'OFF WITH THEIR HEADS'
Washington Eyes European Elections Warily

Hugh Salmon, 16/05/12

Surprising insights on human behaviour from the big, wide world

By emphasising their established long-term commitment to a better world for future generations and widening their sphere of interest, the Greens may have a brighter future than they think.

Adrian Ramsay, 16/05/12

Deputy leader of the Green Party

This year voter turnout was disappointingly low. Some blamed it on the rain but we need to look deeper for explanations about why so many people have lost faith in politics.

Dr Alan Mendoza, 14/05/12

Founder and the Executive Director of the Henry Jackson Society, and the President of the Henry Jackson Initiative

Over the past four years, our system of capitalism has come in for merciless berating from politicians, opinion formers and most tellingly, the general public. Whether it is bankers' bonuses, business practices, or concerns about rising levels of inequality, it has been 'open season' on the 'greedy capitalists' looking to dominate the 99% in the interests of the 1%.

Alice Barnard, 15/05/12

Chief executive of the Peter Jones Foundation

Traditionally, apprenticeships were the main route into business. Some of the country's best-known entrepreneurs mastered their skills this way: Michel Roux, restaurateur and Masterchef judge, British fashion designer Karen Millen, and hair-product entrepreneur John Frieda all learned their crafts via apprenticeship schemes.

Jonty Langley, 15/05/12

Commentator, columnist and writer on Christian politics.

Anti-terror laws, government-sponsored arms-dealers and testing the limits of free speech and protest: Mark Thomas has tackled them all.

Tony Blair, 14/05/12

Former Prime Minister of Britain

I am a Christian and will remain so. This means that there are certain beliefs I hold dear. But I can, without reducing my Christian commitment, surely accept that someone else, brought up in a different tradition, holds a different set of beliefs, holds them as strongly as I hold mine, and I can respect that person and his/her right to believe as he/she does. In an era of globalisation, in which we are far more likely to share society together because society is becoming more diverse and the internet is creating a more global sense of community, the existence of such respect and mutual understanding becomes essential.

David Amess, 14/05/12

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

I fully endorse what the U.S. has done and is doing in the two cases in China and Myanmar. Governments that oppress their own citizens don't deserve our support. But a group wrongly labeled as terrorist, and using every legal means to overturn that label, does deserve much greater consideration than it is getting.

Max Wind-Cowie, 15/05/12

Head of the Progressive Conservatism Project at Demos

The gay-rights brigade have allowed their quest for gay marriage to tip over into active hetero-phobia. If they don't snap out of it, they'll even lose the support of gay people like me.

Jon Trickett MP, 14/05/12

Jon Trickett MP is Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and MP for Hemsworth

Excuse after excuse, blunder after blunder from this irresponsible and incompetent Tory-led government. We have a part-time prime minister with a part-time Parliament who gives tax cuts to millionaires whist the millions pay more.

Martina Milburn, 14/05/12

Chief Executive of The Prince’s Trust

We must unearth the potential in our young people today by nurturing their talent and giving them opportunities. They are, after all, the talent of tomorrow.

Dr Johan Franzén, 14/05/12

Lecturer in Middle East Politics, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, UK

The fight to achieve real democracy in Egypt will undoubtedly be protracted and is certain to last for at least another generation. Holding elections is merely the first step in a long process that requires nothing less than a cultural revolution within Egyptian society, because at the end of the day, there can be no democracy without democrats.

Javed Khan, 14/05/12

Chief Executive for Victim Support, the national charity for victims and witnesses of crime.

We are very concerned about plans for the new police and crime commissioners to organise and fund virtually all help for victims and witnesses. This would mean patchy local services rather than the current national backbone of support and the potential waste of £21million of tax payers' money on red tape and form filling.

Rupert Myers, 11/05/12

Writer on society and current affairs

Laurie Penny fails to present a nuanced article on why same-sex marriage should be legalised. She derides and underestimates her opponents on an issue with which deserves a mature discussion, wielding the sword of class and culture warfare.

Ann Coffey, 11/05/12

Labour MP for Stockport

We know that running away or going missing is a key indicator that a child might be at risk or in need. Children in care are three times more likely to run away than children living at home. When they go missing, they place themselves in great danger of being sexual exploited or physically abused. Far too many children who run away or go missing from care become victims of sexual and physical abuse and exploitation. One child in this situation is one child too many. Every child who has to appear in court as a victim of sexual exploitation is a failure of the system to prevent harm.

Matthew Todd, 10/05/12

Editor of Attitude magazine & Stonewall Journalist of the Year

No one will be surprised that the Queen's Speech did not contain a commitment to equal marriage... What is more significant about this episode though is that it does give some indication of what grassroots Tories really think.

Keith Ryan, 10/05/12

Struggling comedy artisan

If you fell asleep during the 22 words he used before he got to the point, in a nutshell, it was "Whatever dude, they're in love, stop harshing their buzz". All of which is entirely awesome and momentous to anyone with a brain, obviously.

Gemma Tumelty, 10/05/12

Campaigner - currently living below the poverty line for charity www.livebelowtheline.com/uk

My day started at 6.30am as I got up to go to the gym, which I do regularly in a normal week, but this was the first time I'd been since I started living on £1 a day.