One thing that quickly became clear in the course of the meeting was that many of the things that government ministers claim are happening to help the survivors are not happening at all. My strongest impression is of continuing chaos. For some survivors English is not their first language but very little information or written advice appears to be in translation. There is still no central crisis centre where all who have been affected can go and get help... The media circus will move on from Grenfell. But we need to continue to focus, not only on the architectural and regulatory issues, but the human beings caught up in this tragedy and how they can get the help and support they will need far into the future.
It is often said that it's better to have a fence at the top of the hill than an ambulance waiting at the bottom. The fence we're calling for is greater integration within the system. We can't continue fire-fighting a mental health crisis while failing to address the root causes of mental ill-health such as poverty and inequality. With so much clearly working to undermine the nation's mental health, we have to stop looking at mental health in isolation.
I just hope that the survivors and the relatives and friends of all those who died - and we will probably never know for sure exactly how many perished - will not have to wait 28 years for justice to be done, as have the families affected by the Hillsborough stadium disaster of 1989.
The UK Government intends to review the rules through which UK aid is spent. After all, these systems shouldn't be static or inflexible and they must of course respond to and reflect the world in which they operate. But in doing so, we mustn't lose the clarity of purpose that our aid has, or allow it to become tied to short term military or trade missions that would lessen its impact. Instead, let it continue to focus on the lives it saves and the poverty it eradicates.
After going on the course, it wasn't long before I was putting my skills into action. We'd had a report about a man drinking on a bench on a platform. It was late at night, he was alone, and there were no trains due to stop at that platform... Thinking back to that night, I believe my Samaritans' training was invaluable and changed the way I approached the whole situation.
I call on the Government, Universities and Local Authorities to act on this and reassure students and their families as soon as they can. The Summer should be for relaxation and recuperation, not worry and consternation.
I wonder how many of us in our forties, fifties and beyond enjoying the fruits of final salary pension schemes and home ownership would have buckled under the pressures young people today have to endure. As we look at the hardships these youngsters have to face, in the world they inherited from us, I think we owe them a voice in making their futures a better place.
In an exclusive vlog for HuffPost UK Dougie Poynter talks about the campaign to protect his beloved Richmond Park, what we can all to do preserve the environment and how the younger generation can make the biggest difference to climate change.
I'm constantly warning clients not to use cut and pasted lines from the internet. However, an early use of "My wife and I....." gets everyone onside and gives a nod to tradition too. This one-liner is part of the wedding tradition fabric. It doesn't matter how many times guests have heard it before, it will always receive a warm cheer and set your nerves at rest.
Despite a stint as Elsa from Frozen at Christmas, I've always been known as Mary Poppins. I wear the outfit - it seemed only right that I dress up as her and I know all her songs after all. I mimic her accent and her quips. "Now, now we are not a cod fish," is my favourite. Mary is a great leveller for a group of rowdy Daddies at a Christmas party I can tell you! When I pick my daughter up from school she has got quite used to other children pointing at me and saying "Look! There's Mary Poppins!", as has my poor husband.
I'd refrained from watching the programme when it's been on in the past thinking, "Jess, you're better than this. Get back onto Netflix where you're safe, where it's socially acceptable to be". But you know what? I dipped my toe into the proverbial pool and now I'm fully submerged. I've fallen deeper than Kem and Amber (yep; Love Island metaphor there, be prepared for more) and I don't even care.
So the boy has been starkers since approximately 6.30pm last night. He didn't fancy putting on his pyjamas, wasn't pushed when it came to getting dressed this morning and is now happily enjoying a post-lunch nap, au natural.
I have also performed on a cruise for nudists, at a strip club in-between strippers, at a gathering of Hasidic Jews, at a nursing home/hospice, and a little people convention. Then there was that time I cut my arm open with a running chainsaw during a sold out show and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Oh! And also that time I broke both of my feet at the exact same time after jumping down from a 12-foot unicycle.
No sooner had I unpacked my highly tight leggings with attached skirt over the la la area, I was running (you heard) round the deck trying to look cool in front of the understandably curious stares of other passengers.
Twenty eight years is a long time to sustain a fight for justice. It is also extremely difficult when you have to endure the antagonism and hostility of the establishment and mainstream media. The entire Hillsborough experience to date has been one long learning curve for many in respect of developing strategies for navigating a path for truth. It is fair to say that some were better at it than others.
Our conference agreed what a People's Brexit looks like for us. Much of it is already expressed in Labour's excellent 2017 manifesto. We support improving the lot of working people across Britain without conducting a witch hunt of migrants and have opted instead to support policies of hope such as £10 minimum wage and a charter of workers rights. Perhaps most importantly, instituting sectoral collective bargaining which will see an agreed rate for every job whether you come from Bristol or Gdansk.
Thursday's decision by the Government is a positive step, made possible by all those organisations and individuals who campaigned hard to change a truly damaging policy. Nevertheless, as Justine Greening clearly stated in her letter, it does not change abortion policy in Northern Ireland. Women unable to travel even without the cost of private care are left with a choice between taking illegal abortion pills online and risking prosecution, or carrying an unplanned or crisis pregnancy to term.
The stakes could not be higher. In the long term this is the only hope the NHS has of being able to meet the great health challenges facing our nation today, while managing demand and paying proper salaries to the NHS workers all of us depend on.
In this country children cannot undergo interventions for gender confirmation. They may get hormone blockers to delay puberty but they are not considered able to consent to hormones or surgery until they are 18. Young transgender people need to see trans bodies in transition, they need to see trans identities that don't undergo surgery but are beautiful.
On 2 March this year, our 2-year-old-son Callum rang the end of cancer treatment bell on the children's ward at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. His mummy cried as she lifted him up to ring it in front of all the nurses who had supported us, our older son Lucas read out a poem, and I shook like a wet lettuce.
Dad can't make memories like you and me, so I make them for him with the posts I share on Instagram. I wanted to capture the happy moments to show that, although dementia changes the way he does things, it doesn't prevent him from doing them completely at this stage. He is still the person we have always loved, he is still my dad.
Today, we use sensors to monitor cattle, which means that a farmer can make informed decisions on how to manage his livestock based on real-time data, and he can do that remotely without having to be physically in the field. Therefore, the time saved by avoiding manual monitoring can be used elsewhere to make the farm more efficient.