15/03/05

Its initial guidance recommended that Remmyl, Aricept and Exelon should not be prescribed on the NHS even though it accepted that they were effective and only cost about £2.50 per day per patient.

Though the effects of these drugs are limited, the difference they make to patients and to their carers is significant.

The considerable strain imposed on carers' health, both physically and mentally, by their caring role, deserves full consideration when assessing the performance of any drugs. Put bluntly, if carers are not cherished by the system they will crack up, causing the public purse many more pounds per day.

We write having seen the effect of the disease on a close relative and her carers. - Peter and Ann Wilson, Barnard Castle.

WHAT kind of a society would we have been if we had not been prepared to spend £2.50 a day to give people with dementia and their carers a better quality of life?

The drugs do not work for everybody, but for those that they do they are a lifeline.

Their tremendous impact on the carer should not be overlooked. Easing the effects of the disease and prolonging lucidity for the patient, helps relieve the stress for the carer, and prevents them from becoming ill themselves. - Christine Coates, Croft-on-Tees, North Yorks.

TONY BLAIR

JON Barron (HAS, Mar 7) is mesmerised by his leader's presidential performances as Prime Minister.

Like most politicians, Tony Blair is an actor. In his case, he is the Olivier of his generation. Like all actors, he lives his script, believing what each scene tells him to say, changing with each new scene, as all actors must. Even his Estuary speak, glottal-stopped accent would appear to be just another act.

If he had been satisfied to play the part of Prime Minister he would have gone down in history as one of the great Prime Ministers of all time and would have been assured of gaining that third term in office he so desires. He chose instead to act the part of president in the wrong play. For this choice, history will record him as a highly disruptive failure as both a political and national leader.

In 1997 he gave an interview to an American reporter. She commented that Mr Blair was a hollow man. She could find nothing in him.

Unfortunately for us, his career as Prime Minister has proved that perception to be only too true. He is not a great politician, just an actor playing a part in a play 'wot' he is trying to write. - PJ Elliott-West, Sunderland.

TONY Blair will go down as one of the best Prime Ministers this nation has ever had. He is governing a country which, since 1997, has established the most stable and flourishing economy in history. There are now over 28 million people in work with unemployment down to a 30-year low. Full-time permanent jobs are up by 1.6 million. Over one million workers benefit from the minimum wage. More than 200,000 mothers benefit from the Sure Start Maternity Grant of £500. Child Trust Funds have been established for newborn babies. Eight million pensioner households receive £200 winter fuel allowances with VAT on fuel cut to five per cent, along with a Minimum Income Guarantee for all senior citizens. Crime, nationally, has been reduced by 28 per cent. Mortgage rates are at their lowest since the 1950s. The list goes on.

There will always be a few issues which people, myself included, will feel moved to criticise. But looking at the broader picture there are well over 300 achievements by Mr Blair's government. That's a hell of an antidote to spin. - County Councillor Phil Graham, New Coundon, Bishop Auckland.

EDUCATION

YOU say (Echo, Mar 8) that no white person in authority would dare to say that black pupils should be segregated for fear of losing their jobs and being branded as racists. You then applaud the courage of Trevor Phillips for saying just that.

In his case it is not a question of courage. He knows he can say whatever he wishes without fear of losing his job or being accused of racism.

It would appear in this disunited kingdom of today only white people can be accused of racism.

You refer also to the care that has to be taken not to cause offence in the use of certain words such as blacklist or blackspot because of the politically incorrect connotations.

I am glad to see they are still used by yourselves when reporting incidents. Please continue to use them in order to maintain our own right of freedom of expression. - M Thorpe, Darlington.

YES, black children should be taught separately from white if doing so will be educationally beneficial (Echo, Mar 8). Any group, whatever their colour, should receive separate lessons designed for their needs if they are having difficulty attaining good standards in regular classes.

The highest standards of education are often achieved by teaching like with like. High-fliers taught together can be pushed academically, slow learners can receive extra help, the average pupils can thrive with a steady pace, neither threatened and overwhelmed by those more advanced than they, nor held back by the less able.

The proposed scheme singles out black boys in particular. They would perhaps feel it more "cool" to learn if they were away from the girls and their need to impress them with "coolness" all the time.

Segregating black from white for certain lessons in some schools would not be racially divisive, it would merely be, educationally, common sense. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

AIRPORT NAME

CONTEMPLATING a sunshine break, I went on to the Internet to a well known site specialising in tailor-made holidays.

I was quite surprised when asked to input the departure airport that it could not recognise Durham Tees Valley. Perhaps it has not yet had a chance to update its system, I thought. So I tried again with the former name, Teesside International. This time I got a response but, to my astonishment, the airport name came up as Darlington.

Is it that wiser council has prevailed or does someone in the travel industry have more appreciation for the location of the airport than the present operators? - David W France, Middleton St George.

SHREDDING

FRAUD involving credit and debit cards rose by a fifth to £504.8m last year (Echo, Mar 8). The simple solution is to buy a paper shredder, at a cost of around £10. Once shredded, the bank statement is lost to the thieves.

House builders could also help. They add additional items to a new kitchen, such as an oven, fridgefreezer, dishwasher. They could install a paper shredder to the list of sundries they put in a new house. - Jimmy Taylor, Coxhoe.

ROYAL WEDDING

OF COURSE the royal wedding is legal and has the blessing of the Church of England. We always knew it would! And now we are told there are going to be postage stamps (Echo, Mar 9). Not so much The Saints this time but rather The Sycophants Go Marching In. - R Brown, Newton Aycliffe.