13/11/04

Last week's No wasn't just a localised phenomenon, it's echoed nationwide.

For the past 30 years, our rulers have manipulated and lied to us. They took us into the EC under false pretences, then told us, when we awoke with a shock as "European citizens", that we should have known all along where we were heading.

How can we respect those who treat us with such contempt?

No wonder we despair, when MPs allow European law to take precedence over our own common law.

As we see our "representatives" helplessly administering the EU competition policy which destroys our industries, and obediently wiping out our farmers and fishermen in deference to the CAP and the CFP, how can the people of these islands help but realise the sham that Parliament has become?

What chance is there of any effective local or national democracy, while we're bound by economic and social policies drawn up in Brussels according to plans for "the whole European territory"?

Politicians tell us these things are "inevitable". But then, they wanted us to think "regional governance" was inevitable too: and the North-East of England called their bluff.

Now that we've voted against an elected assembly, the unelected one that's been foisted on us must go, along with similar quangos in the eight other phoney "regions" of England.

The status quo won't do: power over the things that affect our daily lives must be returned to local governments acting on behalf of individuals, families and genuine communities - not surrendered to networks of party politicians and representatives of "civil society" - whatever that might be.

And now that we've finally realised nothing is "inevitable", bring on the referendum on the EU constitution! - Gillian Swanson, Whitley Bay.

I'D like to echo Dave Pascoe's comments on region assemblies (HAS, Nov 10).

Throughout the referendum campaign it was emphasised that it was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity for this region to send a clear message to Westminster politicians. Well, we did speak with a single voice and it was loud and clear: we didn't trust the motives behind the proposals, nor did we believe it would make any difference to the way this region is funded.

Many Yes campaigners are now behaving like spoilt children and blaming everyone else for the demise of their dream. I emphasise their dream because the majority of people simply didn't share it.

Instead of concentrating on the north/south divide, they should have been asking why we weren't being given the same chance as the people of Scotland and Wales to vote for a national government. Regional assemblies were always a poor substitute and would have left us unable to compete with our Celtic neighbours for a fairer share of central funding.

Now that we've put regional devolution to bed, it's time to move forward and gain parity with the rest of the UK by way of an English Parliament. - Michael Brown, County Durham Chairman, English Democrats Party.

RAY Mallon's intention, like a grasshopper, to join another assembly, One NorthEast, prompted me to consider why there is a need to continue to support this costly unelected organisation.

Our region is well-represented at government level by the regionally based Government Office North-East and the reasons to keep One NorthEast, the precursor and one of the driving forces for a regional assembly, have substantially diminished.

There are sufficient MPs and local councillors in touch with their own patch to ensure adequate representation is made to government in respect of the region's needs.

Perhaps there should have been two white elephants. - Charles Johnson, Darlington.

UNITED STATES

ONE of the many disconcerting sights brought to us at this time via our television screens is a scene of a mass of people, fired by religious hysteria and fanaticism, who chant and rave their beliefs in their God and death to all those who stand in their way.

Reasonable-minded, rational people feel a great sense of unease and alienation from such people.

The people in question are not Muslims or some other fanatical sect but those God-fearing congregations crowding the churches in the US.

There is something sinister about people who proclaim their belief in the Gospels and then, "in the name of God", rain death and destruction down on a country that many Americans can't even identify on a map.

President Bush will continue to use this fanaticism to his own ends unless other Western leaders unite and withdraw support for his plans for the world.

Mr Blair has a duty to everybody in this country to spell out to Bush that we have had enough and he is on his own. If only! - D Brearley, Middlesbrough.

ROAD SAFETY

YOUR report (Echo, Nov 5) on the campaign aiming to reduce road deaths in Yorkshire, made encouraging reading.

Strangely, the list of measures to be adopted does not include speed cameras, though they have already proved most effective in reducing road accidents involving death and injury.

Perhaps the explanation is to be found in another report in the same issue of the Echo, from which we learn that the Department of Transport is advising police chiefs to find excuses for doing away with any speed cameras which may be thought unnecessary.

Government enthusiasm for these cameras has declined with remarkable speed, but they are detested by many motorists, and a general election may be only months away. - Bob Jarratt, Richmond.

SMOKING

FOLLOWING a wide consultation, the Scottish Executive has announced that it will be introducing a ban on smoking in public places including pubs, restaurants and cafes.

It will be enforced by environmental health officers and will allow for fines of up to £2,500 for the owners of premises and smokers who flout the ban.

The Liberal Democrats, as coalition partners in the Scottish Parliament, were the first major party to support such a ban and have worked for its introduction.

In the meantime, the UK government will publish a White Paper on public health which will include its policy on smoking.

The Health Secretary, John Reid, is thought to oppose an outright ban and thus it is likely that if any restrictions come into place, they will be in the form of a scheme where premises can be licensed to allow smoking.

This situation again shows where devolution with powers can make a difference. - Jacqueline Bell, PPC Liberal Democrats, Richmond.