WHEN they first met, Tony Blair was leader of the Opposition and Ray Mallon was head of Middlesbrough CID and pioneer in Britain of American zero tolerance policing techniques.
Yesterday, five years on, they shook hands again - Mr Blair as Prime Minister, Mr Mallon as Middlesbrough's first elected mayor.
The Prime Minister said a new learning centre opened at the Macmillan College, Middlesbrough, on the edge of a regeneration scheme, should give a lead and hope to communities elsewhere of what can be achieved when people pull together.
Mr Mallon told the Prime Minister he liked his speech.
He said: "What impressed me about his speech was the word hope. We are looking to give the people of Middlesbrough hope, and that is what the Prime Minister is striving for nationally."
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