GEORGE GALLOWAY: WHETHER or not George Galloway has received payments from Saddam Hussein, what is certain is that his recent words and deeds regarding the Iraq War brand him as a traitor.

Mr Galloway, known throughout Westminster as the Honorable Member for Baghdad Central, recently showed his contempt for the British forces and his support for our enemies by urging the troops to disobey orders.

In fact, such are Mr Galloway's proven anti-British credentials that if, as rumoured, he is expelled from the Labour Party he will be warmly welcomed as an employee of the BBC, by far the most anti-British institution in the land.

The nation's foremost public service broadcaster is soon to show a four-part drama series costing licence payers £6m depicting the lives of traitors and portraying them as heroes.

The Cambridge spies, Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Anthony Blunt, betrayed this country to the Soviet Union, which in turn made them responsible for the deaths of hundreds of British agents worldwide.

Given the BBC's new role as propaganda ministry, I am sure Mr Galloway will feel very much at home should he be given the elbow by St Anthony of Tuscany. - Dave Pascoe, Press Secretary, UK Independence Party, Hartlepool Branch.

LAW AND ORDER

YOU reported (Echo, Apr 17) that CCTV cameras had led to a fall in car crime and that the police welcomed the news.

How ironic therefore that just two days later you reported a spate of crimes, including a police statement that "on one night last week, we had 14 cars broken into in a 24-hour period".

The only good CCTV cameras do is reduce crime in the town centre, which suits the council because it thinks that as long as everything is right in that area, the rest of the town can go to pot.

It has been said often in the past that a crackdown on crime in one area only moves the problem to a less protected area. These two conflicting reports tellingly prove that point.

The fact is the criminal fraternity will go about their business wherever they can find easy pickings. - RK Bradley, Darlington.

WAR AGAINST IRAQ

THE Rev John Stephenson (HAS, Apr 21) is burying his head in sand and is not looking at reality.

He mentions the Christian churches's condemnation of the war, not mentioning that there were also other people that also condemned it.

Does he think that only Christian church leaders can think rationally? I am a practising Catholic but I don't always agree with church leaders.

My father served in the DLI in two just campaigns, finally dying with war wounds. I was a conscript in the Malayan campaign and if young enough I would do it again. I am proud of our forces.

Our country, with America, throughout history has always stood against injustice.

How would the Rev Stephenson have dealt with the problem in Iraq? Hope it would go away?

Terrifying reports are coming out of the area now of torture, hanging off meat hooks, using people for target practice, using billions of the country's reserves for his own use and palaces; what words would the Rev Stephenson have to say at a funeral for the gassed Kurds?

We are very fortunate indeed to have George Bush and Tony Blair to rid the world of this tyrant. - Bernard McCormick, Newton Aycliffe.

SPEED CAMERAS

CHIEF Supt Robert Pattison (HAS, Apr 19) is deceiving himself if he imagines that his letter will reassure any motorist as to the use which will be made of any fines from the speed cameras.

All motorists know that it is just another tax on them and no amount of protestations to the contrary by anyone in authority is going to convince any motorist otherwise. - K Orton, Ferryhill Station.

BRITISH CULTURE

ALED Jones (HAS, Apr 21) is entirely wrong in claiming that the Romans destroyed pre-Christian British culture. Take King Arthur, to whom he refers at the end of his letter.

While there is no doubt that there was such an individual, who lived in the fifth century and rallied the Christian forces against the pagan invaders, the rest of the story - the Lady of the Lake, Excalibur, Merlin etc - goes back to an indescribably remote Celtic past; a past that long pre-dates the Celtic settlement of these islands.

The resurgence of these myths after the Roman withdrawal around 400AD and their coalescence around the otherwise shadowy figure of Arthur, is proof enough of the robust vitality of Celtic culture and fighting qualifies at that time.

And this we may note is as true today of the Celtic peoples - Welsh, Bretons, Scots, Irish, Manx and Cornish - as it was then. - T Kelly, Crook.

POINTS SYSTEM

SUNDERLAND are relegated, but is the system of awarding points fair and correct?

If a team plays a draw in all its ten matches it will be awarded ten points. If their opponents for relegation lose more than half their games, six altogether but win the other four at 1-0, they will get 12 points and stay up. So is the best team relegated?

Awarding three points for a win, one for a draw might seem reasonable but surely readers can think up a better system.

If a win is three points and a loss no points, should a draw mean that the two teams drawing get one and a half points instead of only one point out of the three available for a win? - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.