David Hallam is married with three children and is director of communications at Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull NHS Trust.

A. The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has been a tremendous blow to parts of our rural community and a tragedy for those farmers directly affected.

I was Herefordshire's Member of the European Parliament at the time of the BSE crisis.

Whilst I had my doubts about the then Conservative Government's management of the affair I was very careful not to either talk the crisis up or talk British meat down.

Regretfully, Opposition politicians in both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties have been using the present FMD outbreak to advance their own political fortunes.

The Government has already committed extra financial help to our livestock farmers - £156m in agrimonetary compensation. An additional £200m has been earmarked for a new temporary welfare disposal scheme.

Help for the wider rural communities will include business rate relief and another £200m package to help tourist initiatives and other businesses hit by FMD.

B. The Liberal Democrats have run Hereford for too long and the roads are a shambles. Every street has its abundant share of potholes, dangerous pavements and uneven kerbstones.

How can the Liberal Democrats be trusted to sort out the city's traffic problems?

Fortunately, we have a Labour Government that is prepared to listen. The Government has already given Herefordshire £500,000 to improve rural bus services.

The Government has accepted the need for a relief road south from the Rotherwas Industrial Estate.

I will work to get this linked to a second crossing over the Wye to the east of the city.

I will also campaign to get a second relief road to link with that bridge to the north.

The advantage for Hereford of having a Labour MP is that I will be in Government, working with friends and colleagues. A Tory or Liberal Democrat will be lost in Opposition.

C. Labour is tough on crime and the causes of crime.

Since Labour took office in 1997, recorded crime in the West Mercia police area fell by 17 per cent to 82,000. When Labour last left office in 1979 it stood at just 35,000. Hereford has experienced a similar Tory rise and a recent Labour fall.

Police numbers have shown a recent welcome increase and the Government will fund an additional 152 police recruits over the next three years in addition to those already planned.

The number of people on the dole in Herefordshire has fallen dramatically, especially among the young, thanks to Labour's New Deal scheme and a stable economy.

However, I know that many people in Hereford are worried about the activities of druggies.

I will oppose the legalisation of drugs.