ALTHOUGH my letter (HAS, Aug 20) was published alongside one of several castigating Tony Blair for donating the proceeds of his memoirs to charity, I do not endorse the views of the other correspondents.

Peter Barron is right in his From the Editor’s Chair column (Echo, Aug 23). Mr Blair would be condemned whether he gave the money to charity or not; and if he kept it for himself, I expect some would have demanded he should give it to charity.

This politically-motivated hoo-ha is a distraction from more serious issues.

Alice Conway (HAS, Aug 24) is right in saying that none of the main political parties opposed the attack on Afghanistan, though many individuals, including myself, did.

Many more would have done so had it been made clear that the objective was not merely to destroy al Qaida bases, but to remove the Taliban and impose “regime change”.

The attack on Iraq, which had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11, was a different matter. The Liberal Democrats opposed it, along with a number of MPs from other parties and millions of ordinary British people. We warned of the consequences.

Mr Blair is certainly to blame for the catastrophe which followed, but he is not the only one.

Pete Winstanley, Durham.