Letters

FOR the euro to succeed, as it has already been agreed in the Maastricht Treaty, all the countries must have the same employment legislation and business taxes so that the internal market is not distorted.

Consequently, doesn't logic demand the opposite of what the spin doctors are trying to tell us? As we have the highest transport costs by far in the EU, surely the Japanese, faced with the same rules, regulations etc, in each country, will locate their factories where their market is or where labour costs are much cheaper.

The miserable value of the euro at the moment is no doubt a problem for exporters to the EU, but it is minimal compared with the drastic consequences that would be forced onto the 80 per cent of businesses that have no connection with the EU.

We need to leave the EU, remove the burden of red tape already overwhelming us and create a climate that will allow all small businesses to reinvest their own profits and grow accordingly.

The scare stories that we would lose trade with the EU are just not sustainable. - Stephen Feaster, Chairman, United Kingdom Independence Party, Ryedale Branch.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CONGRATULATIONS to The Northern Echo CouncilWatch Campaign in playing a major part in the Labour Government amending its Local Government Bill to allow the cabinet to meet in public and not behind closed town hall doors.

I am quite sure that without The Northern Echo's support the Government would have pressed ahead to hold meetings in secret.

I believe the committee system in local government has served local taxpayers well for over 150 years, so why change to a system where power is in the hands of a few chosen councillors and officers are given wide powers of delegation to run local councils?

Many thanks once again for the Echo's stand for local democracy. - Coun Stephen Smailes, Conservative Group Leader, Stockton Borough Council.

SO our democratically-elected council at Sedgefield is being ordered by the Government to behave in a democratic way by holding cabinet meetings in public (Echo, June 30).

Doesn't this tell you something about our local representatives. Despite severe criticism from various bodies and individuals, they ignore the wishes and concerns expressed until the Government tells them to change their attitude.

Our so-called representatives' idea of democratic government appears to be to only listen to public opinion when a higher authority instructs them so to do.

The electors in Sedgefield Borough should remember, when elections come along, the councillors' total disregard for them in their determination to hold secret meetings without explaining the need for this. Democracy is a concept they don't welcome, understand or want to know about. - PA Eddy, Spennymoor.

Could you please ask someone on Darlington Borough Council what has happened to common sense?

To walk through the centre of Darlington and see the flowers and floral arrangements is very nice, but at what cost to the rest of the town?

There is now a charge of £5.25 for the council to collect garden rubbish; it costs £17.80 to collect tree cuttings if it takes 15 minutes to load.

This year the free transport concession for the disabled and pensioners costs £5 in administration costs. It has also dropped a further £4 from last year, a total cost of £9, a cost which people in this category cannot afford.

If councillors would like to walk around the back lanes and see the filth accumulated there they might have a rethink about charges. The fountain presented to the people of Darlington is nothing but an ornamental litter bin. - LA Williams, Darlington.

CHICKEN RUN

AT the RSPCA, we congratulate the makers of Chicken Run. They clearly have a phenomenal success on their hands.

But we would hope that the interest millions of people are showing in the plight of these animated plasticine chickens will translate into a bid for better welfare for the 25 million hens still reared in battery cages all over the UK.

So, we urge consumers to make a choice for welfare and choose eggs marked with our Freedom Food label. This provides assurance that the birds have been raised to the RSPCA's welfare standards.

The more people opt for welfare-friendly products, the less likely it is that the likes of Mr and Mrs Tweedie will thrive. - Peter Davies, Director General of the RSPCA.

ASYLUM SEEKERS

REFUGEE worker Peter Widlinski points out (Echo, June 15) that the UK needs an extra 70,000 people to live here to help the economy.

Well, I have a simple but brilliant solution to this problem faced by British industry. How about taking 70,000 people from our vast army of unemployed and put them in jobs?

Where are Mr Widlinski's ethics in trying to encourage 70,000 people here from developing countries? Particularly when he admits that many are highly qualified and that some of the countries they are leaving need such qualified people as a matter of life and death.

In Britain, the presence of these people will cause resentment by the fact that 70,000 extra people fighting for jobs will undoubtedly lead to lower wages and generally worse conditions - if you are lucky to find a job. - Trevor Agnew, Darlington.

THANK YOU

I SHOULD like to thank the people who helped me outside the Cornmill Centre, Darlington when, for some unexplained reason, I fainted.

I should like to thank the nurse, the person who telephoned for the ambulance and the person who covered me with her jacket. Everyone was so kind. - J Moss, Darlington.