17/03/06

Bad parenting has to come into this equation somewhere. Fifty years ago there was no such nonsense of paying gangsters to be good. It's outrageous.

Where is the funding coming from for this ridiculous scheme? This scheme is as bad as paying sixth formers to attend school.

It is high time the Government called a halt to both these schemes and stop wasting taxpayers' money. - Christina Steel, Piercebridge.

TONY BLAIR

CONTRARY to what Steve Pratt wrote in his weekend TV column (Echo, Mar 6), Tony Blair was not seeking publicity when he appeared on Parkinson.

Why should the most popular Prime Minister of the past 50 years seek to win headlines as suggested by the worthy scribe?

Like any person contemplating a change of vocation in retirement, Mr Blair is merely winding down before taking on another appointment requiring his experience and expertise.

He is like the captain of a cruise liner who, having had a successful number of years with a prestigious shipping company, is now nearing his home port and a pleasant retirement in the knowledge that a close friend will take the helm.

After being a good sea captain he is now enjoying his last few hours of the voyage mingling with the passengers and crew.

His friend, prior to taking command, had to overcome two opponents for the appointment, namely, a young midshipman full of enthusiasm but lacking experience, and an old sea dog who could not be trusted to steer the ship through stormy waters.

The press gang, having previously been hauled from their liquid lunches in the local tavern to stoke the boilers during the voyage, is very resentful of a quick return to another cruise.

Tony Blair's premiership has always been about satisfaction and stability for the many and not just the few so, by appearing with Parkinson, he may have indulged for a few moments with those in the media who keep reinventing themselves every few years for the benefit of their fellow admirers. But, in the eyes of the viewers, he was an ordinary man with exceptional talent who has successfully steered the nation through difficult and changing times. - Thomas Conlon, Spennymoor.

SADDAM HUSSEIN

IF the Iraqi people are not grateful for being liberated from their tyrannical leader Saddam Hussein, and show this by attacking their liberators, fighting each other and not making any attempt to respect those who are trying to establish peace, there is one obvious solution - withdraw the occupying American and British forces and release Saddam Hussein.

Let him sort things out. - Ann Carr, Darlington.

STANHOPE PARISH

AN article about Stanhope Parish stated that three councillors had shared the work of the dismissed clerk, saving the council £1,950 (Echo, Mar 4).

At the council meeting it was said that £1,980 plus £600 expenses had been "saved" which cancelled out the compensation awarded to the clerk.

The facts are the financial matters of the council have been carried out by the ex-chairman and past-chairman for the last eight months or so.

The clerk's tribunal awarded her £2,686. Other payments brought the award to about £4,000. Added to this will be the solicitor's costs, which could be quite substantial, and requests for these to be made public have been refused.

The only people to benefit from this saga will be the solicitors. The public will have their say in the "annual assembly" which should, by law, take place between March and June. - Enid Martin, Stanhope.

LOST HERITAGE

BY the time the next Parliament is over our future will be in the hands of a whole generation of foul-mouthed, nose-picking louts with degrees in media studies and social work from Toytown universities that could not teach beggars to read and write.

They will sit on their backsides and be pampered because they always have been. When they wake up and find out that it is not going to happen there is going to be anarchy, but by then there won't be anything worth saving.

New Labour, the patron saint of mediocrity, the guardian of all that is worthless, will have thrown away our entire heritage.

The way that this Labour Government has damaged this country and treated its people is beyond belief.

I believe that law and order in Britain is becoming a joke. Blair has destroyed truth, honour, credibility and responsibility, and has left me without hope. - D Hughes, Weardale.

ARCTIC STAR

I WOULD like to let you know that the Arctic Star is now to be given to the Merchant Navy and Royal Navy, and families can claim it for their men who were lost in the Arctic convoys of 1941 to 1945.

As our merchant ships had to load ammunition at Middlesbrough, our crews were called through our seamen's pool in Middlesbrough.

Families can write to the MoD for their claims with their men's ship or RN ship that served in the convoys. - JW Taylor, Arctic Veteran, Middlesbrough.

HUNTING ACT

VIOLATIONS of the Hunting Act are numerous. The Vale of the White Horse Hunt in Gloucestershire has admitted on TV they are hunting as they did prior to the ban.

Are the police acting on this guilty plea I wonder?

The League Against Cruel Sports is asking the public to write to the police and their MPs and demand action. After all, thousands of hunt supporters signed to say they would break the law on Declaration Day, prior to the ban.

Any other group of people would have been jumped on, if they were inciting others to defy a law they disagreed with.

If yobs were rioting in city streets and there was a hunt in the countryside, which group would the police attend?

Hunts are, it seems, being given a free rein and it is unacceptable. I intend to visit my MP's surgery and demand action. Please do the same.

After 80 years of campaigning resulting in a ban, I am certainly not chickening out now. My husband calls me a terrier. Perhaps he is right, I don't let go. - Name and address supplied.

SENIOR CITIZENS

COULD someone please tell me why prisoners are not means tested? There are a lot of rich people there - politicians, Lottery winners, football club owners, to name but a few.

It is their fault they are in prison so I think they should pay for their private rooms, three meals a day, etc. They even get paid for working in there.

Our senior citizens who have worked hard and saved their money and some who have fought for our country have to pay hundreds of pounds for care and some have been forced to sell their homes.

Before the do-gooders say the prisoners have human rights, so have our senior citizens.

And they say crime doesn't pay. - Elizabeth Raisbeck, Willington.