Teesside MPs Push for Funding Reform After Nine Deaths in One Week

Nine deaths in one week — seven in an A66 crash during a police pursuit, two in a deliberately lit Grangetown house fire — prompted five Teesside MPs to meet Policing Minister Sarah Jones seeking more resources. MP Andy McDonald says Cleveland faces metropolitan-level crime on rural-level funding. Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged added support, with details unspecified.