One of our ambitions as independents is to alter our political culture. We want to leave behind the bullying, intimidation and tribalism.
Luciana Berger
Social care from cradle to grave is a huge concern for us all.
Culture is a reflection of values.
All of our lives are enriched by our culture, from blockbuster films, best-selling video games, independent music, and internationally-renowned museums and art collections, to theatre, opera, ballet, literary festivals and performance poetry.
As the Independent Group, we are determined to try to forge a different style of doing politics.
The nature of most Covid-19 deaths, in hospital or a care home away from family and friends, has made it worse for the people they leave behind. In the absence of the traditional rites and rituals of funeral and mourning - the opportunity to just share a hug - the process of bereavement has been made even harder to bear.
It looks like caring for the most vulnerable in our society could be yet another casualty of Brexit, with over-stretched and potentially unsafe care services and a reduction in female employment another unforeseen consequence.
In the Independent Group, we have the seeds of a new political movement that can reinvent our broken politics and provide a home to people who are politically homeless.
When the physical threat of coronavirus subsides, as it surely will, we must address the impact to our mental health.
We have ways to protect the public when free speech crosses over in hate speech.
We should aim for every workplace to be a place which encourages good mental health.
Free speech should never mean hate speech.
Young people need the serenity that comes from a stable home, safe streets, regular income, opportunities for travel and study, affordable transport, and a real stake in the future.
I want to be part of something that can offer British people something to vote for.
We have to acknowledge that it goes both ways and that there's many social factors which will impact negatively, as well as positively, on mental health.
For many people who face anxieties, depression, trauma or grief that dominate their lives, a vital source of support may be a counsellor or psychotherapist.
Protecting children from smoking in cars is the right thing to do.
Time to Talk is all about tackling taboos and getting the nation talking about mental health.
Many of the underlying factors in poor mental health are societal.
Until we fix the deep-rooted problems of economic inequality, we cannot expect young people to experience the best childhood and adolescence.
Advertising has moved online, with the rise of the 'advergame.' These are compelling online games, often aimed at the under-15s, designed to promote a high-fat or high-sugar food or drink. Advergames are advertising disguised as entertainment. If they didn't work, the food and drink industry wouldn't be investing in them.
We need employers to have an open mind about people with mental illness, and be willing to employ people, with the right support.
One anti-Semitic member of the Labour party is one member too many.
No one walks into a food bank with their head held high.
We remain a country where a young person's chance of fulfilling their potential rests on the vagaries of where they were born and what their parents do, rather than their innate talent and ambition.
It is true that food banks are a sign that the British retain their altruistic instincts. I support my local food banks whenever and however I can. But I am deeply concerned about their normalisation.
David Cameron needs to get his head out of the sand. He and his colleagues need to see what poverty is really like.
Many feel the need to hide their problems from their school friends, work colleagues and even members of their own family.
When I was selected as a Labour council candidate in 2009, people publicly challenged how I could possibly represent anyone from the Bengali community because of my faith and since my selection and election as the member of parliament for Liverpool, Wavertree, I have received a torrent of anti-Semitic abuse.
I ultimately joined the Labour Party and became an MP because the country and my constituents deserve a Labour government.
I have observed and taken part in some mental health first aid training, and I have met many mental health first aiders, and I am convinced that even a few hours' training can make a real difference.
Many people with mental illness suffer in silence, afraid to seek help for fear of victimisation.
People are sick of the false choice between the established political parties who take voters for granted.
Our climate is changing. The causes are man-made. And we are already feeling the effects.
We will not give up the fight to ensure that mental health is the given the priority it needs and deserves.
As Britain prepares to leave the E.U., we need to become more efficient as an economy. We need everyone contributing to our collective prosperity, in every part of the country. We simply cannot afford to waste the potential of a generation because of mental ill-health.
The cruel realities of austerity and Brexit mean that life is chaotic, expensive and the road ahead is littered with obstacles.
We need to be open about mental illness, and demand the mental health services we need.
I've been working to see that mental health is raised in both oral and written question sessions in parliament.
The technological revolution has the potential to liberate us or enslave us, and the road we take will depend on our politics.
It's absolutely crucial that we look at mental health not just through the prism of health but in a cross-cutting way.
We need to do more to raise awareness of perinatal mental health illness and address the stigma that still surrounds it in our society.
Britain is home to world class creative industries and talents.
Since I was first elected to Parliament in 2010, I have witnessed appalling attacks on Jewish people, including my fellow MPs.
I left the Labour Party because I consider it a racist endeavour. I could no longer, in good faith, knock on doors and say vote for me, and by extension get Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister.
The difference between the BNP and Labour is that the BNP was always a fringe party, never a contender for power.
Decent people must refuse to back Corbyn and his candidates.
In 2008/9 26,000 people in the U.K. relied on emergency food aid from a foodbank; which was 26,000 too many.
All too easily I have had people dismiss food poverty as an affliction of the workless and idle, insinuating that it is a way of life only for those who choose it. Yet the reality couldn't be more different.
Most people who rely on food banks are there through no fault of their own.
