12/03/04

This would save overcrowding prisons.

Now that the Government has finally lessened the category to C, it has accepted that its criminality was a contravention of natural law and religious rights and that the law that England has had since the beginning of the last century was born out of ignorance.

This is the time to make democracy work. - Paul Dessay, Shiptonthorpe.

COUNCIL TAX

I HAVE received my council tax bill. It's bad enough being ripped off without having to endure all the junk mail which is included in the package in an attempt to justify their ripping me off. - Ken Orton, Ferryhill Station.

IN the recent issue of the Town Crier - under the heading "Named and Shamed" - are listed names of people who have recently paid £50 fines for littering offences in Darlington.

I suggest that in the next issue a list of those people who have not paid their rent and community charges are "Named and Shamed".

Over the past few years, over £1m has had to be written off by our council, causing the law abiding people of the town to face higher community charges.

Why should the cheats in our society be subsidised by those who pay their bills promptly? - R Elliott, Darlington

BOXING

I'D just like to thank the 40 or so morons for ruining the boxing event at the Dolphin Centre on Friday night.

I missed last year's show and was determined to see this one. I was enjoying the evening with my uncle and even managed to meet some of the boxers and take their photos.

I couldn't believe it when people started throwing chairs and other objects at each other during the Francis Jones v Danny Moir bout.

We both fled the building when the fighting got out of hand. Now, it looks like there won't be any more boxing shows held in Darlington because of the riot. So, once again, thanks! - R. Oxley, Bishop Auckland.

BUS SERVICE

A REPORT (Echo, Mar 8) states that "bus service 22 was re-routed because of safety concerns over parked cars narrowing the road".

Firstly, are we to accept that motorists can, in effect, dictate public transport policy?

Secondly, if buses cannot get access with safety then neither can ambulances or fire appliances.

Are the authorities content with the obstruction of a highway? - H Overton, Redcar.

IRAQ

IT was nice of Tony Blair to come to his Sedgefield constituency and it is right that we should have a debate about the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia which established that war can be justified only in self-defence or to enforce a treaty.

He goes on to say: "This may be the law but should it be?" I may say that at the Sedgefield Workingmen's Club they talk of nothing else.

We cannot retrospectively change the rules. There was no vote in the United Nations to go to war. George W Bush decided to go to war and we aided and abetted him.

Mr Blair refers to the September 11 attack as a declaration of war by religious fanatics of al Qaida but this did not justify the war on Iraq.

Saddam Hussein or his people did not attack America. He was a brutal dictator but he was not a threat to global security.

We now know that he was a paper tiger. He had no weapons of mass destruction. He was not a threat to us or the Americans. This may be with hindsight, but why did we not know that before we went to war?

We should not have gone to war because we thought they had them. What intelligence did Tony Blair have to justify us going to war?

We need to know what intelligence he received, what was in the brief to the Attorney General and what was his legal advice. We have a right to know. - George Smith, South Shields.

REGIONAL GOVERNMENT

THE only apparent enthusiasm for regional assemblies seems to be emanating from certain people who feel that they will be in line for one of the cosy jobs that will be created should an assembly ever be established.

Are these same people currently trying to run our local services? If so what chance will we have in the North-East if this is who is going to be in charge of our affairs? These people are only capable of reducing services and increasing costs.

Should the assembly come about with the current crop of possible candidates then the only option left open to us is for a mass exodus down south. - Jim Rishworth, Darlington.

IMMIGRATION

FRED Atkinson puts his finger (HAS, Mar 8) on the issue which could dominate the next general election.

Ever since Enoch Powell showed, nearly 40 years ago, that Home Office figures for immigration were consistently understated, there has been growing public suspicion that, either by design or incompetence, successive governments have presided over a population growth, fuelled largely by immigration, leading to social discomfort, congestion and shortages like those Fred forecasts.

The politicians are blind to these consequences, being sworn to the belief that more people are vital to economic growth and prosperity.

Home Secretary David Blunkett recently proclaimed in public that there is no obvious limit to the number of immigrants Britain can accept.

Immigration Minister Beverly Hughes admits in the Commons that her officials reduced checking procedures without her knowledge or authority.

Are these the people to achieve any effective control of the situation? - Bob Jarratt, Caldwell.

POLICE

YOUR correspondent A McKimm (HAS, Mar 11) was correct in noticing a police van equipped with cameras on the Newton Cap viaduct and in Redworth recently, but wrong in assuming this was to do with speeding.

While this force takes road safety very seriously and regularly carries out operations to deter motorists from driving too fast, in both of the above instances the officers were, in fact, carrying out duties for the Automatic Numberplate Recognition (ANPR) unit. This is deployed on a daily basis and is not in any way related to speeding.

ANPR is a crimefighting tool used by Durham Constabulary and other forces to deny criminals the use of the roads. It operates by reading vehicle number plates and checking them against our intelligence databases.

The number of people who take to the roads each day intent on committing crime would astound most people. The six officers deployed on the unit is the normal number and collectively they make numerous arrests for drugs offences, disqualified driving, theft of motor vehicles and many other offences all in a normal day's work. - Chief Insp Paul Goundry, Durham Constabulary head of traffic.