The UK has the largest database of citizens’ DNA in the world. Around 3.4 million people have their DNA information stored on police databases – at least five times higher as a proportion of our population than any other country.And while DNA is a vital tool in crime-fighting, there are tens of thousands of people on the police database who have never even been charged with an offence - let alone convicted.The police have the power to take and store DNA from everyone they arrest, even if that person is released without any charge. Once your DNA is on the database, it can’t be taken off, even if you’re proved to be innocent in court.

There are now over a million people on the National DNA database who do not have a police record of a caution. Nearly 25,000 of them are children who have never been charged with an offence.

We believe that innocent people’s DNA should not be held indefinitely on the police database.

Sign our petition!

We, the undersigned, believe that while DNA is a vital tool in the fight against crime, there is no legitimate reason for the police to retain for life the DNA records of innocent people. We call on the Home Secretary to amend the law so that the DNA records of people who are innocent are no longer kept indefinitely.

Read other articles on this subject by clicking on the links below:

OBSERVER: Police DNA database getting out of control

LYNNE FEATHERSTONE: Why the DNA database is bad news for the innocent

A Lib Dem MP has demanded that gas and electricity companies be forced to use a £9 billion subsidy to help protect some of the most vulnerable people from the effects of fuel poverty.

Andrew Stunell made the call after the Liberal Democrats published their document Tackling Fuel Poverty, which sets out measures designed to help people struggling from rising energy costs.

An estimated 4.5 million households are in fuel poverty in the UK

Energy firms have received an estimated £9 billion windfall through the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme, designed to push them into low-carbon energy production. However, Ofgem, the energy regulator, has suggested that the true figure could be even higher, because the cost of the ‘certificates’ used has been set so low. As a result carbon emissions are remaining high, and the companies are pocketing the cash.

Mr Stunell, the Hazel Grove MP, outlined key proposals in the Lib Dems policy, including forcing energy companies to invest an extra £500m a year into making sure homes are properly insulated. The proposals would also require energy companies to install new ’smart meters’ in homes, which display real time consumption costs and reduce over-charging for energy.

Mr Stunell said”It’s not right that energy companies should receive this huge subsidy without being obliged to use it to give a fairer deal to their customers.

“The fact is many families are facing a real struggle to pay their energy bills, and the situation will only get worse this winter.

“This multi-billion pound windfall for the energy firms has to be used to protect the most vulnerable people from the effects of fuel poverty.

“Action has to be taken now to make the energy industry take responsibility for its customers, or the most vulnerable people will continue to lose out.”

According to a news alert  from ‘Inside Housing’, The Treasury has refused to confirm reports that it is considering giving fuel vouchers to cash-strapped families. 

The government is understood to be planning a scheme that would see poor families given vouchers to help them cope with rising energy costs – which have been increasing dramatically over the last year or so.

In response to the news alert the Treasury have said the idea was ‘speculation’ and it was not right to comment about plans before the pre-budget report this autumn. 

‘The government has said continuously recently it is looking at measures to support families and businesses through these tougher times but no decisions have been taken,’ a spokesman said. 

 Housing Federation spokesman was quoted has saying that anything which helped those in fuel poverty would be welcome, but it would be better to tackle the cost of pre-payment meters. 

‘The easiest option is to simply stop the very high charge for pre-payment meter users. It doesn’t involve anyone applying or the government implementing a voucher scheme,’ a spokesman said. 

Customers who pay for their gas online, using direct debit, can save as much as £300 a year compared with pre-payment meter customers, who are often the poorest, he added. 

DO you have a burning question to ask?  Then now is your chance to speak up!

North East Lincolnshire is holding its very own Question Time event putting key local people under the public spotlight for an evening of discussion and debate.

As part of North East Lincolnshire Council’s Community Engagement Week, the North East Lincolnshire Council Question Time panel will be inviting questions and debate at a live event at Whitgift Theatre, Grimsby, on Monday, September 15.

On the panel will be: the Leader of the Council, Councillor Andrew De Freitas; the Deputy Leader Councillor Keith Brookes; Great Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell; divisional commander of Humberside Police, Dave Hilditch; North East Lincolnshire Council’s new chief executive, Tony Hunter; chair of the North East Lincolnshire NHS Care Trust Plus, Val Waterhouse; plus the North East Lincolnshire representative on the national Youth Parliament and her deputy.

Chairing the panel on the night will be Mark Webb, chairman of the Local Strategic Partnership and managing director of the Cleethorpes Chronicle.

The event, beginning at 6pm, will include a finger buffet prior to the debates, and creche facilities can be arranged with advance notice.

Tickets for the event are free but must be booked in advance. If you would like to join the audience, please contact Paul Windley on 01472 324121 or Paul Wisken on 01472 324124. Alternatively you can email paul.windley@nelincs.gov.uk or paul.wisken@nelincs.gov.uk. Or you can write to: NELC Question Time tickets, Law and Democratic Services, Municipal Offices, Grimsby, N E Lincs, DN31 1HU. The closing date for ticket applications is Wednesday, September 3.

