Bob Russell

Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell and his wife Lady Russell are celebrating the birth of their fourth grandchild - a son born to their daughter Nicola Dines at Colchester General Hospital yesterday, Sunday.

Nicola and her husband Mr Robert Dines have named him Sam. His birth weight was 10lbs 12ozs.

He is a brother to the couple's three-year-old daughter Jessica.

Nearly 5,000 people living on low incomes in Colchester will have been lifted out of paying any Income Tax thanks to the Coalition Government, the second highest of any local authority area in Essex.

This was the good news expressed by the Town's Liberal Democrat MP Sir Bob Russell after today's Budget which he said he broadly supported although he was not convinced by the argument that the 50p tax rate should be reduced to 45p.

Colchesters MP took a first-hand look at cutting-edge cancer treatment during a visit to St Barts hospital in London. CyberKnife is a new technology which allows a robot to track cancerous tumours through the body and aim a beam of radiation directly onto the growth.

Conventional radiotherapy treatments cannot follow tumours which move, meaning the beam may often irradiate healthy skin and organs, causing more danger than the cancer itself.

Over 20 million working people will be better off next year after Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government delivered the biggest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance in the Budget.

The massive £3.5bn tax cut for working people delivers:

• The biggest ever single uplift in the tax threshold
• A personal allowance of £9,205 in April 2013
• 21 million working people getting an extra £220 tax cut
• Brings the total tax cut for basic rate tax payers to £550
• Brings the total number of people lifted out of tax to 2 million.

A member of Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell's staff suffered a head injury when protestors against the Health Bill blocked the entrance to his offices while he was holding an Advice Bureau for residents.

The Police were called but the group of seven protestors - involving a Labour activist based in Chelmsford - had gone by the time they arrived.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg used his speech to the Party's Spring conference in NewcastleGateshead to call for the forthcoming budget to be a "budget for fairness" and pledged that it would help working familes.

The Deputy Prime Minister pledged that by 2015 Britain would have seen an end to control orders, the first gay marriages and the first elections to the House of Lords.

Myland Community Council has been awarded "front runner" status by the Government - meaning that controversial development proposals for the fields of "west" Mile End, Colchester, will now have to involve the local community as a legal requirement of the planning process.

And with the decision comes £20,000 from the Coalition Government to assist Myland Community Council in helping to evolve the controversial plans into something which will hopefully lead to a better outcome than is currently proposed.

Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell, who had been involved in the talks to save the jobs, said: "I am delighted that a resolution has been found so that Polestar in Colchester will continue to operate.

"These are difficult times for the UK printing industry, and I did fear that the Colchester works and upwards of 300 jobs could be lost.

Fairer taxes, promoting green jobs, protecting your civil liberties - these are just some of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government.

We're building a freer, greener and more liberal country - and stopping some of the worst excesses of the Conservatives. Find out more in this infographic.

Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell's reputation for having a busy diary - locally and at the House of Commons - was demonstrated on Saturday when he had no fewer than five events to attend…..and still had time to do the weekly shopping with his wife.

First off was a "graffiti walk" with a constituent who showed him numerous locations on a mile-long route from Colchester Station to the Town Centre via the Castle Park where vandals had spoiled public and private property with their criminal activities.