The following question was submitted by a Mr Vanders:

Given the fact that it has now been 10 years since the 1997 amendment to the 1968 Firearms Act, where 57,000 law abiding Firearms Certificate Holders had their private property confiscated in the name of public safety, do we now think it is time that pistol shooting should be allowed to return to the UK.

Gun crime increased by 40 % between 97-99 and there are now more than double the number of gun crimes than ever before. Is this not a terrible indictment of how banning things for all the wrong reasons simply doesn't work. Its been an offence since the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 to carry an offensive weapon in a public place without reasonable excuse or lawful authority, yet over the weekend 8 young people were either shot or stabbed to death and the latest victim was a 14 year old boy. All this despite record numbers of police.

Given the Olympics will be held here I think it is outrageous that our team has to train outside the UK.

q.  Should pistol shooting, both full and small-bore, be allowed to return to the UK?

Cumbria County Council have taken an obese 8 year old girl into care.  The girl is 5ft tall and is already having to wear size 16 clothes.  The girls parents are said to be devastated and claim that their daughters weight problems are due to medical problems and genetics, not neglect.  The girl's mother said: “Our world has fallen apart. Our daughter doesn’t overeat and she’s active. She’s always been chubby but she’s always out playing. The only bad thing we have given her is fizzy drinks.”

A small number of children around the country have already been taken into care on similar grounds.  This is the first instance of Cumbria County Council taking this kind of action.  Anne Ridgway, chairman of the Cumbria Local Safeguarding Children Board, said: “Parental behaviour that leads to childhood obesity can be a form of neglect. But a child’s weight becomes a safeguarding issue only in extreme cases and thankfully they are very rare.”

Colin Waine, the chairman of the National Obesity  forum, said: “We feel that there is never an easy option in these circumstances, but the preferred management is to work with families from the time children are born, so their growth can be monitored regularly. We need to work with families so these problems do not escalate.”

q.  Should severely obese children be taken into care on the grounds of neglect?