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Peter Kilfoyle, who resigned as defence minister last week complaining he was disillusioned with Tony Blair's government, is supporting Daresbury Laboratory's bid to host Britain's new synchrotron source.

In a letter to trade and industry minister Stephen Byers, Mr Kilfoyle, Labour MP for Liverpool Walton, said he appreciated the government faces having to make a "judgement of Solomon" over the project. But he added: "I, like other Northwest MPs, believe the case for Daresbury is overwhelming. More importantly, so do a host of academics."