Sunderland paper's campaign praised in Commons

A Sunderland Echo campaign calling for laws to protect 999 crews from attacks has won praise from Jack Straw, the Commons leader. He commended the paper's "Protect Our Heroes" campaign, launched six years ago, saying it had been instrumental in helping the government push through legislation to protect emergency workers. It has long been an offence to assault a police officer, but firefighters and paramedics weren't offered the same protection by law - until now. (Via Sunderland Echo)