ST GEORGE'S DAY: PAUL RIVERS is opposed to celebrations to mark St George's Day (HAS, Apr 20), which takes place tomorrow. I wonder why?

Could it be anything to do with St George's Day being an expression of our English nationality, what with him being a campaigner for a regional assembly and all? Oh yes, he forgot to mention that in his letter, didn't he?

Perhaps Mr Rivers would prefer a National European Region Day or a Regional Patron Saint instead?

It wasn't so long ago that people who conspired against England were branded traitors. Now, they are usually called pro-Europeans or politicians.

Stuart Parr, Telford, Shropshire.

SO, Paul Rivers seems to be still annoyed that his dreams of a Geordie Parliament never came to fruition.

What Mr Rivers and his fellow Yes Campaigners for a regional assembly should acknowledge is that there are many local identities in the North-East with as many Saints, but we all live in England except, of course, the Lib/Dem leader of Newcastle City Council, Councillor Peter (there is no England) Arnold, and Mr Rivers. Bad losers.

K Young, Darlington.

YOUR correspondent Paul Rivers bemoaned "contrived" English nationalism. Presumably the North-East region is a natural geographical phenomenon, free of all man-made contrivance, which is why he wishes it to have an assembly.

On one hand, Mr Rivers asserts that St George was not even English, as if that matters.

On the other hand, the anti-English brigade misinforms us that the cross of St George is an emblem of racism. It seems to me such people want it both ways. St George is a Middle Eastern foreigner, but we would be racist to fly his flag.

Mr Rivers observed that St George is the patron saint of syphilis sufferers, which should please the Scots as Robert (the) Bruce died of syphilis.

It is the spirit of St George as the defender of the weak that the English celebrate. With the cultural, social and political destruction of England taking place under this most un-English of tyrannical governments, never has there been a more appropriate time for English people to remind the world that we exist.

Never mind the sneers, celebrate St George.

Stephen Gash, Carlisle, Cumbria.

PAUL RIVERS brings a breath of fresh air in his opposition to "compulsory Englishness".

Enthusiasts for St George's Day should not need new ceremonies, but can support what we already have got. I myself have no "special interests" to declare, so I can freely suggest that people contribute to any St George's church or hospital, or to the annual Scouting commemorations of St George, or indeed, to any local Shakespeare production or anything else, marking the cheques, "In honour of St George and England."

E Turnbull, Gosforth, Newcastle.

IN reply to Paul Rivers' criticism of St George in which he correctly stated that St George never even set foot on British soil, may I ask him when he thinks Jesus Christ set foot on British soil? Although not religious myself, Christ is worshipped by billions around the world for his values, not where he lived his life.

Similarly, St George was adopted as the patron saint of England (and other countries, regions and cities) for his courage, valour and defiance, all of which are honourable and appropriate attributes for England. That he never visited England is irrelevant. St Andrew was a Jewish fisherman who never visited Scotland, yet is the patron saint of that country.

In these days of often extreme political correctness, St George's Day is our chance to stand up and say that we are rightly proud to be English. Happy St George's Day to all.

Jamie Mash, Northallerton.

CONSISTENCY

RE Hugh Pender's latest rant about consistency regarding events in Iraq (HAS, Apr 19). Perhaps he should take a look closer to home before criticising others.

Never once, to the best of my knowledge, has he written to condemn Saddam Hussein, who is responsible not only for the deaths of tens of thousands of citizens of Iraq but also for the deaths of thousands, possibly a million, Iranians and Kuwaitis in the time leading up to the first Gulf conflict.

I agree George Bush is a megalomaniac and as barbaric to his own people as he is to others.

But remember, Mr Pender, that people in Iraq also had their children and parents murdered by Saddam, which caused a great build up of hatred that manifested itself when his statue was toppled and the crowd, fuelled by years of bitterness and hatred, battered it with their shoes - a symbol of extreme contempt in the Middle East.

B Kidd, Stockton.

MIGHT AND RIGHT

BEFORE America starts throwing her weight about out in Iran she must remember that army recruitment drives have not been too popular of late. Why? The Iraq war is now seen by lots of Americans as the one we should have avoided in the first place.

Going back to the Vietnam war, it became necessary to conscript men - and after ten years of getting nowhere, America was forced to withdraw.

Meanwhile, out in Iraq the country is still divided, the factions which occupy the country being unable to work harmoniously together. Are we on the brink of a civil war there?

Some say that this has already happened. So will America ever learn that might isn't always automatically right? I guess not.

Alfred A Lister, Guisborough.

QUIZ BLAIR

PREMIER Tony Blair should be questioned by detectives probing the "cash for gongs" scandal. Corruption under Labour is worse than it was under the Tories.

Deceit, obfuscation and an almost childlike ability to claim that black is white are among the less edifying characteristics of our Prime Minister.

Memorably, we saw this in Mr Blair's shameful justification for the war in Iraq. Today, we watch as he and his Cabinet apologists wriggle rather than admit that Labour donors were promised peerages in return for their cash.

I was brought up on strong Labour values through my late father who was a union leader in the NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) and he always said "the biggest corruption in the world is politics". How right he was.

Tony Blair has brought the Labour Party into disrepute and it is time for him to be removed.

D T Murray, Coxhoe.

WARTIME ESCAPE AIDS

YOUR story about railway maps hidden in prunes sent to British prisoners in Nazi Germany (Echo, Apr 12) reminded me of many other things that British aircrew had to fool the Germans if they were captured.

