You write...

WHAT strange times we live in. A man is secretly filmed by a BBC film crew at a private political meeting. Later this man's comments are screened nationwide by the BBC.

The police become involved, subsequently arrest him and bring charges regarding certain comments he made at this private meeting.

The Crown Prosecution Service decides that this man should face trial, he is brought to court and put on trial. He is subsequently acquitted of all charges ( although he may possibly face re-trial). This man is of course Nick Griffin of the British National Party.

Cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed as a terrorist are published in Europe. Muslims take great insult at these cartoons, an embassy is burned in the Middle East followed by public protests by enraged Muslims all over the world.

One of these protests was on the streets of London, some of the banners read "Those who insult Islam should be beheaded", "exterminated", "massacred" etc.

These banners were displayed, not in some smoky pub cellar at a fringe political meeting, but in the nation's capital - not one year since terrorists massacred innocent people in the name of "religious struggle".

The police were very rapid in responding to allegations (subsequently unfounded) made against Mr Griffin, yet they seemed very reticent when confronted by people dressed as suicide bombers and holding placards inciting people to murder. The police stated that they policed the demonstration with ''tact'' and didn't wish to exacerbate the situation.

Unfortunately, it seems that the police have two sets of standards for the citizens of this country: one that applies to leaders of the BNP/poll tax demonstrators/striking miners, etc and another one for people who publicly threaten beheading, extermination and massacre. - Stirling Lowery, Willington.

BRING BACK THE STOCKS

NEVER did I think I would ever sympathise with litter droppers, and do not get me wrong, I do not, for they are the scum of the earth, and there is no excuse ever for the mess they cause.

However, while walking up Framwellgate Moor main street one afternoon, the litter was so bad that in one area in particular there was so much fast food packaging I could barely see the pavement; and the bin was overflowing.

If there is no more room in the bin there is every reason to expect that certain people, of the baser kind, will drop their rubbish. Surely it does not take an expert to realise if bins are overflowing, as they were in this and other areas on the street, larger bins or more bins are required in these locations.

I have often thought bringing back the stocks for persistent offenders would be a useful remedy.

Unfortunately, this British disease is so bad it may cause a timber shortage. - CG Farquhar, Framwellgate Moor, Durham.

GRAEME SOUNESS

I WOULD imagine the happiest ex-football manager is Graeme Souness.

He walks away with £3m and is now free from the trophy hungry Newcastle fans.

The Echo editorial got it exactly right when it said the new Newcastle manager will have won the Lottery whether he succeeds or not.

Who pays for this nauseating bonanza?

The fans, of course, who pay through the nose to watch their team - TV money, courtesy of Mr Murdoch, has produced this obscene financial feeding trough for the Premier League. The others get the crumbs from the table. Anyway, what kind of a man is Shepherd who could not summon the courage to tell Souness to his face that he was to lose his job?

With a man like that at the helm maybe Newcastle do not deserve success and with their present team maybe we will see them in the Darlington Stadium in a few years. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.

MY heart goes out to Graeme Souness, after his sacking.

What other industry can award failure so handsomely.

I wouldn't mind his job. I can easily spend £40m on a load of rubbish.

Also, I would have no regrets in walking away with a £3m pay off. Spend some time on the golf course and wait for the next job. Which won't be too far way.

Any other way of life failure means being shown the door with only a P45 in your hand.

Should Newcastle start winning now it would only show the players didn't perform to get him the sack. If that's the case, then punish the players by deducting their wages.

It's time football came into the real world. Still it's the supporters who shell out every week who pay the wages.

Personally, I have better things to spend my money on. - John Brant, Darlington.

EVICTIONS

SERGEANT Steve Ball, from Shildon police, states ( Echo, Feb 6) that anyone who is living in a council house and dealing in drugs faces eviction.

What happens to people evicted by Sedgefield Borough Council for drug dealing or other anti social behaviour?

Some private landlords happily rehouse them in the same or adjacent areas and, as a result, these areas then start to go downhill.

Shildon is not alone in suffering from the 'couldn't care less as long as I get the money' attitude of some private landlords.

The law needs a prompt and drastic overhaul as regards the activities of some sections in the private rental sector. - P Deakin, Shildon.

NUCLEAR POWER

DOES Leslie Rowe (HAS, Jan 31) not realise that, for many years past, a great number of organisations and people have been 'exploring' the use of so-called renewable sources as a means of generating electrical energy?

To date, they have not developed a viable, reliable method of providing the huge amount of sustained electrical power which this country needs every day just to survive.

Also, meaningful energy conservation would be practically impossible to enforce.

If we are to have a reliable method of providing a sustained supply of electrical power ten years hence then the decisions must be taken now.

The use of nuclear power is the only option. - J Routledge, Witton Gilbert.

THANK YOU

HAVING spent the last ten years helping to build the Socialist Labour Party (SLP) at national and regional level, I have now decided to end my political activities and cease to be a member of any political party.

Accordingly, I have presented my resignation from the SLP.

Could I take this opportunity to thank all those people who, in two general elections held within the Sedgefield constituency, supported me as a candidate.

It was a great privilege to have presented a truly socialist manifesto in the constituency where I was born and lived all my life. Socialism has, for me, been a way of life in which the traditional values of the old Labour party were, and still are, ever present.

At local level I will continue to assist those who ask me to do so.

On the national and regional scene, however, I bow out gracefully in the knowledge that I did what I could to try to help the ordinary working people of this country. - Brian Gibson, Ferryhill.