CRIMINAL JUSTICE: THE collapse, at massive public cost at the very least of £25m, of the case against ten suspected international drug dealers highlights a principle which the police would do well to treat more seriously.

When embarking on such a venture always make sure your own legal position is absolutely watertight.

No amount of subsequent hard work and ingenuity can offset the neglect of this elementary precaution.

Given the habit of the current judiciary of bending over backwards to protect the rights of high-profile defendants, this disastrous outcome should have been foreseen on several occasions during the years which the investigation has lasted.

The police should be asked some very probing questions. - T Kelly, Crook.

EMPLOYMENT

IT was Jim Tague's (HAS, Jul 27) Tory Government who, during their 18 years rule, raised unemployment to an average of 2.25 million with peaks exceeding three million; privatised our public utilities, many of which are now in foreign hands; closed most of our coalmines and seaports; deregulated public transport leaving rural dwellers stranded or reliant upon car ownership; allowed an average inflation rate of over eight per cent per annum; severed the link between the old age pension and average earnings, a manoeuvre which robbed every OAP of approximately £42 a week; created penal mortgage interest rates with thousands of subsequent house repossessions; and so on and so forth.

We now enjoy the lowest rate of inflation and the lowest mortgage rates for over 50 years; unemployment under a million; an improving public road transport; poverty in old age has been substantially addressed; a huge national debt has been substantially repaid.

When the time comes for the electorate to decide who is to run this country, those who can be bothered to vote, will surely consider the above factors and many more. - A Benn, Bedale.

BOB HOPE

WITH the death of the late, great Bob Hope, fault-finding critics will no doubt be busy sharpening their knives for the dissection of this gifted and talented entertainer.

An epitaph is supposed to be something good that is said about a person especially when he or she is dead.

So let us remember his wit and decent humour in a more friendly and benevolent fashion and not be so hypocritical about his past life. Let us pay fitting tribute to his special qualities and services as an ambassador of mirth and good will to every nation.

In the words of a song performed by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby: Put it there Pal, Put it there.

From an appreciative pensioner, among legions of admirers. Thanks for the memory. - N Errington, Wheatley Hill.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND

I SAY the Archbishop of Canterbury should leave the Church of England. He wants to turn the church into a den of sinners.

Because a homosexual priest turned down his appointment to become a Bishop, the Archbishop kept saying: "Love thy fellow man, love thy fellow man".

They Bible says: "Love thy neighbour as thyself" but there is no mention of having sex with the neighbour.

Doesn't the Archbishop know the difference between love, sex and lust? - JW Armstrong, Seaham.

WE should not seek to interpret the Bible in the light of our present time because the word of God does not change.

God's moral laws are written in the Bible for everyone to follow. We human beings need to change and bring our lives into alignment with the word of God.

Jesus would say to those involved in homosexual practice that it was against the law of God, and as mentioned above: "Go and sin no more."

Homosexual practice is against the word of God and destructive to society.

We can choose what's good and right for the common good or indulge in self-gratification. - P Springer, Hartlepool.

NEW LABOUR

WHAT is happening to our once Great Britain? We are having our freedom taken away by this so-called Government with the laws they are creating. We have CCTV cameras all over the place; we have police, special police, council police, wardens, litter officers, dog wardens and fines. Wse have speed ramps and narrowing of streets and no parking outside your own house and now a proposed extra fine if caught speeding.

How right George Orwell was when he said Big Brother is watching you.

Let the police take control of law and order and stop the judges from giving freedom to guilty people.

It can be done, and it has to be done, so let us start with a clean out of all the thousands who are taking over our country. - F Wealands, Darlington.