SLAVE TRADE: TONY Blair has said that he feels "deep sorrow" for Britain's role in the African slave trade, but will not give a full apology, as some have demanded.

The African slave trade was created in Africa pre-history by Black Africans, firstly for the markets of Africa and later for the markets of both the pre- and post-Islamic Middle East.

It was Portugal that got Europe involved in the African slave trade and Britain which ended it, with the only protests coming from Black African slave traders.

Britain is only accountable for its own past actions. But Britain's willingness to acknowledge and apologise for its past atrocities has been exploited by those driven by political motivation and personal agendas, creating a culture within Britain in which the fear of being branded "racist" has turned Britain into the scapegoat for past and present atrocities committed by others.

Is it not time that this culture ended and that similar acknowledgements and apologies be demanded from those African nations who enslaved their fellow Black Africans, and from those other nations who directly profited from the African slave trade? - CT Riley, Spennymoor, Co Durham.

TONY Blair has recently expressed some remorse for this nation's involvement in the slave trade, but again demonstrated how disconnected politicians are from the real everyday problems of the people who vote them into power.

Go into any pub or club in Bishop Auckland and I doubt very much that you will encounter lively debate concerning the slave trade which abolitionist William Wilberforce so resolutely opposed.

You might, however, hear discussion concerning the present slave trade in the North-East whereby many workers are employed through agencies, thereby allowing many companies to pay below the minimum wage and avoid many of the responsibilities which many employers used to accept as part of an employment contract.

Here is one area where the Government could make a difference, but this would mean upsetting big business and the CBI. Some hope. - VJ Connor, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham.

EASTERN EUROPEANS

IN your story about a Polish grocery store in Darlington (Echo, Nov 23), the owner was reported as estimating that there are 5,000 Eastern Europeans living in Darlington and South-West Durham.

This will undoubtedly put a strain on housing, schools and the health service. When too many people are crowded into an area, land gains a rarity value and house prices rocket accordingly.

Anyone doubting this should check out how big a property they could buy for their money in Canada, which has a density of only three people per square kilometre, compared to England with its density of 400 people per kilometre.

Such a critical point has been reached in this country that quality buildings - such as the White Horse, Darlington - are being replaced with flats and housing.

Unscrupulous employers will also relish the fact that 5,000 extra people to choose from will give them the bargaining upper hand to drive down wages and conditions. The trade unions' silence on this is stunning. - Trevor Agnew, Darlington.

MUSLIMS

TONY Kelly (HAS, Nov 25) says that the number of British Muslims involved in terrorism - allegedly as many as 1,600 - is not tiny. I agree. It is a frighteningly large number, and one which has undoubtedly increased dramatically as a consequence of British foreign policy.

Nevertheless, this amounts to just 0.1 per cent of British Muslims, which I have reasonably described as a tiny minority. He also suggests that these terrorists could not operate without the connivance of their co-religionists.

Quite so - their activities would not have come to light without the co-operation and goodwill of law-abiding British Muslims, something which Peter Mullen and others seem determined to undermine.

Mr Kelly says he hasn't been in a coma since 9/11. How then has he missed the frequent denunciations of violence and terrorism by Britain's largest Muslim umbrella organisation, the Muslim Council of Britain?

For example, on 7/7: "The MCB utterly condemns today's indiscriminate acts of terror in London. These evil deeds make victims of us all. It is our humanity that must bring us shoulder to shoulder to condemn, to oppose and to overcome those who would spread fear, hatred and death." - Pete Winstanley, Durham.

RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS

THE recent British Airways decision to ban the wearing of crucifixes openly is another bungled attempt by "politically correct" cranks trying to address discriminatory imbalances against minority groups.

The problem with these well meaning "liberals" is that they actually create more problems with discrimination than were there in the first place.

White, heterosexual, law-abiding, taxpaying residents in the UK must now be on their guard for anything they may wear, do or say for fear they may offend lesbians, homosexuals, feminists, refugees and ethnic groups, etc.

The upshot is that "Mr and Mrs Average" now feel discriminated against.

This causes resentment and who gets the blame? These minority groups who were (and probably still are) unaware of any discrimination until these "well-meaning" cronies in their wisdom pointed this out. - Kev McStravick, Darlington.

HORSE DEATHS

ONCE again you report horses struck by cars on the A688 road in Bishop Auckland (Echo, Nov 29, some editions) - on this occasion in separate incidents.

How long before a driver, passenger or a pedestrian is killed or injured by this problem?

Horses straying on the highway, in the Bishop Auckland area in particular, has been a problem for many years.

No doubt the police, as usual, are expected to deal with straying horses when reported, but are they sufficiently trained, and what happens if an officer is seriously injured attempting to restrain a horse? Who is liable then?

Is it not time that Durham County Council, and Wear Valley District Council got together and came up with a suitable plan of action to deal with this never-ending problem? - Ian Jamieson, Spennymoor, Co Durham.

LABOUR FUNDS

I READ in a national newspaper recently that Government ministers are to push for an increase in the allowances paid to councillors. In the same article, I read that all Labour councillors have to sign an agreement that a percentage of their allowances will be paid to the Labour Party to cover election expenses, etc.

That tells me that people up and down this country who struggle to pay the ever-increasing council tax are funding the Labour Party without knowing it, since the council tax is used to pay the councillors.

Now I know why the council tax has more than doubled since Labour came to power - they needed the money for party funds. I think this should be a matter for the fraud squad. - Barbara Dunne, Whinney Banks, Middlesbrough.