Dave Brothers

How can we expect to have a working and just police service? A serving officer has this week opened up the service to reveal how it is obsessed with targets and figures, which do nothing for natural justice. It would appear that it is more important for a front line officer to arrest someone, than it is to get a conviction. So arrests are made without sufficient evidence and criminals walk. In CID the target is to get a charge or a caution. A caution does not require a lot of evidence, just a gullible ‘offender’ who is prepared to accept the caution, guilty or not. So I’ll leave you to guess what happens. The CPS, on the other hand, are assessed on getting convictions. So a youth with 15 wraps of crack, a £100 in his pocket and a negative test for drug use will be charged with possession, rather than supply, because he is more likely to plead guilty. Add to this a ‘crime management unit’ to focus on recording the results ‘accurately’, such as recording a street robbery as assault and theft to double the target success, and you have a pretty useless police service that only … Continue reading →

Durham City is the most important heritage and tourism asset for the region.  The World Heritage Site of landmark Norman Cathedral and Castle set in a green landscape bowl is protected by Green Belt.  The Cathedral is the biggest visitor attraction in the North East.  We, the undersigned, promote the protection of this jewel in the North East for the benefit of future generations.   OUR VISION for the future of the COUNTY is to improve the economy of the whole County.  In order to achieve this, harness all County Durham’s special assets, including its people, culture, skills, environment and heritage. OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF DURHAM CITY Promote the extraordinary assets of Durham City to support the overall economic performance of County Durham. Protection of the World Heritage Site: views & setting are paramount No erosion of the Green Belt round Durham City except on sites that do not erode the identity of a small historic cathedral city. Development of brown field sites: County Hospital, Byland Lodge, Bus Depot, disused petrol stations, Old Shire Hall, empty retail sites on Dragon Lane. Development of purpose built blocks for student accommodation to release houses for families Concentrate on promoting Durham … Continue reading →

I would like to ask when people are going to come to terms with the fact that Labour were planning cuts of £16bn for this financial year. A ‘mere’ £2bn less than the coalitions planned cuts: cuts that were necessary to stop our once great country getting into the position that Ireland got into, where they could not afford to pay their debts. A large portion of blame for our predicament must indeed lie with the banks, but there is much debate still on the banking collapse, with eminent economists, such a Prof. Tim Congdon, demonstrating that the problem was with liquidity and that the Bank of England could have prevented the collapse if it had not been emasculated by the then Government’s reforms. As for Labour spending on ‘education, health and community services’, there lies the biggest problem. There is no argument that money needed to be spent, but PFI has proved to be a millstone around our children’s necks and the only people who have really benefited from the extra funding are the bureaucrats. Money was not targeted to the front-line. I don’t agree with the Coalition plans for NHS reform, but root and branch reforms were necessary … Continue reading →

With the need for austerity measures to be place in England and millions of workers facing a longer working life and reduced pensions, is it right that British taxpayers will have to stump up an extra £170 million to pay for an above-inflation increase to European Union staff pensions? The cost of EU pensions is rising by four per cent while inflation in the EU is 2.6 per cent. The revelation comes as the EU demands a 4.9 per cent increase in the UK’s contributions to fund its spending commitments. The increase will go towards paying for the growing £1.2billion pension bill. . If Britain pays the 4.9 per cent increase it would take the average British family’s EU contribution to £400 a year, while the average retired EU official will have an income of over £60,000 a year. It is time that we demand that this Government takes a firmer stand than the last one and rebuffs the EU’s demands. Better still, give us a referendum on EU membership.