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.

Charles Moore

Author, Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography

Mrs Thatcher came to realize that Reagan's strengths and mental abilities were very different from her own, but she never lost her underlying admiration for him.

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.

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.

Peter G Tatchell

Human rights campaigner

The calls for banking reform are growing. About time. The big crash was more than five years ago. Since then we've had Libor rate-fixing, bonuses for failed financiers, massive fines for malpractices by leading banks, mis-sold PPI, interest rate swaps, fraud, money-laundering and tax dodging. Scandal after scandal. Are we mugs or masochists? Why do we put up with it? The rot has got to stop.

Peter Kellner

President of YouGov, political commentator and journalist

If David Cameron expected voters to respect him for firming up his commitment to a referendum on the European Union, YouGov’s latest polling for The Times will disappoint him. Most Britons, including a majority of those who voted Conservative in 2010, think he is acting out of tactical calculation rather than because he feels deeply about the issue.

Robin Lustig

Journalist and broadcaster

My argument was that all of the likely election outcomes in 2015, the least likely was an overall Tory victory that would enable him to remain in Downing Street. Now, though, I'm beginning to think his downfall could come even sooner.

Steve White

Vice Chair, Police Federation

Police officers are sometimes accused of being self-interested but few care more about justice for victims and families than the officers who put their own safety on the line to ensure that offenders are brought to justice.

Jon-Christopher Bua

Sky News White House Commentator

In the midst of three growing scandals, Wednesday's White House Press Briefing could mark a fundamental change in the relationship between the Obama Administration and The White House Press Corps.

Ben Acheson

Energy and Environment Policy Adviser and Parliamentary Assistant to Struan Stevenson MEP at the European Parliament in Brussels

For many of us, rape often remains invisible. It is not acknowledged, discussed or even prosecuted. Yet for survivors, it is a traumatic, life-changing event. Whether the assailant is unknown or even if he is a partner, survivors need support. Being in a relationship does not mean that sexual rights are void.

Kate Allen

Director of Amnesty International UK

Late last night I was at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to attend a crucial gathering of Ambassadors and embassy officials from dozens of different nations. A few short weeks ago, the United Nations agreed to adopt the world's first international arms trade treaty. This treaty has the potential to stem the flow of weapons to conflicts; conflicts where thousands of people are killed, injured, raped, and forced to flee from their homes.

Shohana Khan

London-based freelance writer

Don't agree with the title? Well you are not alone, as neither do I. But student equality rights group, Student Rights, believes segregation of men and women is a cause for deep concern in University events. But not in toilets, or in society. In particular in Muslim university events.

Sara Yasin

Palestinian-American blogger raised on a steady diet of fried chicken, hummus and cynicism

Today is important. Not only because there are flagrant human rights abuses, but also because those of us that wander have lost and will continue to lose. Those of us that are first generation might have experienced visits or the scattered memories of our parents, but that loss, that inability to return, is one that will continue to be passed through generations.

Emily Stacey

Golf enthusiast and freelance writer

With a rising number of Conservatives calling for a referendum before 2017 and the unlikely chances of this happening given that their coalition partners do not agree, the Europe question is going to be argued and debated for some time to come.

Ruth Fox

Director, Hansard Society Parliament and Government programme

It is often said that voter turnout is highly dependent on a closely fought election at which a lot is at stake. A global economic crisis, declining living standards, and an unpopular coalition government surely provide the essential ingredients for a high participation general election in 2015? But the latest results from the Hansard Society's 10th Audit of Political Engagement suggest the contrary.

Harry Cooper

A Brussels-based Brit

I never thought I'd say this, but I think the rise of Ukip is overall a very positive development in British politics. Why? Because the British people see in Mr Farage a person who understands them. In Ukip they see a movement that stands apart from the fossils in Westminster. And for the first time since 1997 when Blair swept into power, there is a sense that things could be different...The problem is that the political parties that dominate British politics all end up saying roughly the same thing. There might be rhetorical differences, but ultimately they are singing from the same hymn sheet.

Bob Morgan

Former Met Police, Liberal Democrat Councillor and Campaigner, Community Development Officer

Ordinary immigrants coming into the UK did not invent numerous devious ways of lending and re-lending useless loans to get rich people even richer which we now know led to the banking collapse and the near ruining of our economy - but you would think they did the way people are piling in.