Audience members who would like to ask a question of the panel on the night are asked to submit their questions beforehand. You can either do this when applying for your ticket, or you can submit your questions separately, sending them to the above contact details with your name and ticket number. The deadline for question submissions is Wednesday, September 10.

Watching television pictures last week of jubilant teenagers celebrating their A-level results, I was filled with an amazing sense of accomplishment. In my home that joyous feeling has been felt fourfold. For my 18-year-old children – quadruplets Tolu, Tayo, Tobi and Tosin, who were conceived naturally – all achieved A and B grades at the St Francis Xavier sixth-form college in Clapham, South-West London.They have secured places at Manchester University, Goldsmiths, Queen Mary University of London and

I am, understandably, bursting with pride. Because, although I’ve not had to cope with too many social disadvantages over the years, the fact remains that I am a 52-year-old single mother. And I have brought up seven children – four of them boys – on my own in Lewisham, one of London’s most deprived boroughs.

Proud: Single mother Julie Oke believes it’s how you live, not where you liveI have bucked the statistics that say my children, who grew up without a father present in their daily lives, should be academic failures. All of them have done exceptionally well. The eldest boy is 29 and a doctor in

However, it is the success of the quads that has got everyone asking how I’ve pulled off this apparent miracle. Well, it is not rocket science. Simply put, it has always been my philosophy that it’s not where you live, but how you live – and that children learn by example. I’ve always known education and hard work were the ways to improve my life, and I have instilled the same principles in my children.My goal has always been that they would break down barriers and excel academically. But I also wanted them to do so in schools with a strong moral code, to complement my work at home. So I have always sent them to religious establishments.I chose St Francis, despite it being a long way from our home, because it has a great reputation for academic achievement. Its exam results are consistently well above average and the majority of its students progress to higher education, including Oxford and

When I visited, the facilities stood out above the rest. I was especially struck by the principal’s mission statement, which says ‘to be successful in today’s world you must develop skills and abilities at a higher level than was ever necessary in the past’. That is what I’ve always told my children: to stretch themselves beyond what is expected.

I am constantly being told children in black communities are failing because 59 per cent of them are raised by lone parents. But, although I accept children are largely better off when they grow up with both parents, just having a man in the house does not mean they will go on to become pillars of society.

Four times the success: 18-year-old quadruplets Tobi, Tayo, Tolu and Tosin celebrate their A-level results.It really does depend on how you bring up your child. How they see you live your life and the values you instil in them from an early age. Too many single parents, of all colours and creeds, are content to collect state benefits and let their children run wild.I have been a single mum since the quads were born. I was 34 and on my own but I was determined I would open up as many opportunities for them as possible. They have seen how hard I work. I have never relied on Government handouts. They have learned by example that commitment and dedication will get you a long way.Yet my background is not a wealthy or privileged one. My father was an illiterate Nigerian farmer and my mother was one of his seven wives. She ran a shop in a small town in the state of Osun. There were 24 children in all – five my mum’s.I can remember my parents telling us that becoming educated would mean we did not have to work as physically hard as they did. However, they could not afford to send us all to higher education. I went to an Anglican grammar school and ended up doing teacher training in Nigeria, before getting my first degree in social work education from the University of Paris in 1984.

After moving to London, I lived in a single room and did various odd jobs before I could get my footing. I was a social worker in Lambeth when, to the shock of everyone including myself, the quads were born. 

I took a year’s maternity leave, put them into nursery and went straight back to work.

I continued studying child care because I wanted to open a nursery. I now manage a business that cares for 20 youngsters up to the age of five and have a staff of four.

Tiny achievers: The Oke quads aged three months. L-R: Tosin, Tolu, Tayo, TobiI’m not saying it hasn’t been hard. At times, money has been incredibly tight. The children wore each other’s clothes and never got the designer gear or fashionable items their peers had. Yet they never complained. They saw how hard I worked and they knew it was all for them.I’ve taught them to be respectful of other people, especially their elders. Once, one of the girls got into an argument with a teacher over her grades. I explained shouting was not the best way to get her point across and it was disrespectful. Another time I discovered that my sons wanted to settle a row with a local boy by fighting. I explained that violence could escalate and that it rarely solved a problem.Obviously, there has been peer pressure put on them over the years. They see other kids running wild, doing what they want. But they know that is not how we live in this family. I’ve never had to worry about them getting involved in gangs or drugs or any other bad behaviour for that matter. It is just out of the question because they have been brought up as good Christians.People think being a single parent means your children have to fail. I live by my own code and my own notions. I tell my children they are individuals, that they do not have to be like everyone else. What has held a lot of black families back is that they have accepted the stereotype. They do not realise they can achieve anything they want, that the sky is the limit, that class or colour should not classify who they are.People have said I shouldn’t blow my own trumpet. But I know I’ve done everything possible to give my children a good start in life. It has taken commitment, time and care but it has been so rewarding for me to see them growing and achieving. And I confess, I’m privately amazed by how well they have done.My message to other single parents is that they should not let the system determine their lives. I say, always push yourself. Pray, work hard, respect yourself and your children. I don’t think I’m unique or alone and only wish the good work of other lone parents with children doing well could be heard as loudly as those crying about the effects of guns and violence.