EVERYONE owes a tremendous debt to our emergency services personnel – fire service, NHS workers, police including those in the prison service – and they are all more than deserving of a generous pay award.

Therefore if money is short why cannot, for one year only, we take enough money out of our foreign aid budget to award them a six per cent pay increase?

This would not apply to management positions as I am sure they will survive on what they presently earn.

It would be interesting to know how the Government has allocated the foreign aid budget over the past year.

I am in favour of helping people struggling in foreign parts but for once perhaps consideration should be given to our workers in the UK.

I’m sure if there was an unexpected disaster in a poorer part of the world assistance would be given by way of a general appeal.

As we have a Conservative Government in at the present time perhaps our Conservative councillors in the Darlington Borough should suggest this to their people in London.

I do not anticipate a reply as I have found in the past you cannot get an answer out of anyone on the Darlington council.

Mike Taylor, Darlington