PRINCESS DIANA: I QUITE agree with Sharon Griffiths that the subject of the late Princess Diana should be put to bed once and for all.

It is about time people stopped trying to make money from theories. - J Watson, Washington.

PUBLIC UTILITIES

IN answer to Geoffrey Bulmer (HAS, Oct 21), when will it sink in with people who are comfortably off that increased taxes are no answer to this country's problems?

Those problems being, in brief, the shambolic state of our public services - transport, health, education and the rural economy. Look at the excellence of their counterparts elsewhere in Western Europe. I am not aware that those countries pay higher taxes than we do. What they do is to manage their existing resources incomparably better than we do ours.

Which brings us to the root cause of this country's decline: weak, complacent, inadequate management throughout the public sector.

Until that crucial fact is faced up to, admitted and tackled ruthlessly, chucking ever more money at our ailing public services - no doubt to recruit more managers and other bureaucrats - will only make matters worse. - T Kelly, Crook.

THE POPE

I HAD a suspicion that Nick Morrison (Echo, Oct 15) was having a sneaky attack on the head of the Roman Catholic Church, and there, in column three, he finally wrote the word dictator.

He then continued his character assassination by stating the Pope was indifferent to human suffering, was ruthless and stifled debate.

He also stated the Pope was partly responsible for the spread of Aids throughout sub-Saharan Africa, alienating liberals in the church and straining relations with other Christian churches.

There was no mention of his visit to this country to pray for reconciliation, his visit to Ireland to ask for peace, his repeated pleas for peace in the Middle East, his frequent requests to the International Monetary Fund to consider the poor in the Third World.

One can sympathise with a columnist who probably grew up in an era when religion was portrayed as sitting around a bearded gentleman in India, and love meant having intimate relationships with anybody, anytime, anywhere because the general opinion among young people at the time was the world could possibly end in four minutes. Whose world was it? Did it belong to God or Man?

John Paul II appeared on the scene to speak for God by celebrating the liturgy around the world and the faithful responded on every continent. The world was given an option: either worship God or Man. What we are waiting for is a response to the challenge set not by man but by God.

Jesus said two important words to his disciples: "Follow me". The response of the majority in the 21st century, at this moment, is the same as in the first century: "Man can choose his own way". - Thomas Conlon, Spennymoor.

PENSIONS

THE Government promised to help millions of pensioners with extra cash to keep them off the breadline.

The pledge of a minimum weekly income of £100 was applauded when Tony Blair made it a key election issue.

But just after a few weeks, the pension Credit scheme is in chaos.

A telephone hotline service set up to help pensioners claim their top-up payments is causing confusion and frustration.

Callers are being asked to reveal personal financial details to workers who are neither properly trained nor vetted for criminal records.

Pensioners could wrongly be refused cash or even risk being defrauded. It unveils a catalogue of slack practice and inefficiency which is an insult to the elderly who call up.

Centres are chronically understaffed and some of the operators cannot even spell or add up.

This is not the way to treat pensioners who have worked all their lives in the hope of a decent, dignified retirement. Pensioners deserve help from the state, and the Government's intentions are right.

But the scheme is being bungled. It is difficult for many elderly people to handle detailed questions over the telephone.

So far only 1.4 million of the five million entitled to extra cash have got it. The flaw is in the decision to means-test the credit.

It is right to keep some control on taxpayers' cash, but the scheme should be made as smooth, simple and efficient as possible.

And the cowboys who run call centres like Ventura should be kicked off the line. Old people have their pride. And they deserve more respect. - D T Murray, Coxhoe.

IMMIGRATION

PETE Winstanley (HAS, Oct 18) misses the point. At no time were the British people asked if we wanted immigrants.

We did not need them. They were brought in as cheap labour and to depress wages.

There is no evidence that people from overseas acquire British nationality because the union flag flew over them. It is merely an assumption of successive governments. The effect of mass immigration is to destroy the British nation and, if action is not taken, it will destroy European civilisation.

My generation fought to prevent German domination, although that would have been preferable to what we have got.

As ever, it is up to the British to fight for freedom and that includes freedom from the international capitalist plot of globalisation and free trade - a recipe for unemployment as our industry and commerce are removed to third world countries.

In the end we shall be fighting for our very existence. - John Laurence, Sunderland.

FOOTBALL

THE points system for football teams does not seem rational.

If team A plays ten games and the outcome is a draw in each game, they will be awarded ten points. If team B plays ten games and is beaten in six of them they will be awarded 12 points and go above the unbeaten team.

Team A may have scored 50 goals in their unbeaten record, Team B might have won their four games at 1-0, scoring far less than the team beneath them.

If three points are awarded for a win, surely a draw should be one and a half points instead of one point, which means the two teams drawing only get two points instead of a shared three points. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.