EUROPE

IF we look at the political world around us we could easily quote Laurel and Hardy: "This is a fine mess that you have got us into".

The tendency at this time of the year is to look back at events and see failures. If we were more realistic we would not consider many of these events as such, but more as problems that have to be ironed out on the path of progress.

The fact that the European Union is growing in a way that the founders could identify with is an achievement that will rank high in the order of human achievements over the centuries. If we care to lift our eyes from the often tedious issues that have to be dealt with to make progress we can see how much better the second half of the 20th century has been than the first.

It is very easy to criticise the failure to agree on the European Constitution, but all we have to do is look back to see how long it took to agree some of the other important elements of the Union. If we take the attitude, 'If at first you don't succeed give up', everything would fall about our heads and every European would be worse off.

There will always be work to do and understanding to be achieved in order that we can add to not only our own mutual benefit but also the benefit of the wider world. It is easy to knock the strivings of others and much harder to work towards advantageous solutions. Perhaps a New Year resolution might be to gain a better understanding of the advantages gained through the European Union. - Bill Morehead, Darlington.

MIDDLE EAST

I'D like to endorse Steve Green's comments (HAS, Jan 3) on the Middle East.

As long as the US allows Israel to oppress and humiliate the Palestinians there will be no peace, no end to the spread of terrorism. - Ted Jeavons, Middlesbrough.

CHRISTMAS

THERE are many things I enjoy about Christmas and the New Year: the lights and decorations which brighten the long, dark nights; the anticipation of longer days, the coming spring, and a year better than the last; and the exchange of modest gifts between family and friends.

There are other things I hate: the shopping frenzy; the Christmas goods that appear in the shops from September onwards; the dreadful Christmas pop songs played ad nauseam in every shop; the pressure to borrow money and overspend, and to lavish upon children every present they could possibly want and more.

I expect I am becoming a Grumpy Old Man, but I do wonder what it is that we celebrate in this country. It isn't the ancient festival of Yule, in tune with the environment and the changing seasons, nor is it Christmas, since materialism and rampant consumerism are contrary to everything Jesus Christ stood for. Let's be honest, and re-name it the Winter Retail Festival. - Pete Winstanley, Durham.

WAS this the worst Christmas ever on TV? Possibly.

There must have been many people disappointed to find so few programmes to tick on the schedule as a must-see.

Most of us can remember Christmases when there were so many must-sees that it was impossible, even if we owned a video recorder, to catch them all. And there were far fewer channels.

How many more years will the same tired old films be trotted out? How much more screeching pop music must we endure? How many cloyingly sentimental good deed for Christmas programmes must we stomach?

Even the once excellent dramatised classics or dramas are messed about with today, inserting sex scenes and violence that are not in the original stories. Too many so-called comedies rely on smut and innuendo to raise a laugh.

Where are the cheerful, family viewing, variety shows? Bring back the Minstrels and the Good Old Days. Let's have something we can really smile about and enjoy. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

DRINK PRICES

I WAS charged £3.45 for a 125ml glass of house wine at the Eden Arms Hotel, Rushyford. Is this the most expensive in the region? - Barbara Cattell, Windlestone Park.

EARTHQUAKES

THEY say that the number of fatal casualties in the Iranian city of Bam could reach 50,000.

I believe that almost half the earthquakes since the war are caused by underground nuclear testing. These test bombs have 150 times the energy of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

Bill Clinton stopped American tests after the earthquakes rocked Los Angeles and San Francisco. He wanted a test ban then.

Then the Chinese started and, shortly after, an earthquake hit Australia.

After another Chinese test, India took the brunt of one.

It does not always follow immediately: as the energy builds up inside the earth and finds a weak spot, we have an earthquake.

They say there were earthquakes before nuclear testing. Yes. But only half as many.

Everybody knows when an earthquake happens. They are hard to disguise but no one knows when a test takes place. Only the governments and some scientists.

A year or two ago one Tuesday, a town in Soviet Armenia suffered an earthquake; 660,000 people perished. Pravda and Isvetsia were full of it. Only they did not tell the people that the previous Sunday the Soviets had let go with a nuclear test in the high Arctic.

I am not saying that this recent devastation was caused by a nuclear test, but there is a 50-50 chance that it was. - Jim Ross, Rowlands Gill.

COUNCIL TAX

MICK Bennett (HAS, Nov 29) makes a number of errors in attacking Liberal Democrat policy on local income tax.

In fact, LIT is easy to collect; the data is already available and is used to collect national income tax.

On the contrary, the existing council tax system is expensive to collect, requiring as it does a regular re-assessment of property values. It also has a high level of non-compliance.

Furthermore, the council tax is unfair. It does not reflect an individual's ability to pay. A pensioner living in a house on a fixed income may pay more than an affluent professional living in a flat. Local income tax would be directly related to an individual's ability to pay. It is fair and easy to understand.

LIT would not impose a greater burden on taxpayers. Most council income would still come from central government.

Mr Bennett does not seem to be aware that LIT has been Liberal Democrat policy for a long time. We proposed it as an alternative to Michael Howard's poll tax during Mrs Thatcher's government.

Just think how much better things would be if our proposals had been adopted. - Brian Fiske, vice-chairman, Darlington Liberal Democrats.