Martin Middlebrook

International photojournalist and writer

In Afghanistan you get power cuts every day, lots of them. There are times I admit that I do get a little frustrated with the internet going on the blink, particularly when you are in the middle of email sex with someone who is four time zones removed.

Greg Jenner

Historical Consultant to CBBC’s multi-award winning sketch show Horrible Histories

We are often told that we should learn from history, but this pedagogy usually deals in only the moral lessons associated with human and civic progress. However, much like an innocent child imitating his swearing older brother, I thought it would be much more fun to compile a short list of totally useless and inappropriate lessons from history that would undo all of our good work as a society. So, here for your ironic consumption are some terrible, horrible, idiotic ideas for improving our nation...

Margot James

MP for Stourbridge

If the public knew how self-serving some elements of the NHS were they would have a great deal more sympathy for the government's efforts to reform the service.

Gavin Shuker

Shadow Minister for Water and Waste

Flooding is the biggest environmental threat facing the UK, according to Defra chief Scientist Sir Bob Watson. The risks of flooding are projected in increase significantly across the UK.

David Cameron

Prime Minister of Great Britain

Violence against women is an iceberg under the surface of society. Every day millions around the world live in fear.

David Bull

Executive Director, UNICEF UK

We have a window of opportunity to capitalise on India's achievement and make a real push to protect every child against polio. I want to know that, wherever I travel on this planet of ours, I will never again find a child whose life has been damaged forever by polio.

Martin Middlebrook

International photojournalist and writer

In Afghanistan, officially of course, you can't get pork, as officially you can't get a drink, *hiccup* but of course it is available. But here is the rub, you find yourself eating bacon that could have been stripped from a rat, a small, infected rabid rat at that. It bears no resemblance to any bacon I have ever eaten.

David Cameron

Prime Minister of Great Britain

Today marks an historic step in the biggest welfare revolution in over 60 years. My government has taken bold action to make work pay, while protecting the vulnerable. Past governments have talked about reform, while watching the benefits bill sky rocket and generations languish on the dole and dependency. This government is delivering it. Our new law will mark the end of the culture that said a life on benefits was an acceptable alternative to work.

Lord Maginnis

Member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom

At a major event in London's Queen Elizabeth II conference centre on Saturday, attended by 1,000 Anglo-Iranians, senior British jurists and MPs and US military experts called on the United Nations to intervene immediately to save the lives of 3,400 Iranian dissidents at Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty in Iraq.

Martin Middlebrook

International photojournalist and writer

Next to my tent in Camp Bastion is the Vigil Ceremony Parade Ground, where those killed in action are remembered. Inscribed on the monument are the names of all the soldiers that have given their lives in Helmand. Carved into stone are these words: "When you go home tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today."

David Amess

Member of Parliament for Southend West and member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom

A letter signed by 110 cross-party MPs and Peers was on Thursday delivered to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Lancaster House urging him to ensure United Nations protection for 3,400 Iranian dissidents in Camp Ashraf, Iraq.

Terry Sanderson

President of the National Secular Society

Why is the coalition government increasingly embracing the policy of the US Republicans of appropriating religion for political purposes? It's not even as though it works very well for the GOP. In fact, Rick Santorum's present display of religious zealotry must surely be ensuring another term for Obama.

Angela Eagle

MP for Wallasey and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

David Cameron, as you would expect from an ex-PR man, has a smooth answer on why he wants to be prime minister, but I have the sense that the real answer to why he wants the job is simply "because it is there."

Martin Middlebrook

International photojournalist and writer

We patrolled for six hours, a wearing journey I can assure you, and whilst never blasé, you can also become a little un-attentive after a while. 50 yards behind me a soldier lost his legs a couple of weeks back, 600 yards to my left is a sniper, to the front is a compound with insurgents, we can see them watching us, and the same to our right, a compound chock full of people who rightly or wrongly wish us ill.

Stuart Bonar

One of the perks of being an MP is access to a wonderful private library - the House of Commons Library. I know that MPs can ask for the Library to buy books they are interested in reading. So, curious to know which books MPs have been asking us, as taxpayers, to buy for them, I lodged a Freedom of Information Act request.

Ivan Lewis MP

Shadow Secretary of State for International Development

For a country like Tanzania, support for the improvement of healthcare systems and educational provision is crucial, but it is also crucial that we empower people and give them the power to build themselves a better standard of living.