Why we're not Browned off, Protect our kids, Blaze of glory

Chancellor Gordon Brown is the biggest ministerial asset in Tony Blair's New Labour Government.

Thanks to his stewardship of the Treasury, Britain is booming, unlike almost any other period when Labour has been in control. It means he has more money to pump into favourite Labour targets such as the NHS, which receives an extra £2 billion, and education, which gets an extra £1 billion.

Mr Brown is also clever with his presentation. He raised the tax on cigarettes but said all the extra money would go to the health service and there would be new laws to combat tobacco smuggling.

Unlike many previous Chancellors he did not hammer drinkers. And Mr Brown also applied the brakes on fuel duty for the first time since taking office three years ago. Critics will be reading the small print to see whether, as in previous Brown Budgets, stealth taxes made it look less good afterwards than at the time.

But there is no doubting the political impact of a Budget which could be leading Labour into a pre-election period. Mr Brown is looking, as always, to the long-term. And if Tony Blair should want to spend more time with his growing family some time in the future, Gordon would be well-placed to take over at the top.

Protect our kids

Two weeks ago we revealed a shocking case of child abuse in Brighton. Three children died and four others were badly neglected. Although the couple involved were jailed this week on neglect charges, they were cleared earlier on charges of murder.

The Argus can reveal that over the last 14 months there have been another 21 suspicious deaths of children. Some of them could have been murders. In some cases it will always be impossible to prove either way. But in others, the perpetrators could be brought to justice if changes were made in the law.

The appalling case we reported is not the only one where children have died and yet those who committed these crimes are not convicted.

Blaze of glory

Colleagues of Sandra Kiddle at Brighton and Hove Council gave her a send off she'll always remember.

When she left the building control department, they gave her a ride in a 70-year-old fire engine.

Sandra didn't climb up the machine's 50-foot wooden ladder because she doesn't like heights. But let's hope the engine is a symbol her career is really going to lift off in the future.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.