Two of them were:

1) A nice silk handkerchief, apparently neatly patterned. We were told: "If captured, blow your nose on it so the Germans will not inspect it too closely." It was, in fact, a map of the area we were bombing.

2) One of the fly buttons we were given to stitch on had one dot on one side and two dots on the other. If hung on a piece of cotton it was a compass which showed where north and south was.

E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill, County Durham.

POLICE MERGERS

ONE can assume that since we are still paying millions towards the North East Assembly we did not vote for, it would pass that the Home Secretary would merely enforce a similar type of democracy and demand our police forces to merge.

Perhaps I could point out the following information from Section 32 and 34 of the Police Act 1996 stating he must first win a vote in each of the Houses of Parliament. Alteration of police areas, Section 32. (3) The Secretary of State shall not exercise his power under this section to make alterations unless either: (a) he has received a request to make the alterations from the police authority for each of the areas (other than the Metropolitan Police district) affected by them, or: (b) it appears to him to be expedient to make the alterations in the interests of efficiency or effectiveness.

Section 34. (3) No order shall be made under Section 32 by virtue of subsection (3) (b) of that section unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.

Like the Assembly, I don't doubt that the leaders of County Durham will fail to see the irony of the bit-by-bit removal of our county identity, while posturing in other instances about their love of local democracy.

Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland Conservatives.

ENGAGING THE PUBLIC

WE hear a lot from politicians about trying to engage the public in politics and elections. However, when this region became engaged during the vote for a regional assembly the Government didn't like the result and decided to allow the existing unelected North-East Assembly to continue. Is it any wonder people don't bother to use their vote? The only good use for a vote now is to try and vote these control freaks out.

Elizabeth Wood, Edmondsley.

DEMOCRACY THREATENED

WE are writing about a disturbing Government proposal currently going through Parliament. It is the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill and it threatens to destroy 700 years of democracy in the UK.

It gives ministers the power to change or replace any law, without requiring detailed scrutiny by Parliament and can be used to change any existing legislation.

The Government is pushing this Bill through under the guise of deregulation when, in fact, the Bill not only lacks any mention of deregulation but also lacks any meaningful safeguards to prevent abuse.

Already the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Green Party are set to oppose the Bill. The Save Parliament campaign (www.saveparliament/org.uk) now has more than 1,700 subscribers, and more are joining every day.

We would urge readers to join the campaign. The Bill is simply too wide-ranging and gives both this and future governments too much power, undermining Parliament and threatening the very foundation of democracy in the UK.

Eleanor and Henry Justice, Felling, Gateshead.

PARTY FUNDING

I REFER to a letter from Mark Anderson, regarding party funding (HAS, Apr 10).

First of all, I would like to correct his comment that the English Democrats are a "right-wing" party. We are not. The issue upon which we are campaigning is fundamentally having a fair and democratic constitutional settlement for England.

I also think Mr Anderson should be wary of any deal which the three main parties may arrange for themselves to dip into public funds as it is unlikely that they will create a level playing field between them and smaller or newer parties, so he can expect to find all the smaller parties that he mentions cut out of receiving any funds.

Robin Tilbrook, Chairman, English Democrats Party, Ongar, Essex.

THE RISE OF THE BNP

THE main reason for the significant rise in support for the BNP is the fact that the Tories under David Cameron have lurched to the centre left and the Labour Party lost control of illegal immigration.

Coupled with the fact that both main parties support the UK's continued membership of the European Union, this has left a massive gap on the right wing of the political spectrum.

Both UKIP and the BNP have realised this and are set on taking advantage of it, mopping up many disenfranchised right-wing Tories and white working class families left out in the cold due to "positive discrimination" job selection processes.

Why else would UKIP confront the Conservatives' spring conference with a tank stating they are out to save Britain?

If Labour and Conservatives wish to win back these voters and stop BNP/UKIP, then stopping all illegal immigration, withdrawing the UK from the European Union and sticking up for this country will get the ball rolling. If they don't, then it is to the far-right Britain will go.

Mark Anderson, Middleton St George.

WHERE THE BLAME LIES

RE Tony Kelly's letter, Think Twice (HAS, Apr 14). The harangue concerning the Conservative record is strange, hypocritical and has more to do with a prejudiced view.

Mr Kelly rails on about the demise of the British way of life, which is a fact, but I suggest it has more to do with the failure of politicians in general and an establishment more concerned with its corrupt ideals than the well-being of that way of life.

Mr Kelly seems to suggest that the corruption of the last nine years is the fault of the failures of Conservatism while ignoring the fact that the Church of England has failed us miserably.

As for the people of the North-East, it is a region that has constantly stuck to Labour, so blaming the Tories is irrelevant.

Walk around Crook and you can see the rubbish and carnage on a regular basis. A Labour council that allows anti-social behaviour, drugs and other misuses and makes gestures without substance. A Labour Government that allows foreigners to constantly interfere in our way of life and our once British laws.

I care no longer for the Britishness that Gordon Brown so hypocritically spouts. New Labour is a disaster which is selling our way of life to the highest bidder.

John Young, Crook.

EARLY RELEASE

CHIEF Inspector of Probation Andrew Bridges' comment on the number of early release prisoners re-offending as "tiny" (Echo, Apr 18) was insensitive as were attempts to categorise murder and rape as just a crime statistic.

A death or sexual attack has a harrowing effect on the person involved and their families. Saying "locking up all 15,000 forever would only stop 20 serious offences" is an insult to victims and families who have suffered devastation of an attack.

The release laws must be tougher. Mr Bridges is clearly forgetting there is always more than one victim.

Gillian McGuigan, Darlington.