IRAQ DOSSIER: THE now confirmed Iraq dossier mole, Dr David Kelly, was found dead near his home just days after being subjected to a gruelling session by the Foreign Affairs Committee.

One Labour MP, Andrew Mackinlay, referred to Mr Kelly as 'chaff'.

I don't think his comments and others on the Foreign Affairs Committee were a true reflection of Dr Kelly's integrity and I found some of their questions distasteful.

Dr Kelly has been praised for his warmth, humanity, professionalism and dedication to finding the truth.

It is a disgrace that Dr Kelly was treated the way he was in the war of words between the BBC, the MoD and the Government.

There will be a lot of people involved in this sorry situation with blood on their hands and somewhere along the line they should have to stand up and be counted for what happened to Dr Kelly and the way he was treated by all concerned. - Jack Amos, Willington.

CONSIDERING the abominable spin record of the present administration and the mistrust it has built up, the accusations that have been thrown back and forth can only be described as petulant childishness.

The facts are clear. The mole exposure was down to Government sources. Had the Government respected what is considered the right of journalists to keep secret the source of their information the mole would have been alive today.

Not only did the Government disclose his name, but went on to humiliate the man, first in private, then publicly, by select committees stuffed with Government 'yes' men. The outcome being a well spun (tissue of lies) gloss on the proceedings to leave the Government space to pass the buck to the BBC and its correspondents.

There can be no blame attached to the BBC, for it did not confirm or deny the identity of the mole, therefore giving him a measure of protection, nor did it parade him in the public domain.

I reserve the right to hold an opinion of what brought about this tragedy, but an old adage comes to mind that this Government and its stooges would be well advised to be aware of: 'When you are in a hole, stop digging'. - C Matthews, Newton Aycliffe.

THE suspicion that Dr David Kelly was not Andrew Gilligan's only source, regarding Tony Blair's now infamous '45 minute' claim, may well be reinforced by the time frame involved at the outset.

It is stated that the two men first met on May 22. But if that is the case, then why did Gilligan run the risk of being 'scooped' by delaying his own disclosure for a whole week? Could it be that the intervening period was in fact used to seek out more detailed verification of the information Dr Kelly had already provided?

The problem is, of course, should any further investigation be carried out? In the light of recent events, the discovery of a much more responsible 'mole' would only make the saddest of episodes seem even more so. - R Ord, Hartlepool.

LAW AND ORDER

NEW crime figures published by the Government are evidence that Labour has failed to be tough on crime.

The figures released by the Home Office show that many crimes are on the increase.

The statistics show crime in Darlington is increasing on several fronts. Violence against the person: up 38 per cent since last year; sexual offences: up 56 per cent since last year; robbery: up 25 per cent since last year.

Some crimes have been reduced: burglary and theft from vehicles specifically, which are positive signs.

However, overall the future is very concerning. I fully support the police in their efforts. However, their hard work is diluted by the Government's plethora of initiatives, bureaucracy and road traffic activities which prevent them getting on with the real job they are paid to do.

We clearly need more police officers and I trust the re-organisation of Durham Constabulary will improve and not worsen the situation.

Coupled with this is a need for a much more effective process to take young people off the conveyor belt to crime. - Charles Johnson, Darlington.

POSTAL SERVICES

AS someone who once worked for the Royal Mail, I found people's reaction to the number of lost letters typical.

Whilst in some cases letters are lost through accident, from my experience many letters never arrive because those sending them never give a complete address or correctly seal them.

I have personally seen letters and parcels with only the person's name and street address; letters with no postcode or reference to a county, which can make things difficult if there are several towns with that same name in the country. Such mail is sent to the first town on the list in the hope that it is either the right destination or that the receiver will be honest enough to return to sender.

Equally, I have seen the contents of letters and confidential documents separated from their envelopes simply because people have used cheap envelopes which often become unsealed during transport or because they forgot to seal them.

It is easy to blame the Royal Mail for letters that go astray and even accuse postal staff of theft, rather than admit that some people are too lazy to address or seal letters correctly. - CT Riley, Spennymoor.