WILLIAM HAGUE

IT becomes increasingly obvious on a day-to-day basis, that William Hague is not fit to lead the divided remnants of his own party, let alone take on the mantle of Prime Minister.

How can that man seek from Tony Blair, an assurance that he will not increase taxes at all, during the next parliamentary term? Is he himself prepared to give such an assurance? Can he guarantee that there will be no further outbreaks of violence in the Balkans or elsewhere? Outbreaks of human or animal pestilence in this country? Crude oil price rises caused by Opec policies? Exceptional floods and other weather disasters arising from global warming? All these and other factors are beyond control of any Government.

As for the Tory catchphrase 'stealth tax', does he think we have all forgotten the swingeing increases in National Insurance contributions, prescription charges, negative equity and house repossessions, robbing the old age pension of £22 per week, stripping the aged of their assets should they need care, ever-rising mortgage interest payments, out of control inflation?

He should think again. He should also let us have the details of the cuts in expenditure he is offering and agree with his colleagues to the true amount. - Alan Benn, The Labour Party Candidate, North Yorkshire County Council, Bedale Division.

FILM CRITICS

A FEW days ago I went to see the film Captain Corelli's Mandolin in spite of its savaging by film critics.

For me the film seemed marvellous - very beautiful, moving, well acted. In some ways one of the best films I have ever seen.

A handful of people came out of the previous showing. A dozen or so were in the auditorium when I watched the film.

It saddens me very much that what in its way was a great film should have been killed by the press; so that people who would have liked it have been put off. - Elizabeth Swindon, Darlington.

RONNIE BIGGS

IT HAS been estimated that it cost the Sun newspaper over £500,000 to bring the train robber Ronnie Biggs back to this country and no doubt it will have been worthwhile for them as they will recoup the money by the sale of extra papers and selling the news items, but how much will it cost the taxpayers of this country now that he is here?

The NHS will have to provide free medical treatment that Biggs would have had to pay for in South America; the prison service will have to provide food, accommodation etc; and the lawyers and barristers must be rubbing their hands. In fact, it would be interesting to find out if his appeals and medical treatments cost more than the £2.5m he stole years ago. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

PEN FRIENDS

OUR club, International Penfriends, is currently receiving many requests from overseas teachers wanting penfriends for their school classes to help develop language skills as well as good writing techniques. Teachers have found that good writing techniques are not being developed through e-mail exchange and these improve through traditional letter writing. Our club provides a first class Schools/Youth Group service for children aged 10-17 which has been operational since 1967. Any teacher interested in our service should contact me.

For those who have left school, we provide a separate service for all ages to 80 plus, supplying penfriends of a similar age. - Pamela Walker, UK Co-ordinator, International Penfriends, PO Box 42, Berwick Upon Tweed, DT15, 1RU.

RAIL BRIDGES

I HAVE read your comment on accidents where roads cross railways (Echo, May 8) and regret that I cannot agree with your conclusion "if any potential dangers are found repairs must be carried out - whatever the cost".

I trust you will agree that accidents are with us in all walks of life, not least on our roads and in our homes, even in our hospitals. For example an average of 12 people are killed daily on our roads, whereas the average casualty on our railway is almost certainly less than one percent of that on the roads.

In the light of the above, I should suggest that there is a limit to what should be spent on railway safety. Examination of map indicates about 30, bridge over the main railway in North Yorkshire alone.

If you allow £10,000 per bridge for extra guard rails, that amounts to £300,000 for one railway in one county alone.

I suggest to you that the public interest is better served by using such sums to remove accident black spots on roads or research to make our home and hospitals safer places. - G Reay, Romanby, Northallerton.

FOOT-AND-MOUTH

IT seems that more than ten weeks on the foot-and-mouth crisis is suddenly under control. That is why there are still cases appearing in so many previously unaffected areas. I also wonder why so many farms in this area are still in fear of their perfectly healthy animals being destroyed if, as the Government like to tell us, the crisis is under control.

With the election coming up in less than four weeks, I would not ask why this has suddenly gone all quiet but I would like to say the foot-and-outh crisis is nowhere near being controlled.

In the last three weeks there has been case after case around Picton, healthy animals have been slaughtered and still people are not told the true story. This crisis will only be controlled when there are no more animals left to infect, because, let's be honest, the Government is not going to control it. - J Robinson, West Rounton, Northallerton.

TRIFLING MATTER

I WAS disgusted to read in The Northern Echo on 11 May of a person in Murton, Co Durham, having a bowl of trifle thrown at him by a qualified male nurse. It is obvious that sometimes the cream of the nursing profession is not always employed in County Durham.

I hope that the nurse involved got his just desserts as the victim obviously did. Surely, social services could clear up this mess without making a meal of it. After all, it is quite a trifling matter - T Callaghan, Witton Crescent, Darlington.