LOCAL MP IS RE-ELECTED TO VICE-CHAIR OF ALL PARTY GROUP ON DIGITAL SWITCHOVER

5.48.54pm GMT Tue 4th Dec 2007

Local MP Michael Moore has been re-elected to the position of Vice-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Digital Television Switchover.

The cross-party group of MPs is responsible for monitoring the progress towards digital television switchover in the UK, which will begin in earnest in the Borders in November 2008 with the switch-off of the analogue signal from the Selkirk transmitter.

Mr Moore has been active in his dealings with the Government, the BBC, Ofcom and Digital UK on behalf of his constituents who will be the guinea pigs for the switchover process. He has been pressing for all television channels to be provided to all viewers in the Borders after switchover, rather than the two-tier system that is proposed, as well as calling for improvements to be made to the help scheme and to the digital aerial installer scheme.

Mr Moore is also encouraging local people to get involved in his campaigns. He is inviting interested members of the public to join the Borders Digital Forum, which meets regularly to question guest speakers involved in the switchover process and to discuss how the plans are progressing. And he is calling upon anyone who has not already done so to sign his petition to make all television channels available in the Borders after switchover. More than 2,000 people have already signed the petition, but Mr Moore believes that the more signatures he can obtain, the more powerful a case he can make to the regulator Ofcom.

For more information on the Borders Digital Forum, and to download a copy of the petition, visit Mr Moore's website at: www.michaelmoore.org.uk and then click on campaigns.