I can only urge you to think of your grandchildren, as I think of mine, and of those billions of people without a voice; those for whom hope is the rarest of sensations; those for whom a secure life is a distant prospect. Most of all, I urge you to consider the needs of the youngest generation, because none of us has the right to assume that "for our today they should give up their tomorrow." On an increasingly crowded planet, humanity faces many threats - but none is greater than climate change.

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Dear Father Christmas, So my friend has asked me to write to you... I have to confess it's been hard to know what to say. Mainly because like most adults I feel preposterous asking anything of you because our time with you is surely done. Now we get our own presents, control our own fates, take responsibility for our own actions, and live in the world we have created... so it's not for us to turn around and plead for your help with the environment, the migrant crisis, the NHS, education, food banks, human rights, fundamentalism and wars. Though God knows we need all the help we can get with all these man-made problems and more.

Let me be free. Let me be me! Don't make me old, with your thinking and words about how I should be. You don't have to come to my shows. I am giving tremendous energy with my voice, because that is me. Get my energy or shut up. A critic of my show I did on my 80th birthday. You wanted me to be coming in at the same time on the top of the bars with the tracks. Well, I like to syncopate my voice to come in before or after the music notes, not right on top of the tracks, you see. That's done in classical music, also. Remember? Yes.

At the heart of Fifa is a lesson about tackling corruption that goes far deeper. Corruption at Fifa was not a surprise. For years it lined the pockets of those on the inside and was met with little more than a reluctant sigh. The world shied away from taking on the problem, until some brave British journalists and American lawyers showed that things really could change. The same is true of corruption the world over... World leaders simply cannot dodge this issue any longer. We have to show some of the same courage that exposed Fifa and break the taboo on talking about corruption. I will start tomorrow at the G7 in Germany and I will put corruption at the heart of my agenda at the United Nations in September and the G20 in Turkey, culminating with a major anti-corruption Summit in London next year.

Rex

No one says they want to get rid of the NHS. Everyone praises it, across all parties. It is about as powerful a symbol of goodness that we have, so it would be too dangerous not to. But for decades now, there has nevertheless been a systematic undermining of its core values.

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My request is that you let Mrs Claus come this year. Yes, your silent partner. But I know she's the force that keeps you full of beans. You wouldn't be so jolly, energetic and kind without the presence of a woman in your life. She must be FANTASTIC. You must love her to bits. You should come too, to share the load, but it would be an enormous inspiration for all of us to feel her awesomeness. It might give us the boost that we need... Women are standing shoulder to shoulder with men, our partners; just like I'm sure you do with Mrs Santa.

The long and the short is... We don't know. The papers didn't know. But they chose to decide the truth without knowledge. Now it may be that it turns out he was a depressive and those same papers will say 'ah, we told you so, we were right to run the headlines we ran.' To which the answer is 'no you weren't.' If he had just been told he had cancer, and a note to that effect had been found, would we be 'blaming' cancer for the deaths of those poor people who perished in the Alps? This is reporting that belongs in the dark ages along with witchcraft.

Smashing communities, laying up trouble and expense for the future. What can we do? Politicians are criminals. Vote for who you believe in. Tactical voting is rubbish. After the election, fight for every issue. Demonstrate. Build the public debate. Talk to people. The social media can help to build a wave of opposition to government crimes against humanity. Talk, talk, inform yourself. And most important show your face: Demonstrate. Build the opposition, see what happens - take it from there.

Austerity is a political choice not an economic necessity. When the Chancellor rose to his feet at the emergency Budget in July, and when he does so for his Spending Review in October, what is being put forward is an ideologically-driven rolling back of the state. The analysis published today by the TUC reveals how the Budget gives money to the rich, but takes away from the poor. This is the Conservative project, dressed up in the post-crisis language of budget deficits and national debt for extra impetus. Inequality doubled under the Thatcher government, and her heirs seem to be doing all they can to ensure that legacy is extended.

On Saturday I'll join thousands of others - including my Liberty colleagues and many of our members - to take to the streets of London in solidarity with refugees. We will march to show the powerful that we see through the barrage of poisonous, dehumanising rhetoric with which we've been bombarded in recent years. These refugees are not a "swarm", as the Prime Minister labelled them, and they're not "marauding" as they were branded by the Foreign Secretary. They are not, as they have been variously described in the media, an "organised mob", an "unstoppable flood" or "the biggest threat to Europe since the war". They are desperate human beings fleeing war, genocide, tyranny and exploitation in the hope of finding a better life for their families.

