Hear All Sides

Two soldiers beat her son almost to death in front of her, and took him away. He has not been heard of since. She herself was brutally raped by both soldiers.

Deeply traumatised, she ran for her life and eventually claimed asylum in Britain.

Her story was not disputed, but her claim was refused. Although it is well known that rape is often used as a weapon of war or as an instrument of torture or oppression, the appeal judge upheld the adjudicator's outrageous ruling that her terrible ordeal was due to the "simple dreadful lust" of the Ugandan soldiers, rather than to state oppression, and he ordered that she should be returned to Uganda.

Incredibly, there are people who think it is too easy to obtain asylum in this country, and callously suggest that refugees like this woman should be subjected to further suffering by being locked up as soon as they arrive, and deported immediately their asylum applications are rejected. This would inevitably mean that some will be sent back to face further torture, incarceration or death. - Pete Winstanley, Durham.

THE Tory media, in cahoots with radio shock jocks, have run a campaign against all refugees trying to enter this country.

They have convinced sections of the public that there are queue jumpers, and that those already here have brought various contagious diseases with them.

We now have the Archbishop of Canterbury jumping on the right-wing bandwagon. He has suggested asylum seekers should be locked up while their applications are processed.

I wonder if the Archbishop would be so persuaded of the merits of secure accommodation for asylum seekers if they were members of the Church of England.

The Jewish carpenter Dr Rowan Williams claims to follow said: "I was hungry and you gave me meat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in."

Speaking as an agnostic, I sense a lack of commitment to that form of Christianity from the foremost member of the Church of England. - James Fitzpatrick, Gateshead.

QUEUES

THE academic David Stewart-David has received a £2,000 grant to fund his research on standing in queues (Echo, Jan 31).

What startling discovery has this brilliant student come up with as a result of the funding and his 92 days of standing in various queues? He has discovered that people hate it.

Surely Northumbria University could have found a more worthy candidate to offer funding to; someone who wanted to research something of real value and worth to society.

Perhaps this is an example of the ridiculous ideas people can now come up with as study subjects then walk away at the end of the course waving a degree certificate pronouncing them as nothing less than genius.

Mr Stewart-David will no doubt have strings of letters to put after his name as a result of his four-year study. I would not mind betting he is laughing behind the backs of all those who have given him money to waste and who have praised his wonderful, scholarly work and achievement. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

PIG FARMING

M NEWELL (HAS, Feb 5) is in 'wonderment' about EU directives on porcine welfare. Stories of fines of £1,000 or three months in jail for farmers not providing pigs with toys had us all grinning like a Cheshire cat.

I'm afraid that some people are being fed half-truths by people falling down a rabbit hole. Staring harder through the looking glass, it becomes clear that the European Commission does not actually mandate the installation of toys on pain of a jail sentence.

In actual fact, it requires that pigs should have permanent access to a sufficient quantity of material, such as wood, even a football, to keep them happy and stop them from biting each other.

If pre-chewed rashers of bacon are M Newell's heart's desire then yes, this is another waste of EU money. - Jem Bersin, North East in Europe, Newcastle.

FIREWORKS

I FULLY endorse the recent publicity regarding the indiscriminate use of fireworks.

I could start the campaign by listing my own self-interest as a dog owner, but my immediate concern is for guide dogs and their owners.

The fact that the owner, being highly dependant on the dog, has to cope with an upset animal through thoughtless behaviour must be extremely distressing.

This can lead to a retraining period in some instances, or the worst situation, a premature retirement for the guide dog.

It beggars belief that the situation is allowed to be so uncontrolled.

Surely common sense has to prevail, with a designated place for fireworks displays to become mandatory and also a set period starting on November 5 and finishing a few days later. - Alan Reed, Darlington.

NELSON MANDELA

HUGH Pender (HAS, Feb 6) describes Nelson Mandela as the 'most respected ex-politician in the world'.

I totally disagree. Lady Thatcher or Enoch Powell in my eyes are the best.

If we had these two political stalwarts in Parliament today, then we would not have half the problems we currently face like people from overseas flooding through our system, milking our overstretched kindness.

Stand down Tony Blair. Great Britain has had enough of you and your party.

We want some one in power who will look after British interests and not only those of the asylum seekers.

It is quite simple. Collect all of the Third World debt and give it to our pensioners, education and the NHS. - Adrian Bell, Darlington.