POSTAL VOTING: WHILE it is correct, as district returning officer Colin Turnbull says (Echo, Apr 21), that postal voting has increased turnout, it is certainly not good for democracy.

We have now had two court cases - one in Birmingham and another in Blackburn - where fraud in postal voting was on a substantial scale.

At the European election in the North-East, 19,000 voters had their votes discarded for various reasons relating to postal voting.

Voting is no longer secret as members of a family have the opportunity to see how others have voted.

In some cultures where, say, a male is the dominant person in a household, they may say how the others vote. There is no check that one person does not complete the voting form for another person. These are serious weakness in the present postal voting

Not only is this postal voting neither "secret or secure" it is also very expensive. The 2002 local elections in South Tyneside cost a whopping £1.3m, or £25 for each vote cast. The traditional voting with polling stations cost a mere £120,000 - which seemed a lot of money at the time. - Stan Smith, South Shields.

SAVE OUR HOMES

I AM extremely concerned about the desire of developers to destroy the character and charm of old Eaglescliffe with their need to replace perfectly good family homes with as many flats as can be squeezed in.

This is not a regeneration area to replace slums, but an already very attractive area. I talk to many people at work, and everyone is most concerned and upset.

It seems that no house in Eaglescliffe, or Yarm come to that, is safe from developers who want to bulldoze the area and build modern boxes.

What will be the life of these buildings? Are we not returning to the problems of the 1960s?

Many of these proposals seem to involve the high density of dwellings equal to that allowed on our innermost city sites.

I am now most concerned about the proposal to demolish Glenrea and The Bungalow on The Avenue, with developers proposing to fit in sheltered housing for the elderly.

After seeing the plan I was horrified. It seems to me that there is absolutely nothing positive to be gained from bulldozing these very attractive, modern, and already valuable family homes.

The development would totally change the character of The Avenue. I am appalled that these plans can even come up for consideration.

I know the Government directive is to encourage high density developments on brown field sites, but for goodness sake! - Derek Campbell, Exhaust & Tyre Centre, Stockton.

WHY I QUIT

I MUST reply to critics of my resignation from Sedgefield Labour Party and my decision to back Reg Keys, who is standing against Tony Blair.

Reg's son came home from Iraq in a coffin with 31 bullets in him. He died in a war that was unnecessary.

Until now I have supported Tony Blair through gritted teeth. I have sat in silence, watching unpopular policies passed, such as tuition fees, but the illegal war in Iraq raises too many questions about the Prime Minister's honesty. I support progressive legislation but I will not support deceit that results in thousands of lives lost.

Blair's agent calls me an extremist. He means I'm a socialist. Labour doesn't want socialists.

Some within Labour believe that internal dissent only helps the Tories. They remind me of the pig, Squealer, in Animal Farm. On hearing of disillusionment with the new regime he tells the animals to shut up and get back to work, saying: "You don't want the farmer back do you?".

If Sedgefield votes Keys it will make history and would actually do the Labour Party a favour.

We could look forward to a Labour Government being returned to office that would have to take a new direction if Blair is delivered a shock. - Derek Cattell, Rushyford.

SAD RUINS

MANY thanks to Mr Pender for endorsing the loss of power our Government suffers from being dictated to by the EU, (HAS, Apr 22), which is what Eurosceptics have been warning about for years.

He says European legislation left the Government powerless to help against the demise of Rover.

In his eagerness to condemn anything to do with private enterprise, which the country's prosperity relies upon, he ignores the role the Government and unions played in the handing over of Rover to the asset stripping Phoenix Four.

They chose this rather than a company which proposed a sensible restructuring programme and handsome redundancy pay-outs. Now none of Rover's valuable assets are left and taxpayers' money is being poured into supporting the sad ruins. - John Heslop, Gainford.

TAXING TIMES

THE Northern Echo of Tuesday, May 5, 1914, contained a report of the Budget statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer at that time, Mr Lloyd George, when there was an estimated deficit of £5,333,000 to be met.

He said he wished that were all, but something had to be done to relieve the burdens of local taxation. (Cheers.)

Many promises had been made by successive governments to deal with these questions.

The problem was becoming more and more urgent, and he did not think many realised the magnitude and the pervasiveness of the duties now entrusted to the local authorities of the country.

For the last 40 years there had hardly been a year when Parliament had not cast additional burdens on these bodies without giving them any financial assistance.

It seems his successors have still failed to crack the problem. - JW Davison, Ferryhill.

MONEY TALKS

ASYLUM seekers, care for the elderly, crime, education, immigration and the NHS are very important issues on which the average man in the street has wide and varying viewpoints.

However, since cash replaced the system of bartering for goods, man is, of necessity, a pecuniary animal and what concerns him most is the value of the pound in his pocket and the diminishing of its purchasing power.

I am getting irritated by the present Government telling us about economic stability. What I would like to know is where is this economic stability for the average man in the street?

Since the time of Harold Wilson, successive governments, Labour and Conservative, have done nothing to halt the continuing upward spiral of house prices.

It is no use Tony Blair telling us about low mortgages when property prices are soaring upward at five times the rate of wages. Some people are going to be paying it off for the rest of their lives.

I was one of the lucky ones. In 1969, on a take home pay of £97 per week, I was able to take out a 25-year mortgage (which I paid off in 23 years) on a property priced at £2,850.

Last year, the identical property next door sold for £94,000. If my income had risen pro-rata it would now be £3,358 per week.

The present Government has not the remotest connection with the socialism which gave birth to the Labour movement of 1900 to address the grievances of the man in the street. - BP Swaddle, Darlington.