If I could give a few words of advice to my younger self? I'd say: "Don't expect someone to tap you on the shoulder, and then hand you what you're looking for on a plate." Because the big handicap for me was that I was a dreamer, and I thought that once I got to London, someone would just discover me. So I didn't start grafting until I was in my late 20s, even early 30s. I do think that young people should mess around and have some fun and gain their life story - I needed to find those stories, and as it worked out, it was fine. But it might not have been.

Time to top up the air miles, clear the throat and get on your dancing feet we are of course back at the coal face... earning a crust, same firm, same venues, different songs (even though 'some of the chords are the same' Ha-ha!!

In our roles as Ambassadors we've been fortunate enough to meet with some of the young people who have been supported by The Prince's Trust and these visits have only confirmed to me the importance of inspiring the next generation. Although the economic climate is slowly recovering, too many young people are being hit by the aftermath. Those who are long-term unemployed are the furthest from the jobs market and are being exposed to low self-esteem and rejection. The stress and anxiety will be too much for some to cope with so it has never been more important to work together to give the younger generation the opportunities they deserve.

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I grew up in a tough area in Newcastle. I saw drug and alcohol abuse, crime and poverty. I also saw how the lack of role models meant that many of my friends felt they had nowhere to turn. It's easy to see why so many people I knew didn't do well at school and ended up mixing with the wrong crowd and heading down the wrong path to a life of unemployment and sometimes even drugs. It's scary to see that this is still happening... In the middle of all the headlines announcing 'record results', we mustn't forget those who are waking up today, who didn't get the results they so desperately wanted.

Abandoned half-built buildings, abandoned half-destroyed buildings and slums form the bulk of the cityscape of Goma, on the border with Rwanda. Nothing works. Corruption, power outages, and impassable roads - and the palpable threat of chaos - are part of daily life. One in six children born today in the Democratic Republic of Congo won't live to see their fifth birthday. Since the outbreak of fighting in 1998 almost three million children have died here. Within these dire conditions I saw the extraordinary work of War Child and met children who, despite every element working against them, astonished me with their warmth, intelligence, determination and desire to learn and build a better life.

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It was no surprise when Charles said, after being challenged about his loyalties after the 2010 election: "I will go out of this world feet first with my Lib Dem membership card in my pocket." I am just devastated that it has happened so soon. Our liberal political family has lost one of its most admired advocates. British politics has lost one of its best storytellers. This House has lost one of its warmest wits and most loyal Parliamentarians. If we could all carry ourselves with a little more of the honesty, wisdom and humility of Charles Kennedy, politics would be held in much higher regard than it is today.

It was such a spur of the moment notion when Richard Curtis and a few of us got it going that it's hard to believe it has gone on to become so close to people's hearts. Back in 1985 Ethiopia was being torn apart by famine, and a gaggle of fresh faced comedians thought they might be able to raise a bob or two to help. Three decades and a billion pounds later though what's changed? For starters there's still a big perception that it's only Africa that benefits. The reality is very different.
Since Comic Relief began, projects funded in the UK have touched the lives of more than 10million people.

International Women's Day is one of my favourite days of the year. It's a day that gifts us that much needed prompt when we are stalling, to remember how wonderful and important we are, how far we have come, and most importantly how far we have to go.... We need each other. More than ever before. While the smoke is much appreciated, we need a full on fire in order to make a substantial change to the billions of women being held back by the chains of tradition and lack of effect.

I've been an environmentalist for 25 years now... Some people might think I'm a bit of a fanatic. Jeremy Clarkson would, no doubt, belittle my desire for a greener, healthier world for this and future generations by saying I'm an 'arty-farty, Lycra-clad cycling leftie-weftie who knits his own muesli' - or, more likely, would just punch me in the face. But I don't care. Because I know that unless every one of us does our bit (and is clearly told what 'our bit' is), we face a very unpleasant future.

Five years ago, we could have lost my own father Michael Bradbury to prostate cancer, the men-only disease which kills one man in the UK every single hour. Put another way, it means 24 prostate cancer deaths on Father's Day alone - or 168 during Men's Health Week.