MAY we express our deep disappointment at the departure of Rob Flower as general manager of the Gala Theatre, Durham (Echo, Oct 4).

Having worked closely with Mr Flower for our summer production of Oliver!, we found him to be an honourable, understanding, pleasant and thoroughly nice man. He was a good figurehead for the theatre and someone very much respected by our company.

What was the purpose of rocking the Gala boat further? Surely stability was needed and Rob Flower gave that when you dealt with him.

What point is Durham City Council making?

Our best wishes and good luck for the future Rob - you were appreciated by many. - Chris Banks, Front of House, Dionysis Theatre Company, Spennymoor.

SINGLE CURRENCY

ROBIN Ashby (HAS, Oct 1) has a very short and selective memory.

Last time we tried linking currencies with the euro countries, it was a disaster. When we were in the ERM at the start of the 1990s, we ended up with policies that were totally wrong for us.

First there was a big boom and then inevitably a huge bust. Unemployment doubled and over 1.5 million people lost their jobs. When the ERM eventually collapsed on Black Wednesday, we could start running our own economy again. Since then we have created 2.6 million jobs in Britain.

The euro would be like the ERM all over again. It would tie us into a one-size-fits-all interest rate and economic policies that are wrong for Britain. It would threaten jobs, mortgages and living standards.

We shouldn't go back. - Lilian Mains, Business Council Member, The No Campaign.

I ASSUME John Elliott (HAS, Sept 28) believes in the saying: "If it works don't fix it."

The only problem with that kind of advice is that when replacement parts are required, the inquirer is told the machine is obsolete.

Coal is now brought from Colombia. China is the world's largest steel producer, textiles are imported from the Far East, cigarettes and DIY equipment are made in Poland and the Czech Republic, India is becoming the call centre of the world, most cars are now made in Europe, the replacement for the QE2 will be built in France, and most of our essential services are controlled from Europe.

Even the Premier League is largely staffed by foreign footballers.

Inward investment may be high, but once our research and development techniques produce a volume product, the work is soon transferred to other countries where labour costs are lower so profits are increased.

It is time for conductor Tony Blair to take up the baton and, forgetting about the foxtrot for the time being, have the dancers quickstepping through the night into a new dawn. We have been dancing in the dark for too long. - Thomas Conlon, Spennymoor.

LORD ARCHER

HOW can the prison authorities claim that all prisoners are treated equally when they gave Jeffrey Archer clear signals that he was so special?

Driving off to work in a theatre - no wonder he had a party with guests including police and prison officers.

No doubt he was not working too hard as he did have time to write a book, which, according to the publishers, will earn him £300,000.

One wondered what his cell mate thinks of that, or even the prison authorities.

Well, Archer no doubt has higher targets and, whatever the prison authorities do, they should reflect that on his release he will be writing another book which might earn twice as much as this one and be far more revealing, since there will be no censoring of it. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

EDUCATION POLICY

ARE we to understand that it is now pointless, and a waste of money, for anyone to send their children to an independent school?

If those from the independent sector are to have their grades deflated and their university applications binned, while those from the public sector have their grades inflated and university applications passed without comment, then where is the fairness to the child?

Surely this will mean the dilution of degree level education, just as the A-levels have been diminished by this sorry affair?

The probable result of Labour's latest bit of social engineering is that independent schools will soon require a totally independent assessment board for examinations and the end result will be that state school examination results will be worthless.

However, if universities carry on their Government-imposed, neo-Stalinist policy of binning the applications from privately-educated children, then they are no better than those who, in the past, discriminated against others with a different skin colour or religion - which is, quite rightly, illegal.

The answer is simple, of course. Just as a jury in court is allowed no knowledge of the defendants' prior convictions, then why should a university be allowed knowledge of a child's previous schooling?

If the Government wants to get rid of private education or it wants more children from state schools to go to university, then the free-market solution is equally simple - improve state education. - Aidan Ruff, Ellingham, Northumberland.

DURHAM CITY

THE Good Place Guide may describe Durham City as "a delight to walk", but once again the needs of wheelchair users and others with mobility impairment have been ignored.

As a wheelchair user, I am a regular visitor to the city and the central part of the city from the Market Place to Milburngate Bridge and Elvet Bridge is a nightmare to use, if not downright dangerous, because of the type of paving the city council insists on using.

Isn't it about time the council recognised the needs of all visitors when designing its streets and pavements and stopped discriminating against disabled people? - Dave Bolton, Ferryhill.