David Ruffley

David Ruffley will launch his innovative advertising campaign on Bury St Edmunds buses at lunchtime on Friday 7 March.

David is the first Member of Parliament to use advertising on First Eastern Counties Buses to publicise his accessibility to his constituents.

David's advertising campaign will run for eight weeks inside First Eastern Counties Buses which travel in and around Bury St Edmunds. The advertisements will appear on 'passenger panels' above the seats.

BRITONS are heavier drinkers than the Russians, according to official data from the World Health Organisation.

Alcohol consumption per head is greater in the UK, and England on its own tops the European table for child and teenage drunkenness.

Opposition politicians seized on the disclosure to demand that the government should reconsider its liberal policy on alcohol, as it prepares to publish a review of 24-hour drinking laws.

David Ruffley MP has this week been named as Parliamentarian of the Month for February by the road safety charity Brake.

David has been campaigning for improved road safety in his Bury St Edmunds constituency, and the wider Suffolk area, since his election in 1997.

The issues David has campaigned on include:

• Improving the A14 at the Rookery Cross Roads and Haughley Bends

• Improving the A143 and in particular the Great Barton stretch of the road

• Young driver education programmes

Mr. David Ruffley (Bury St. Edmunds) (Con): I and my colleagues congratulate the hon. Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney) on securing this timely debate. Let me make it clear that Her Majesty's Opposition support the six broad goals set out in the Government's 2005 document on neighbourhood policing. We believe in the principle that local people should have more influence over setting local safety priorities.

David Ruffley has sent his 'Save our Local Post Offices' petition to the national headquarters of Post Office Ltd.

David's petition has been available to sign at local post offices throughout his Bury St Edmunds constituency as well as online at: www.tellDavidRuffley.com

David Ruffley MP has today announced that he has signed House of Commons Early Day Motion (EDM) 95 to show his support for the Royal Anglian Regiment and all of our armed forces.

EDM 95 reads:

That this House recognises the bravery, dedication and sacrifice of members of the armed forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq; applauds the Daily Mirror's Honour the Brave campaign; and calls on the Government to ensure all personnel in the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force killed or wounded in enemy action are awarded a medal.

David said:

David Ruffley MP has today expressed his grave concern over a raft of new legislation before Parliament which will take away power from local people across Suffolk on planning issues, and impose a host of unelected planning Quangos on them.

The proposed new quangos include:

• The new unelected Homes & Communities Agency, with powers to seize land, enter private property and act as its own planning authority

TEAMS of Neighbourhood Watch members are to be asked to do jobs previously left to the police.

The civilian groups could spy on villains, patrol crime-hit estates at night and even check car tax discs.

In some cases they would form secret groups to gather intelligence. Details of the plan are contained in a leaked memo sent to chief constables in the last few days. It brought immediate accusations that the Government is aiming for more policing 'on the cheap'.

There were also fears it could lead to community tensions, with neighbour checking on neighbour.

Thousands to go as police replaced by civilians, spy cameras and computers

THOUSANDS of police jobs will be axed as more civilians and high-tech equipment are used in the war against crime.

Routine tasks done by cops will be taken on by civilian staff in a huge shake up of the service.

And spy cameras and computer wizardry will be used more to capture crooks.

The huge changes were announced in the Commons by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith yesterday and spelt out in detail in a review of policing by top cop Sir Ronnie Flanagan.

HUNDREDS of millions of pounds should be diverted from rural police forces to those that cover inner cities, an official report has recommended.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the Home Office's adviser on policing, said that some forces containing large cities need greater funding which may have to come at the expense of forces in the countryside.

He also said that civilians could carry out much of the work done by the 141,000 front line officers in England and Wales.

Police forces are paid for by grants from the Government and from council tax payers.