At last night's Council meeting, Liberal Democrat Councillor Julia Roberts asked that if, when the discussion on funding for a new hospital took place, consideration would be given to ensuring that the telephone number would not be a premium rate telephone number, like the new 0844 one for the University of North Tees and Hartlepool.
The new zebra crossing on Darlington Back Lane has been installed at last, and local Councillors Suzanne Fletcher and Julia Roberts are delighted. The possibility of it going ahead was in the balance in May this year as there was not enough funding for all of the road safety schemes planned. Julia Roberts suggested that if we put £5,400 of the ward Environmental improvement budget into the project, and a neighbouring ward did too, then it would be possible. Julia said
A senior Liberal Democrat has condemned the waste of over £100,000 on empty offices last year by the Government's Identity and Passport Service. The figure was revealed following a Freedom of Information Request about 'Fruitless Payments' reported in the Identity and Passport service's accounts.
Protesters have called on NHS bosses to publicly discuss their plans for Leicester's three hospitals.
Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Nick Clegg has denounced a Senior Judge's call for the expansion of the UK DNA database as 'misguided'. At present, over four million profiles are held on a nationwide criminal database, which the Home Office claim has helped solve complex criminal cases. The largest of its kind in the world, it is reported to be growing at a rate of 30,000 samples a month, taken from suspects at crime scenes. There has already been criticism of the present system as people who are found innocent usually cannot get their details removed.
Sir: Having read Dominic Lawson's wise words on Ming Campbell (4 September), I wonder whether we have entered a parallel universe. If Iraq has become the defining moral and political issue of our age, then Ming stands out as a man whose voice has, from the beginning, been in accord not only with that of the majority of the British people but also with what looks increasingly like being the verdict of history. And yet he is struggling in the polls, and largely derided and dismissed by the media.