Dear Sir,

I am sorry to have to report a typo in my letter last week. I wrote that: “government cuts have left Durham County Council with a hole in its budget of £250,000 [i.e. a quarter of a million] a year”. It should have read, of course, “£250,000,000 a year” [a quarter of a BILLION].

The government has stripped £250 million a year from Durham County Council (and the people of County Durham). This equates to approximately £474.35 per head per year in our county, now if that is not a reason for every candidate standing for election in May to unite and get the fair treatment of our home, I do not know what is.

With any hope we are in the final stretch of the pandemic, happy hour of this hellish shift of the last 12 months and the NHS, once again being the absolute gem of our country, getting us through this final siege of what has been a long, drawn out, tragic war on all fronts.

For me, getting that money reimbursed, even just getting us back to where we were, might just help our home win the peace. A peace which is undoubtedly coming, a peace where we can transform our town for the better.

Thank you for allowing me to correct this error and stay safe everyone.

Simon Hocking

Sedgefield CLP Campaigns Team