05/05/04

In a nutshell, Mrs Thatcher built her power base by dividing Britain between two thirds of the country who were comfortably off and one third who faced job insecurity, unemployment and poverty.

The populous South-East was the focus of her attention, with policies that pandered to selfishness and making the wealthy wealthier.

The North-East was immensely damaged by these policies, despite superficial urban regeneration initiatives that gave the appearance of things getting better in some areas.

The one key lesson from this period is that the South-East is not the North-East. The region has different needs and different values.

The Labour Government has tentatively moved towards recognising this, and it would be a great pity if the region did not embrace the opportunity of regional government to be offered in this autumn's referendum. - Professor Tim Blackman, Durham.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

IF future generations are to enjoy a more civilised and peaceful world, it is essential that they should learn to understand and respect one another.

That is why it is right that school assemblies and RE lessons should continue to teach about the many different cultures and religions which exist.

It is, of course, vital that children should be taught the difference between right and wrong, but Christianity must not be presented as a superior religion, nor should it be suggested that Christians are in a better position to understand ethical or moral issues than those of other religions or none.

The place for religious worship is in the home, or in church, mosque, synagogue, etc, and David Bell's proposal that acts of worship in schools should be neither compulsory nor mainly Christian is a step in the right direction.

The blinkered attitude of Miss Moralee and Mrs Springer (HAS, Apr 28) can serve only to perpetuate prejudice, discrimination and conflict. - Pete Winstanley, Durham.

EUROPE

CHRIS Patten, Commissioner for external relations, states that schools are in the first line of defence against xenophobic scare stories about Europe.

Pupils urgently need better lesson about Europe to stop them believing stories in the newspapers. There is a worrying shortfall in British education about the EU.

Mr Patten went on to say that the European Union as a subject presents a particular challenge to teachers. It is not surprising when you consider the largely prescriptive nature of our education service, where teachers and their schools are judged on the results of narrowly focussed assessments.

Citizenship was introduced to all secondary schools in 2002. Most schools have bolted it onto a range other subjects instead making space in the crowded curriculum for dedicated study.

The education system needs to change to meet student needs and to reflect the political situation as it is today, but we also need to engage the wider public in developing the same level of understanding.

It is in the narrow interest of those opposed to our connection to the EU to continue the propagation of the column inches of misinformation. It seems that factual information explaining the organisations of the EU do not carry priority with politicians or the press.

Honest debate about the policies that come out of those organisations can only come about if people understand the role of each organisation.

For instance we do not receive directives from faceless bureaucrats in Brussels but we do get them from agreements made by our politicians in Europe.

The straw polls carried out by the European Movement indicate widespread misunderstandings that are often underlined by presentation in the press.

We would all do well to seek factual understanding in order to have valid debates. - Bill Morehead, Darlington.

PARKING

GREEDY Darlington Council wants to introduce car parking charges in 23 more streets (Echo, Apr 26).

What will it do with all this extra money? Will it reduce our ever spiraling council tax? Highly unlikely. Or will the councillors just give themselves yet another pay rise? Far more likely.

I would rather shop at Newton Aycliffe, Yarm, Northallerton or Stockton, as all these towns still encourage shoppers with free parking, than pay greedy Darlington Council more money to leave my car unprotected in unwelcoming streets.

If Darlington Council hates shoppers so much, we can go elsewhere quite easily. It would cost less to drive to another town and park free than pay £1 an hour (and rising) in miserly Darlington.

I hope other like-minded citizens will do likewise. - A Hall, Darlington.

BNP

I SEE (Echo, Apr 29) that senior churchmen are once again asking people not to vote for the BNP because of the alleged racist policy of the Party.

Once again the clerics have failed to produce evidence to support their questionable allegiance. Please give us just an extract from the policy and tell us what is racist about it, or better still, print the whole of the policy and point out the failings.

I have recently seen a copy of the policy and it seems to be to be what a majority of the electorate are calling for. - S Thorpe, Darlington.

Spennymoor PARK

I FEEL I must let people know what hard work the gardeners and workmen at Spennymoor park must have carried out to achieve such magnificence in our park.

This may seem a grand word to use, but it is only this which can describe the brilliance of their displays. The colours are beyond words.

Congratulations to the town council and its gardeners. Wow! - Mrs S Kennedy, Spennymoor.

BOWLS

I ENDORSE Mr Rishworth's comments about bowls (Echo, Apr 9), especially about fitness.

It is also up to the bowls centre to advertise itself with posters in hospitals, shops, doctors' surgeries, sports shops and hairdressers.

This sort of publicity can only be beneficial to the Government's concern with obesity and all bowling clubs should take advantage of these concerns.

But bowling must also be affordable, especially to people on state pension and people who travel to play. - MW Simpson, Northallerton.