SEE YOU AGAIN: HAVING read the articles Mike Amos wrote about R3 Tenors both at Spennymoor and Hartlepool, (Echo, Apr 14 & May 5) I would like to say a very big thank you to the staff at both venues for their help at both performances.

Both audiences enjoyed performances of an international standard from R3 Tenors and the ovations at the end of the evening said everything. Not only have R3 received accolades from the audience at both venues, the patients at both Bishop Auckland and Kendal hospitals were also highly delighted having received a live broadcast which was of a superb quality from Auckland Hospital Radio.

Hartlepool did outsell Spennymoor; the audience was smashing and we look forward to performing at both of these venues again next year, before we travel to the United States for a tour which starts in New York and takes in Chicago and Boston. - Robert W Crowe, R3 Tenors, Perthshire.

BACK BRITAIN

I AM often asked why Britain - and in particular England - is so special and why it is important that our identity must not be lost within the EU and become a regional assembly beholden to Brussels.

I believe the following is a list we are proud to be identified with:

Magna Carta, cricket, Houses of Parliament, Imperial measurements, Winston Churchill, free speech, Shakespeare, and the British character.

I am sure the French, Spanish and other nations have similar pride in their countries.

Equally, I am anxious and critical about the direction in which the EU is heading. For instance, unelected politicians, unelected judiciary and European law, the euro, agricultural and fishery controls, erosion of our sovereignty, and our membership fee of £30m a day.

The differences between countries is to be commended and not destroyed. As a nation we have been mislead by various governments and we must regain control of our own affairs and let our elected political leaders know.

After all, they are there to represent you and I and not to support government leaders. - John H Waiting, Guisborough.

HIGH ROW

IN VIEW of the number of people and societies in favour of retaining the balustrades (which are striking in appearance) in the redevelopment of the High Row, Darlington, surely it must be possible to incorporate them in the plans for the area.

If the present planners cannot be persuaded to adjust their ideas to what people want, perhaps a change is required. - Name and address supplied.

IN his speech acknowledging his re-election, Mr Blair said the Government must listen.

It is a pity that Darlington Borough Council cannot listen and intends to proceed with its unpopular, so-called improvement of High Row.

There will be elections here in 2006 and the voters will not forget the despoilation of this historic market town. - John W Antill, Darlington.

IRAQ DEATHS

HOW anyone could have voted for Tony Blair after seeing the picture of that bonnie little boy whose soldier daddy had just been killed in Iraq (Echo, May 2) is beyond my comprehension.

From the start of this year we still read or hear about men, women and children being killed, maimed or injured in Iraq. I wonder if the families of these victims applaud the freedom for Iraq lecture which spouts forth from a Prime Minister's lips every time he is interviewed on the subject.

Of course, soldiers know and accept the risks of conflict, but surely not in an unnecessary war that was caused to appease two egotistical men such as Bush and Blair.

Far too many questions hang over this war, questions which have not been resolved.

Remember, it is not your sons out there, Mr Blair, not your boys dying. And for what? - J Bird, Shildon.

I AGREE with Bernard McCormick's comments (Echo, Apr 30) about the hatchets being out for Tony Blair.

Mr Salek, Iraqi deputy prime minister (Echo, Apr 30) clearly describes the opinion of the people of Iraq. He said 8,000 civilians died, not 100,000 as has been suggested. How many more people would have been massacred by Saddam Hussein and ended up in mass graves if he had stayed in power?

I would like to feel that someone would rescue us if we in Britain ever became victims of an evil dictator.

The people who are shouting their opinions from the rooftops should remember that they are only able to do that because another evil dictator was defeated in the Second World War.

I was brought up during the war and lost my childhood sheltering with my family in the cupboard under the stairs or being evacuated during the Blitz in London.

My parents and four brothers were bombed out of our home by a V2 rocket near the end of the war. Some died in our street, but we escaped.

Despite the thousands of victims who died, we did not think the war should not have happened. The alternative of a Nazi regime was unthinkable.

Please stop the hysterical attacks on Tony Blair who, in the words of Mr Salek, is a leader with vision and is determined and committed to the cause of freedom and peace across the world. - Barbara Richardson, Spennymoor.

MOTORCYCLE TRIALS

AS an avid fan of motorcycle trials, it is with horror that I have found out about the latest EU incentive that pays a farmer £1,600 per hectare not to hold motor sport events.

This is a ludicrous rule as we are in the middle of a yob culture and the good, honest kids who stay out of trouble are losing out to cash. At the other end of the scale, the Scott Trial, the biggest one day event in the world that is held on our own doorstep near Richmond, is potentially going to be lost.

Landowners do not want to lose money from the EU for an event that is held for only one day and is of no financial gain to them.

The Scott Trial has raised thousands of pounds for local charities through the work of hundreds of volunteers, myself included.

Most club trials are held on the same basis - each round of the ten or so at different farms.

Surely Mr Blair can see that to hold one event at each farm should not spoil the future of the sport for generations to come.

So I urge every trials rider out there to write to Mr Blair and let him know how we feel and stop the EU making rules for Britain. - Ian White, Hurworth.

TAKING STOCK

IN response to the letter Scales of Justice (HAS, May 4) why are people obsessed with complaining and getting everything banned?

Fishing is classed as a sport, but it is also done in pleasure and in work. Although some may think it is cruel, fishing is a good way of controlling fish stock and getting rid of unwanted parasites in our waters.

Also a good percentage of us enjoy eating fish but don't regard that as cruel.

Fishermen pay for their rights to fish to the Environment Agency and their own angling clubs which all goes towards the upkeep of the rivers in this country.

If it were not for them every household would be paying a lot more in water rates. - Peter Appleby, Durham.