WAR is an extraordinary state of affairs. Extraordinary challenges are faced. Extraordinary demands are made. Extraordinary sacrifices expected.

And that is why we find it so hard to understand why the rules governing state benefits paid to a disabled North-East man must be so rigidly followed.

Michael Blackburn, whose health has severely suffered from when he worked at Easington Colliery, faces permanently losing £44 incapacity benefit each week because his wife Pat was asked to serve in Iraq.

Mrs Blackburn, a Territorial Army reservist, was called into full-time service in the Gulf and that means the couple now fall foul of benefit rules.

We share the dismay expressed by armed forces support groups who believe that wartime calls for special consideration, and we hope that Easington MP John Cummings can bring about a change of heart.

Part-time though it may be, the Territorial Army is a vital component of this country's defences, and this kind of inflexibility is hardly the way to encourage new volunteers.

The moment Mrs Blackburn returns home from the war, her husband's benefits should be reinstated in full - in the name of common decency.

After all, his health can hardly have improved as a result of having his wife and carer serving her country in a war zone.

Change the Formula

MUCH closer to home for Tony Blair, the region has suffered yet another jobs blow with confirmation that Sloman engineering is shedding 100 jobs.

It comes as no surprise that the Newton Aycliffe-based company, which has been in receivership since January, could no longer maintain its workforce.

But it is further evidence that the North-East is a special case for Government help following the damage recently inflicted by cuts at the likes of Black & Decker, Rothmans, Electrolux and Sanyo, to name just a few.

In Government circles, we no doubt sound like a broken record but we make no apology for saying it again: The age-old Barnett Formula which dictates Government funding to the regions in the greatest need has to be reviewed.