WE are repeatedly told that British culture and its national flags are racist, yet during the World Cup we have seen countless people of differing races, creeds, cultures and colours in England and Japan openly embracing British culture and flags.

Rather curious, since both are supposedly offensive, raising the question of whether anyone is offended by either, or if we have all fallen into a clever, yet very subtle trap?

We are constantly told by right-wingers that the blame for this lies with those lefties and Liberals who form the politically-correct lobby groups. But it is rather curious that an alleged invention of American left-wingers (there's a contradiction) is not only very popular with American right-wingers, but representatives of such lobby groups tend to be white, middle class, privately-educated individuals, who claim to be socialists and Liberals but whose ridiculous decisions and statements seem almost purposely intended to discredit left-wing and Liberal beliefs and make extreme right-wing views more acceptable. - HE Smith, Spennymoor.

REGIONAL ASSEMBLY

LOOK behind the propaganda and self interest groups and see who is actually calling for a Regional Assembly.

Rest assured, it is not ordinary people, who are fed up with self-serving politicians, or businesses who are fed up with red tape and bureaucracy. We don't need another layer.

A recent Tyne Tees television poll returned a figure of 85 per cent opposed to a North-East assembly. So who wants it?

Ask the 100 people who turned up at the convention at the Stadium of Light last Saturday and ask them why the meeting wasn't open to the public.

Their argument that the region needs better representation in Westminster is a red herring.

If that is the case, what are the following doing: Alan Milburn, Hilary Armstrong, Joyce Quinn, Peter Mandelson, Nick Brown, Stephen Byers, David Milliband and Tony Blair?

How much representation at the highest level do we need? - Neil Herron, Sunderland.

HONOURS SYSTEM

I CANNOT understand why football personalities should be made knights of the realm.

No doubt some are very successful, but then so are many people but they never get any recognition.

I have had three operations at the Darlington Memorial Hospital, all performed by excellent consultants, but none of them, so far as I am aware, has been rewarded for their wonderful services to the people of Darlington. The knighthood to Mick Jagger is the last straw in this awful system and brings the whole sordid business into disrepute. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.

EUROPEAN UNION

THERE is a constant theme in the letters about the European Union, from those hostile to it about the vast faceless bureaucracy of the EU and the cost of being a member state.

Perhaps it would help them to know that the European Commission employs only 20,000 staff; this is fewer than, for example, Kent County Council.

Our MEPs are democratically elected and the European Parliament plays an important role in scrutinising the budget presented by the European Commission and all proposals for new legislation.

A year ago, it was calculated that the 15 member states of the EU contribute a mere 1.27 per cent of their wealth to the EU.

It is estimated that, in Britain, for every pound paid in tax, 98p goes to the Treasury and 2p to Brussels. Not exactly a rip-off. - E Whittaker, Richmond.

COUNCIL TAX

MANY letters have protested at the rise in local rates, but two factors essential to the rise have not been mentioned.

First, since the council workers get pay increases to cancel out the cost of living/inflation, then rates will continue to rise year on year.

But the most important is the fact that thousands of people do not contribute to the rates at all, even thought they use all the facilities, be it libraries, refuse, collection, police, fire service, road maintenance. They will continue to do so until the outdated way of raising rates goes on.

A couple of old age pensioners living in a semi-detached house will contribute exactly the same amount as up to two, three, four and more people living next door, all of whom have the advantage of council facilities and who have an income several times that of the pensioners.

Surely it is about time that people using council facilities should, if they have a good income, help to pay for them, and the council should not be taking money off poor income people because of the type of property that they live in.

Of course, the poll tax was scrapped. Why? Because so many people who did not pay to the council for their use of facilities did not want to.

If the system of collecting rates is fair, then why not collect income tax on the type of property lived in, but of course only one payer per household. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.