Hear all sides

LET us have some truth spoken in letters on the euro. Successive governments, from the first mention of the Common Market, have not been very truthful.

They did not widely tell the people about the carve up of jobs. We lost coal, steel, cars, clothing, beef, etc to Europe and, in return, we were supposed to get finance.

Lots of union members still do not believe this - they have been hoodwinked into believing that it was market forces.

Why is the present Government so quiet on the reasons for joining the euro? Why has Germany got four million unemployed at the moment?

Why cannot a lot of countries pay for their pension commitments?

Lastly, why has Britain agreed to help the other countries pay for these?

We just want the truth. M Richardson, Darlington.

JUMPING into Europe will be a complete disaster for our country in terms of finance and, above all, our freedom to govern our own country.

We need to look at what is happening in Europe and the billions of pounds it is costing us for the privilege of Tony Blair's wish to be the head lad in Europe.

The only gold mines in Europe are those our Euro MPs are now enjoying, and I would also like to remind these Europe fanatics that thousands of people gave their lives for the freedom of our country, once the land of the free, until our Tony started to take the Great out of Britain. If these euro fanatics think giving our freedom away will solve their Europe fanaticism, let us have a vote now before Labour slides us through the back door into another disaster. FG Wealands, Darlington.

THE euro sceptics want their cosy little world to stay as it is. Well, it won't and what bugs them is that they know in their hearts that we will have little alternative but to trade in the euro with 300 million Europeans on our doorstep.

This will help most British manufacturers. We got used to the change from LSD easily enough and insults to Tony Blair are futile. - F Atkinson, Shincliffe.

AS a Darlington man born and bred, though now living away, I was interested to read in Hear All Sides that Richard Corbett MEP was keen to clarify misconceptions regarding the euro.

What a pity that he decided to add a few of his own! He said that Britain would be damaged economically because "over three million jobs are dependent on our exports to the EU", but he didn't give the rest of the picture. That over four million jobs in EU counties depend on their exports to the United Kingdom.

Is he suggesting that the EU would stop trading with Britain and therefore abandon four million of its jobs?

He, presumably, knows full well that Britain and the EU would continue to trade together for their mutual benefit. He suggested that joining the euro would have no effect on Britain's taxes, which suggests that he has little understanding of what the euro is really all about.

Hans Tietmeyer, former President of Germany's Central Bank, said: "A European currency will lead to member nations transferring their sovereignty over financial and wages policy, as well as in monetary affairs. It is an illusion to think that states can hold on to autonomy over taxation policy". KM Shuttleworth, St Albans, Herts.

I THINK a lot of people would agree that in changing to the euro, our sovereignty and laws would not alter a great deal.

However, at the changeover the rounding up or down of the prices will affect us vastly, just as it did with the 1971 decimalisation.

People in good and well-paid employment do not notice or question prices, but the lower paid and pensioners have to watch their spending and this round-up rip off will have a huge affect, as it did in 1971. Reports from the French changeover have revealed as much as a 17 per cent hike in the confusion of the 'round up' figures. David Walker, Newton Aycliffe.

CONGO RELIEF

YOU will have heard that on the morning of January 17, the volcano Nyiragongo, situated 25km north of Goma, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, erupted.

UNICEF was quick to respond, with the first 28 tonnes of emergency supplies, despatched from the UNICEF warehouse in Kinshasha, arriving in Kigali on Saturday.

UNICEF is rushing an additional 60 tonnes of emergency supplies to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in an urgent effort to reach the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by violent volcanic eruption and lava flow near the town of Goma.

Of the approximately 350,000 people affected by the volcano, 200,000 are children under the age of 15. Of those, some 100,000 are under the age of five.

The Northern Echo readers have been so generous in the past, responding to UNICEF emergency appeals. If you would like to make a donation to the DRC/Rwanda emergency, cheques/postal orders made payable to UNICEF will be gratefully received at UNICEF, DRC/Rwanda Emergency, PO Box 1800, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S6 4UG. Please remember to include your address so that we may send you a gift aid form to increase the value of your donation.

l £75 is enough to buy water purification tablets to give 800 children a litre of clean safe water to drink.

l £46 covers the basic health needs for 200 people over three months through Emergency Health Kit supplies.

l £25 will buy enough blankets to keep 36 children warm at night.

l £7 will buy plastic sheeting that will protect an entire family against the elements. Louis Coles, Regional Fundraising Manager Unicef (North East).