Darlington FC

AT a recent Darlington fans forum, led by George Reynolds, we were given no opportunity to discuss the ticket prices, never mind vote on them.

Instead Mr Reynolds spent the entire evening criticising one of the players. The ticket prices were delivered as a fait accompli. Consequently, it turned out to be a wasted evening.

If fans looked into the season ticket prices carefully they would see that there is little difference between paying at the gate and buying a season ticket, so what is the point?

The ground is hardly likely to be so full that supporters are unable to get in. Many fans I have spoken to are not renewing their season tickets for the coming season after the 40 per cent increase.

The directors who keep saying that prices are cheaper than two years ago seem to miss the point. It was the reduction in prices last year that directly led to the large increase in attendance and consequently the improved atmosphere at matches.

Everybody appreciates what Mr Reynolds has done for the club but the fans forum did him no favours.

I'm sure that the fans will still support the club but many are waiting to see how many other promises will be kept as the season progresses, not least the building of the stadium. - Keith Borrill, Middleton St George.

EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

LES Parsons is mistaken (HAS, July 12) when he says that Ted Heath held a referendum as to whether Britain should enter the European Union and the British people voted "Yes".

Edward Heath was Prime Minister when Britain entered the Common Market. The British people were never given a choice as to whether we should join.

The question was put, when Harold Wilson was Prime Minister, that as we are members now, it will cost millions of pounds to leave it, do your want to leave the Common Market?

It is rather like saying, we have chopped off your hand in a painful operation which you didn't agree to, would you like it sewn back on in another painful operation? If my answer is "No", does this mean I voted to have my hand chopped off?

The important thing about a referendum isn't necessarily the answer but the question. - B Wood, Edmondsley.

THE Government and big business seem to have embarked on a campaign to blackmail the British people into getting rid of the pound.

Over the past two weeks we have read reports in your newspaper of redundancies and threatened redundancies all supposedly due to the high value of the pound.

The strange thing is that using the strength of the pound as an excuse to make people redundant does not seem to add up. Each of the companies using these threats all import most of their basic commodities to manufacture their finished products.

If these companies are able to buy these basic commodities much cheaper because the pound is so strong then why can't they use these savings to reduce their finished product price which would make them more competitive, not only in the EU but throughout the world.

May I suggest that they get their own houses in order before they try to blackmail the British people into something the majority don't want. - J Rishworth, Darlington.

HEALTH ISSUES

THE last government refused to see inequalities in health, talking instead of 'variations', whose causes were 'unknown'.

This Government's language is clear: inequalities, especially in income, cause ill health.

So ministers, faced with league tables showing people in parts of the North dying twice as much as those in Surrey, should not wonder at the reason for these 'variations'. Nor excuse the problem of poverty, as inherited by this Government, when considering the still widening gap between rich and poor.

The problem is that maintaining low tax and spending, inherited from previous governments, only maintains the underlying trend. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. A plethora of short-term schemes and initiatives, zones and domes, will not reverse this.

Reducing health inequalities requires a structural and long-lasting shift, from those who have wealth and health to those who have not. - John Nicholson, Chief Executive, UK Public Health Association.

POWER LINES

I WAS interested to see the letter from Councillor Jeremy Atkinson of Stockton (HAS, June 30). The perceived conflict between Stockton residents anxious to get rid of an existing 275kV line, and people in Cleveland and North Yorkshire anxious to avoid the new 400kV line, has practically evaporated.

The proposed new line is in two parts: Lackenby-Picton and Picton-Shipton. An existing 400kV line at Picton would be severed in order to link up separately with these two parts.

However, there is an emerging better solution. The Lackerby-Picton line could tie in to the existing line at Picton, with the longer Picton-Shipton line being abandoned. This would satisfy almost all people, since the 275kV line would still be removed. The National Grid has now determined to underground the most contentious strip from Nunthorpe to Newby, and the new line would represent a one-for-one swap in the Cleveland area; and the longest section of the proposed new line through virgin countryside in North Yorkshire could be abandoned in the light of the closure of the Blyth power stations in Northumberland.

I would be pleased to hear from any residents in Cleveland who would still have strong objections to such a solution. - Mike O'Carroll, Chairman of REVOLT, Welbury, Northallerton.

FOXHUNTING

THE recent report into hunting referred to by Hugh Pender (HAS, July 15) is presumably the Government-instigated Burns Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs which concluded that 6,000-8,000 jobs would be lost if hunting were banned.

The report also concluded that hunting is no less humane than other practical alternatives, that it has a beneficial influence on conservation and that it is a vital part of the social and cultural life of many communities.

The Burns Inquiry findings have provided no justification for making hunting a criminal activity.

It is no part of the parliamentary process to foist the prejudices and opinions of a majority on to a minority.

Parliament should legislate to deal with activities which cause harm, not activities which certain people, for their own subjective reasons, dislike. - John Haigh, Area Public Relations Officer, Countryside Alliance.

QUESTION TIME

READING the contributions by Ray Mallon (Echo, July 13) makes me wonder if he has his sights set on a high profile job with New Labour. Tony Blair does not like being asked questions and I have yet to hear him answer one during Prime Minister's Question Time.

This of course is the reason why he cut the twice-weekly sessions down to one.

During the run-up to the last General Election he refused to have a television debate with John Major because he knew he would be ridiculed as he is in PM's Question Time.

In his three year reign the only thing Mr Blair has given us is higher taxes by stealth.

Mr Mallon tells us that Euan Blair was arrested for being drunk and incapable, no mention of the fact that he gave a false name and address. - JE Thompson, Newton Hall, Durham.

TOWN CENTRE

Spennymoor town centre is dying, with boarded-up shops, litter strewn everywhere and high shopping centre rents.

Spennymoor Town and Sedgefield Borough Councils seem to be doing nothing about it apart from installing a hideous fountain which no one wanted in the first place.

Too much council tax payers' money is being spent on Shildon and not enough on Spennymoor.

The question that we have to ask ourselves is how can we revitalise our local economy if we cannot even regenerate our own town centre?

What we should do is recreate the main shopping centre, reduce town centre rents and the uniform business rate so that more shops can move into Spennymoor, and pedestrianise the town centre.

This is the only way to bring the town centre back to life. - Martin Jones, Secretary, Spennymoor Branch Liberal Democrats.