8:00am Saturday 20th March 2010
SIR – Notable dignitaries from our city have a regular column in the Worcester News including the mayor, the dean and our member of Parliament. This gives readers an insight into what they and the organisations they represent are doing on our behalf.
I was therefore disappointed with Mike Foster’s column (March 11) that just slated the policies of his political opponents, the Conservatives.
There are many sound reasons why David Cameron’s Conservatives should vote against the retention of DNA, especially when it relates to people who are arrested on suspicion of minor offences and are later proved to be not guilty. As someone with concerns about civil liberties I am not comfortable with some of the “control freak” ideas that have come from the Government, including ID cards.
Regarding CCTV, the reason why funding was at risk for the monitoring of cameras was because of lack of funding from the Government to Worcester City Council. It’s not that the council wanted to stop funding CCTV monitoring. It is because statutory functions have to take a higher priority in these difficult times. Fortunately, a shared service agreement with other partners means the monitoring will continue. At council Labour members initially greeted this with scepticism. I wonder if they were disappointed that they could not accuse the Conservatives of not funding the service?
Conservative Councillor Stephen Hodgson
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