MENZIES CAMPBELL

RE your Comment column (Echo, Sept 17). I can't see how you can write off Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell before the party's conference started.

I would agree with the comments about Nick Clegg, the party's home affairs spokesman. I find him articulate and would prefer him to be Ming's deputy.

I find people are switching over to the Liberal Democrats from both Labour and the Tories. Both are engaged in a battle to embrace Middle England. Both voted for the war in Iraq, which has turned out to be a huge error. The argument should not bewhen to withdraw. We should not have gone in the first place.

We have had wasted years of both Tory and Labour Government. Locally, we have very high council taxes, an outdated Barnett Formula, we don't have enough jobs, dentists, and we have new hospitals that are closing wards.

At Spennymoor, we are still awaiting a new health centre, which was promised years ago.

Perhaps worst of all, the Government is pushing through a single unitary authority for County Durham against the wishes of the public. Is Labour listening? - Councillor Ben Ord, chairman, Spennymoor Liberal Democrats.

PRICES

MY wife noticed an increase in the price of veg at the local supermarket recently. She said free range eggs also look as if they're going to go up by 20p a dozen.

Then she said that another customer had said to her: "It'll be down to the floods we had recently."

I thought: "Hang on a minute. We didn't have any floods here and the veg and eggs will hardly be coming from areas that did, so where do the price rises come in?"

It couldn't be supermarkets charging us more because they've got less to sell, could it?

I'm going to stop thinking about this now because my brain is aching. But it would be nice if somebody could give me a reason that makes sense. - John Reynolds, Eldon, Co Durham.

BIRDS ROBBED

ONLY a little story, but someone has stolen all our bird feeders.

We don't have a garden, we have a yard. There's a tree overhanging the wall and we had three bird feeders on it.

Now there aren't any, but there are lots of confused little birds.

For the past three years, they have been able to grab a meal there, and they can't understand what's gone wrong.

Some people are not nice. - Frank and Chris Carrick, Coundon, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham.