10/05/04

Virtually all their names were single words of two of three syllables, rarely a hyphen, never an 'and' yet my navigator and I found every field.

So please don't let the planners make Teesside (two syllables) airport a laughing stock by giving a sentence as a name, the longest on record requiring among other things the alteration of many thousands of aviation maps, guides, etc.

After all, Heathrow (two syllables) was only the name of a small village, yet most people know where it is. - Len Dodgson, Billingham.

I'M very sorry that Christopher Wardell (HAS, Apr 28) was offended by suggestions that Peel Airports and the management at Teesside International Airport should exercise more care if they go ahead with their decision to give the airport a new name.

My personal view, a view that is shared by the majority who work at the airport, is that it should remain as Teesside Airport: the airport is located by the River Tees.

It was Peel Airports who rejected the name Teesside and also rejected the name Darlington in favour of Durham.

As for Tees Valley, a cursory look at a map will show that there is no such place.

To suggest that the low area between the Cleveland Hills in North Yorkshire and the Cheviots in Northumberland is Tees Valley is stretching the definition of a valley to the extreme!

If Peel Airports insist that the airport should carry the name Durham then I would hope that they also take note of the view of Neil Pakey, their commercial director, who believes that when naming an airport we should make full use of the names of our more famous forebears.

In this respect, none are more famous than Captain James Cook, who was born in Marton, now part of Middlesbrough, and spent his early life in Great Ayton.

If the name has to be changed to exclude Teesside then my recommendation remains Durham James Cook. - JA Cowan, Durham.

IRAQ

WHATEVER the truth about the pictures of alleged brutality against prisoners in Iraq, the occurrence of some measure of abuse there is all too probable.

The fact is, there is a culture of abuse in some sections of the British Army.

Since long before the deaths of the young soldiers at Deepcut Barracks, there have been numerous reported cases of young recruits being bullied in the most odious and despicable way.

I am not saying the Army as a whole is like this, only certain sections, but until they are dealt with the capacity of volatile situations to blow up in our faces, as this one in Iraq has done, can be guaranteed. - T Kelly, Crook.

EUROPE

TONY Blair has agreed to give the British people a vote on the new EU constitution.

If this is the case, one can only assume that the new laws in this constitution are so extreme for the people of this country that he dare not sign our lives away and therefore he wants to give us the vote.

The trouble is, he will be spouting a lot of lies to make us sign away our rights.

What gives this handful of unelected people in Brussels the right to alter our laws etc?

It is not for me.

We must stand up for the next generation of British people and not condemn them to a future of dictatorship. - A Parkin, Bishop Auckland.

MICHAEL Howard has just declared that he doesn't want to be part of a country called Europe.

Then why does he put up candidates for the European elections? When Mrs Thatcher wanted out of Europe, they got rid of her.

Neil Kinnock was against going into Europe. Now he and his wife are wealthy thanks to their Europe jobs.

Even the United Kingdom Independence Party, which wants out of Europe altogether, still has members of the European Parliament.

I can't understand it. Either you are in or you are out! - Jim Ross, Rowlands Gill.

MARGARET THATCHER

WHEN Margaret Thatcher was removed from office after over 11 years as Prime Minister, many people seemed to lose their interest in politics.

This was particularly true during the nothing years of John Major's Government.

Mrs Thatcher was a good public speaker and always found words to suit the occasion.

President Ronald Reagan admired her for this and would quote Mrs Thatcher word for word when speaking to the American press.

The British people, too, admired Margaret Thatcher and as a result she won three general elections. - LD Wilson, Guisborough.

REGIONAL GOVERNMENT

TO anyone who entertains doubts as to whether or not we should have a regional assembly, I would seriously recommend they should first read C Northcote Parkinson's Book, entitled Parkinson's Law, (The Pursuit of Progress).

Therein they will find the answers to the question. The perusal of the book will help them to evaluate what the effects of more government would be for the majority. One can bet the costs will offset the advantages, if any.

Of course, there are always those who cherish and promote illusions for their own self interests and who may consider themselves possible candidates for some of the gravy which may spill their way.

The Scottish Parliament now has a staff of 460, including 44 persons working on official proceedings and does not include some 129 SMPs, their researchers, journalists, or most of the workers engaged in the Holyrood building project.

The cost of all these salaried people is between £12m and £15m per year in a budget of around £40m. Like the estimated cost of the new Holyrood building, the number of staff has escalated from a predicted 240 and a combined population of 400 in the entire parliament to 1,180 working at the place.

The results show that the devolved institution at Holyrood now employs a ratio of more staff to elected members for the day-to-day running of any other country except Australia.

Why John Prescott wishes to inflict further taxes on the hard working people of the North-East, is beyond my comprehension.

Despite the fact that the North-East has been faithfully served, mainly by MPs of his own party for many years and a PM with a constituency in the region, do we now need such reckless gerrymandering? - Roy Makin, Esh Village.