03/02/03

It is reported that over 300 Iraqi and Osama bin Laden sympathisers or potential terrorists are living in Britain.

Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin said: "Our immigration and asylum systems are a shambles and are an open invitation to terrorists."

With so many suspects at large in Britain the Government's first priority should be to send all of our unwanted guests back to the country they came from.

The introduction of laws enabling their deportation is long overdue. - Jack Amos, Willington.

WEAR VALLEY

THE demise of yet another manufacturer in Wear Valley (Echo, Jan 25) seems to suggest this is an area that has nothing to offer, or at least that seems to be the case as far as the Government is concerned.

While the assertion that global economic pressures are a cause for concern, it still leaves us asking the question, when is someone in Government going to start listening and stop what seems to suggest a total disregard for our needs?

It seems that there is more concern for the huge numbers of foreigners that come into the country illegally than for the welfare of those in Northern region.

We are told we are the fourth strongest economy in the world, which begs the question why are we in Wear Valley continually one of the poorest, continually losing our jobs, the majority on some kind of handout and, we are told, up to our eyeballs in debt?

Is the fourth largest economy a myth or are we in Wear Valley the manure that fuels that economy so that New Labour's crusade to save the world becomes a reality? - John Young, Crook.

COUNCIL SERVICES

BEING a relatively new member, Councillor Kevin Thompson (Echo, Jan 23) may not be aware that in the previous two years the council received below average grant settlements which meant that council tax had to be raised just to meet inflationary and additional budget pressures. This left no money to improve services significantly.

The grant settlement for 2003-4 is good but it is unlikely to be repeated in future years and reflects the fact that parts of the borough suffer from deprivation and require more money to be spent on services.

If the opportunity is not taken to improve services now, in line with public demands, the chance could be lost. The public have repeatedly asked for improvements in services like street cleaning, maintenance of open spaces, waste recycling and regeneration and the additional grant gives us the opportunity to respond to this in a positive way.

Simply to reduce tax levels, then possibly be faced with a lower grant settlement in the future, which would lead to substantial tax increases, is not the answer.

Sensible service planning, which has been the practice of the Labour-controlled council for many years, requires the authority to take a longer-term view rather than the short-term approach naively suggested by Coun Thompson.

The proposed increase in the borough council tax of three per cent will add 6p per week to Band A taxpayers' bills, taking their payment to just over £2 per week for a whole range of borough services.

This has to be very good value for money! - Brian Stephens, Leader, Sedgefield Borough Council.

LAW AND ORDER

PROFESSOR Dick Hobbs, of the University of Durham, insists: "Yardie gangs are a myth" (Echo, Jan 20).

I would advise Prof Hobbs to leave the dreaming spires of university life and take a look at the real world.

In Jamaica law enforcers have fought with Yardie gang culture for over 50 years.

During the last decade the Yardie trail has spread into America and now Europe.

The Metropolitan Police have a dedicated unit that combats the Jamaican threat with the result the Home Office has recently put in place tough new laws on entry from that country into Britain.

The Yardies have footholds in London, Bristol, Birmingham and Leeds. In the last 12 months Cleveland Police have made over 30 Yardie-related arrests.

Let's not put our heads in the sand like Prof Hobbs. Yardie gangs are a very real threat. - Joe Wellthorpe, North Ormesby.

THIS Government may be more affluent now than it was 63 years ago, but the wartime government did act in an emergency.

When war came we were all provided, free, with an air-raid shelter and a gas mask.

We also had identity cards, which some people now dread. They did no harm. There was a fear of spies. A notice on the bus would say: "Careless talk costs lives. Be like Dad. Keep Mum." Identity cards could expose deserters too.

Now we have this wonderful discovery of DNA. I am sure if everyone were DNA tested, crime could be halved.

Identity cards could be forged but DNA could not. Unless we have something to hide, DNA tests would prove a great benefit to society. - J Ross, Rowlands Gill.

FIREWORKS

WITH regard to the ever-growing problem of fireworks, something must be done soon to find a solution for the benefit of everybody.

Our dog is always so terrified of the bangs and noise that we take him to a farm to escape all the disruption and distress caused by fireworks.

We thought that when we returned home last year on November 8 all would be peaceful and quite. However, much to our dismay, fireworks continued to explode for several nights.

We would strongly urge people to support the campaign to regulate the use of fireworks. We are not totally against fireworks, but let them be used at proper orderly displays and with a degree of common sense. - Ruth and Derrick Hewitson, Darlington.