I do hope everyone had as good a Christmas holiday as I did seeing many family members.

Back at work we have the huge shadows of Iraq and now North Korea over our heads. There are continual requests from many MPs including Tam Dalyell for a substantive motion in the House of Commons before UK troops are deployed in Iraq but so far no signs that the Government will comply.

My position remains that Britain should not go to war without a clear updated decision by the United Nations indicating support from a wide range of nations including other Arab countries.

Since I last wrote I have had some interesting meetings.

I met Chief Superintendent Davenport and heard about the reorganisation of police divisions. Kidderminster will unite with Bromsgrove and Redditch to become the North Worcestershire Division. This will make the work of liaising with local councils much more convenient and its HQ will remain here. I was pleased to hear that the strength of the current Wyre Forest division has gone up by twenty two officers already so I hope we will begin to see a more obvious police presence.

I also met Peter Forrester, the Chief Executive of the Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust. Although the PCT will receive extra money during the next year we are unlikely to see many developments because it has to be a catching-up period. Any developments will be aimed at Government targets, particularly waiting times and in my view this should improve our chances of achieving the orthopaedic surgical centre sooner rather than later. Mr. Forrester is aware of the problems with access to NHS dentists and genito-urinary medicine clinics but there is no easy answer to either of these as they are nationwide problems. I was delighted to hear that the overall aim of the PCT is to develop local services with the aim of reducing the number of Wyre Forest people leaving the area for treatment.

I have learnt that the hospital beds that people saw leaving the hospital were obsolete and genuinely surplus to requirements and were being exported through a charity to Pakistan. Beds have been retained for the orthopaedic centre.

I was glad to see the new Bewdley flood defences erected as a precaution but even more delighted that the river did not rise to require their use.

Mike Maloney, Chief Reporter of The Shuttle, leaves this week following promotion and I would like to record my thanks for his meticulous reporting of events during the last six years. I wish him well in his future career.

May I wish everyone a Happy and Peaceful New Year?

R.T.