David Crausby

The year 2004 has continued to be dominated by the events and after effects of the war in Iraq, although I think it is gradually diminishing in the eyes of the British people. For my part, I remain convinced that we should have waited until we had the support of the United Nations. The fact is, however, that this is history and with the elections in Iraq over the main objective should be to improve the quality of life for the people of Iraq and put the security of the country under the control of their elected Iraqi politicians as soon as possible.

It has been an extremely busy year especially concerning my responsibilities on the Defence Select Committee. I have visited Washington and Iraq on a couple of occasions this year as part of my duties on the Defence Select Committee. The Committee has also conducted an in-depth investigation into Duty of Care within the Armed Forces. This particular investigation included interviewing families of service personal who had committed suicide whilst serving in the armed forces. I found those meetings involving individual cases with the families very emotional and distressing but the information gathered was extremely useful and will help improve and strengthen the duty of care for the armed service personal and their families.

Here in Bolton we moved back to our office on Blackburn Road in March. Our caseload from the public has not slowed down and we continue to deal with a steady stream of problems with immigration, benefits, CSA and local authority matters still high on the agenda. I continue to receive letters from constituents across the entire political spectrum on a wide variety of issues. I hold my regular surgeries in the Town Hall on the second Friday of each month and when able, I meet constituents in my Blackburn Road Constituency office.

Representing Bolton North East as your Member of Parliament has not always been easy but it has always been worthwhile and I am looking forward to campaigning to secure a third term Labour Government.

Best Wishes,

David Crausby