08/05/06

Whoever manages to win the next General Election will be a minority of people, with very limited life experience and expertise, representing a minority of the population.

There has never been a period more glaringly reflective of the inadequacy of our election system and government than the last two decades.

Sectors of the population are left without an effective voice and suffer neglect while others are over-indulged at the expense of the former.

The gap between those who prosper most from the national effort and those whose existence serves mainly to provide jobs in the social services and benefits industries grows relentlessly, even under the party which, historically, was there to protect them.

Is there any wonder that people only vote to get out the party which has been in long enough to prove it is the same as all the others?

Now is the time for change. The problem is that the two main parties have too much to lose by it and the third has dropped it. - George Appleby, Clifton, York.

WE DESERVE BETTER

COUNCILLOR David Cummings was right to expose the reality of the Liberal Democrat record in running Durham City Council since 2003 (HAS, May 3).

In just three years they have increased council tax by 13 per cent - more than five times the current Retail Price Index. This is the party which before elections talked of £100 rebates for voters despite knowing that they couldn't deliver this in Durham, and they haven't.

However hard Lib Dem councillors try to spin, or avoid, their record, the facts speak for themselves. Voters feel let down by rises in council tax, cuts in services, proposals to sell off our green spaces and expensive failed legal battles in an attempt to force taxi drivers to paint their cabs white.

We've had three years of talk and waste. Durham is a great city and deserves better. - Michael Fishwick, Durham City.

COUNCIL MEETINGS

ON Wednesday, May 3, I attended the meeting of Stanhope Parish Council in the public gallery. I had been told that there were two meetings, one at 6.30pm and another at 7pm.

There had been no advertisement, agendas or minutes for the meetings at Stanhope Town Hall.

The first meeting started by Councillor Shuttleworth (chair), saying that this meeting was an Annual Assembly. This is an event to be held by law with certain prerequisites, namely: "Advertisement of event prominently; allowance for written questions from public; adequate time for discussion on various topics, such as finance, etc, and reports from Ward Councillors."

All of these and other requirements are in the Local Government Act (LGA) 1972, Schedule12, paragraph 7 and 23, easily obtainable from the LGA website and from the NALC (National Association of Local Councils). Due to the dearth of publicity for this important and legal event, many members of the public did not know about it, and those who did attend were perplexed. At least four councillors attended "late", probably expecting a normal council meeting.

Get it right councillors. You are responsible to the public, not yourselves. - Tom Martin, Stanhope, County Durham.

SAD TO SEE

IT is sad to watch the decline of a once beautiful village - West Cornforth. It used to be a prosperous mining village, but today when I visit, it resembles a Wild West ghost town. Over the past two decades numerous shops and pubs have closed. The workingmen's club in Reading Street closed because of huge debts.

I enjoyed living in West Cornforth. I always found the residents friendly and loyal. West Cornforth had community spirit - something tangible, you could almost touch it.

West Cornforth village was once a centre for entertainment, with live bands. People would travel from as far as Blackhall and Horden to watch bands such as Paper Lace. Yes, we had first class entertainment.

Sadly, those days have gone and will never return. One cannot blame the efforts of the parish council for the demise of the village. When Thrislington Colliery closed in March 1967, the village went into a downward trend. - Jimmy Taylor, Coxhoe, Durham.

QUALITIES TO CHERISH

ONE thing that is particularly striking about Irena Carlton's story (My father still hears their screams, Echo, May 4) is that before the war which made her a refugee, she, a Bosnian Muslim, had good friends and neighbours who were Serbs or Croats.

Ordinary decent people do not hate their neighbours because they are of a different colour or religion, or come from a different ethnic or cultural background, nor do they fear losing their own cultural identities because they live in culturally diverse societies. It is politicians who incite hatred and fear - those who voted BNP the other day, please note.

In other countries, politically-inspired racist hatred has led to terrible violence, massacres and civil war. In Britain, we should cherish our multi-ethnic society, and preserve our tradition of pluralism and inclusivity. - Pete Winstanley, Durham.

QUESTION OF TIMING

IN the letter from Tony Kelly (HAS, Apr 28), regarding the interpretation of the Old Testament in the light of the "big bang" theory of the universe, he states: "Now, in the beginning, with everything confined to a single point, gravity would have been so intense that from God's perspective, the subsequent 16 billion years would have been condensed to approximately six days," in line with the Genesis story.

Why should the 16 billion years be condensed to six days?

Why not six years or six million years? How convenient that Tony Kelly is sure that six days is the answer, without the slightest shred of evidence to back up his statement. - Eric Gendle, Middlesbrough.

FOOTPATH THANKS

I CAMPAIGNED for a the footpath leading from Keldermere to Whitworth Hall to be upgraded. This path is now open to ramblers and the public.

My thanks to officers of Sedgefield Borough and Durham County councils, English Nature and the Whitworth Hall management for their support in updating this path, which passes through areas of outstanding beauty, with views of Brancepeth Castle in the distance, beyond the River Wear, and leading to the historic Whitworth Hall, the home of Bobby Shafto.

Sedgefield Borough extended the path to Mossmere, Spennymoor, and Durham County has more recently enhanced Footpath 85, at the rear of Kirkdale. - Councillor Ben Ord, Spennymoor Ward, Sedgefield Borough Council.

WHY A REFERENDUM?

I AM unable to understand the desire for a referendum on the reorganisation of police forces (Echo, May 4). Has everyone forgotten what happened after the referendum on a regional assembly? The Government didn't like the result, so it was ignored (and the existing unelected North-East Assembly was allowed to continue). The man or woman in Whitehall always knows best. - Peter Elliott, Eaglescliffe.