LAST week I mentioned my support for the campaign to extend entitlement to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to people who become ill or disabled over 65. As requested, I expand.

It may not be widely known, but currently only people who are under 65 are entitled to DLA.

It is extremely difficult to justify this.

The Help the Aged campaign argues that it is fundamentally wrong for disabled people to be denied the financial help which they need to remain active, healthy and engaged in their communities, purely on the basis of age.

THE issue of rural policing has arisen again, following the decision to sell the police house in Preston Candover.

We are assured there will still be a dedicated beat officer for the area, but he will be working from a local office, not a beat house.

Residents are concerned about how much time an out-of-area beat officer will spend on his patch, the level of police "visibility" and the impact on response times.

It may be Police Authority policy to sell police houses, but where this happens, local opinion is not convinced it is right.

I AM amused when I hear pro-Europe MPs ruing that their cause is flagging because they have failed to make their case effectively and people do not yet understand the benefits.

Haven't they missed the point entirely? Surely the Euro-fanatics are losing the argument precisely because we do understand what they are saying - and want nothing to do with it.