20/06/05

All French, German and minor EU nations' eyes are now on Mr Blair to explain the UK's continued receipt of this hard won and only tangible benefit that the British seem to get from its continued membership of the European scheme.

Tony and his Government say that the rebate will not be given up, but that it may be negotiated. My guess is that to save face he will freeze the current rebate and triumphantly claim he held firm, whilst giving the concession away of the future £4bn rise that could have been spent on Britain's roads, hospitals and schools.

Why would Tony do this? Mr Schroeder and Mr Chirac's governments face hostile electorates and elections are to be held in both countries in the near future. Under current circumstances they will be heavily defeated.

However, if they stop the UK's rebate rise then they can go into the elections putting the constitution defeat debacle in the past, and heralding the victory over Britain in the rebate debate. Their governments may therefore survive and strike deals behind the scenes. The whole thing stinks. - Mark Anderson, Middleton St George.

THE case for Britain's budget rebate from the European Union is as strong today as when it was negotiated.

In 1984, Britain was the second largest net contributor to EU funds. In 2004, even with the rebate, it was still the second largest net contributor.

Britain does worse out of the EU's budgetary arrangements than any state except Germany. Far from increasing the UK's contribution from the current gross contribution of over £9bn to an even more iniquitous level, the EU should be seeking to cut its costs, so that everyone, not just the British, can "get their money back". - Peter Troy, Sedgefield.

GROCERY SHOPS: HOW far has modern day shopping advanced, or has it?

The majority of shoppers now drive (or take a bus) to the nearest supermarket, a pound coin in the shopping trolley and off they go serving themselves, then to the checkout and unload the trolley and as it is checked, load up the trolley again.

So is this advanced on pre-war shopping? Before the war my mother's grocery shop was called Broughs in Grange Road and, once a week, the salesman would call at our house and write down my mother's order.

She would pay and receive a carbon copy of her order. The next day or two a van would arrive at the doorstep and her order was delivered (sometimes by a messenger boy on a bike).

This method of shopping was ideal, especially for anyone disabled. Will modern supermarkets making millions of pounds profit ever help their customers this way? Very doubtful. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

STUDENT DAYS: ARE you a graduate of the University of Leicester? If so, the university would like to invite you back onto campus for the 2005 Homecoming on June 25.

There is no need to register in advance, simply turn up for all or part of the day and enjoy a reminder of your student days and a taste of current university research.

There are many reasons to revisit your alma mater, including renewing friendships and visiting old haunts. This year, graduates will have the opportunity to see the first stage of a £300m development that will transform the campus physically and intellectually and to discuss with the experts some of the issues facing the world in the 21st century.

Even if you can't attend but would like to stay in touch, please email the university on alumni.relations@le.ac.uk or write to us at the address below so that we can add you to our records and let you know about future events and programmes.

If we've got your attention, you can contact me by phone on (0116) 2522195, by email or check out the full programme on our website www.le.ac/alumni/ - Kathryn J Whitehurst, Alumni Relations Officer, Leicester University.

BIRD POISONING: BRENDA Cragg (HAS, June 9) asks that the incidents of bird poisoning should be more clearly defined as this might help pinpoint the culprits. I would suggest that we also identify those most likely to have motives for destroying such birds.

These are, for example, gamekeepers, not all, but some. There might be farmers, tenants or freeholders who have interests in the grouse or pheasant shooting business. They would not want raptors taking any of their birds, which are destined for the guns.

I don't think pigeon fanciers can be left out of suspicion as some of their birds can be worth thousands of pounds and might be only a dinner to a sparrow hawk.

Then there are well meaning amateurs or professionals who raise specialist aviaries of various sorts and want or demand special protection of their birds or may seek to bring it about clandestinely.

I think any of these may be said to have motive and there could be others which I have not thought of, but am sure the rural police will be well aware of. - R Lewis, Birtley.

PAINFUL KNEES: IF you're over 50 with stiff, painful knees, chances are you're suffering from one of the most common types of arthritis, osteoarthritis of the knee.

Getting older, being female and becoming obese, are the main risk factors in developing osteoarthritis of the knee, although having a sports injury to the knee earlier in life doesn't help either.

Although there's no cure there is treatment available in the form of painkilling tablets and creams. Steroid injections can help too, and supplements such as glucosamine sulphate, chondroitin and fish oil. Sufferers can help themselves by keeping their weight down and doing plenty of exercise.

Our charity, the Arthritis Research Campaign, is now investigating whether something as simple as taking Vitamin D can help to reduce pain and slow down the progression of the disease - if proven to work this would be a major breakthrough.

We also produce a useful booklet on osteoarthritis of the knee, which is an excellent source of information for people with this condition.

To get a free copy call us on 0870 8505000, email at info@arc.org.uk or write to: - Lyndsey Whitehouse, Arthritis Campaign, St Mary's Gate, Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

WIND FARMS: IN the article on wind farms (Echo, June 11) both Emma Young, of the Banks Group, and district council leader Alex Watson are reported as stating that the use of wind turbines would result in reductions of carbon dioxide emissions.

Could either please explain, through the columns of this newspaper, exactly how such reductions are physically achieved and where?

I doubt very much if they can, but I wait in anticipation. - J Routledge, Witton Gilbert.

School Closure Debate

We fight together: AS a parent of two small children at Hurworth Primary School I feel compelled to add my voice to the many others that condem the closure of Hurworth and Eastbourne schools.

Common sense tells us that these plans will not help the problems in our schools.

Having been to the recent parish council meeting in Hurworth, I was overwhelmed by the strength of feeling in the community.

We propose to fight this decision to the bitter end and do whatever it takes to keep Hurworth school open and support Eastbourne in whatever way we can.

Give them the £20m to bring it up to standard. Don't spend it on buildings - buildings don't make a school. We need to stand together and fight this not just as a village or a parish council, but as a town. We want the best all of our children not just at Hurworth or Eastbourne.

This won't stop here, Hummersknott and Branksome will be next. Don't fight each other, fight the council get your children, family, friends to write to the acting chief executive at Darlington Borough Council, not Tony Blair, he won't see the letters.

Let's see the acting chief executive in person. Let's get in the national Press. There's lots to do, so let's get on.

Thank you The Northern Echo for allowing us to voice our views. Keep us in print, Don't lose momentum. - Carmel Binns Middleton-One-Row.