in their rhetoric on immigration.

Tessa Jowell

Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood and Former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

For me, and all his close friends, this is a moment of great sadness and sense of loss that he and Louise will not be round the corner on a Sunday evening for a cup of coffee, glass of wine or bowl of spaghetti bolognese. He has been one of the most significant figures in Labour politics for the last twenty years and so much of what Labour has achieved David has played a part in.

Mohammed Ansar

Political and Social Commentator

In many ways, I am unsurprised to see David Miliband leave and move on to pastures new at the IRC. Despite his calls for a renewal of the left, it never came. Or more accurately, it came in the shape as a morph into Blue Labour. The centre has shifted. In fact, it has shifted so far to the right that any sensible person will begin to lose their bearings.

Martin Wilding Davies

Founder of Ordinary People, a grassroots movement campaigning for participatory democracy

Why on Earth, a visitor from another planet might ask us, has an incompetent dilettante been made Second Lord of the Treasury? We'd have to admit it's because his equally inept chum from uni has been made First Lord of the Treasury. How silly would that make us look?

John Wight

Writer

Judging by the packed out audiences that have been turning out to hear him speak as the bedroom tax fast approaches, Sheridan's return to active politics in Scotland is not only welcome, it is long overdue.

John Wight

Writer

I am sure you of all people do not need to be reminded that people claiming JSA or any other benefit to which they are entitled are not criminals, that jobcentre staff and benefits advisors are not their parole officers, and that the nation's benefits system was brought into being after a hard fought struggle by previous generations of trade unionists and working class men and women in this country to ensure a minimum of protection and justice for working people in periods of economic turbulence, ill health or any other crisis which might occur in their lives.

Mike Robb

Head of Corporate Communications at Cicero Group

What a difference a year makes. From #grannytax and #omnishambles to #AspirationNation and widespread support from the commentariat, George Osborne should give himself a pat on the back before the elephant in the room that is the eurozone recaptures his attention in the morning.

Dan Gregory

Head of Policy at Social Enterprise UK

So George Osborne has lost his treasured AAA rating. We are now heading for record consecutive quarters of stop-start growth. Youth unemployment is at an all-time high. Neither the deficit nor the debt is coming down and there's no money to do anything about it. If we want to spend more we have to borrow more, and even Ed Balls can't be sure we'll end up better off if we do.

Nick Abbot

LBC 97.3 talk show host, DJ and writer.

It will be a big week for the Drear Leader. It started at the Conservative Party's spring conference. This is a chance for the PM to give a speech that the news media will put at the top of their bulletins and on the front pages of their papers, unless something more important comes up, like the commencement of all-out thermonuclear war, or Justin Bieber gets a haircut.