FAN CLUB:IT SEEMS very arrogant of Michael Howard to dictate to local Conservative associations who they should have as their candidate in the General Election.

The only sin that Howard Flight committed was to be open about the public spending cuts that an incoming Tory government would make.

It appears that Michael Howard wishes to turn the Conservatives from a broadly-based political party into a fan club for his own leadership.

However, this trend towards authoritarian leadership is not confined to the Tory Party.

There is a danger that the next Parliament will be full of party hacks who put loyalty to party leaders before all other considerations.

Let\rquote s hope that there are plenty of Liberal Democrats and Independents in the next Parliament who are allowed to make their own minds up about issues of the day without pressure from whips and party machines. - PJ Brown, Middlesbrough.

IRAQ HOPES: THE BBC was accused of getting its facts wrong about how the Government made its case for war in Iraq. It was a serious accusation, and the director general was forced to resign.

So what about the man who got his facts wrong over the threat Iraq posed and took an unwilling nation into a war the UN says was illegal? He is still running the country.

We all hope that, eventually, Iraqis will enjoy freedom and stability. But thousands of civilians have died in the war and there is continuing insecurity. And the war has made the world a more dangerous place for us. In many countries, the war has been viewed as an invasion aimed at gaining control of Iraq\rquote s oil. Britain is linked with America as the enemy.

Now Sedgefield voters can do something about it. You can send a powerful message to all future British governments that war must never again be waged without compelling cause. - Bronwen Lewis, Northumberland.

WET SIDE STORY:HAVING just come in, soaking wet and having spent some considerable time getting home, I was prompted to write. I live on the outskirts of Richmond and this morning needed to drive through to the other side of the town.

Having taken a long time to reach the Co-op roundabout because of the weather, I then spent a further 15 minutes waiting to get round. A driver had run out of petrol and was partially blocking the road, and two other poor unfortunates had bumped into each other.

When I eventually got moving, contemplating the fact that a policeman present would have got the traffic moving quickly, and potentially prevented delays and accidents, I saw one!

He was standing in the middle of an almost deserted road just a few yards from a "National Speed Limit" sign trying to catch people trying to get away from the town with a "revolver" style speed trap.

What happened to the days when policemen were helpful chaps, people who went out of their way to make people"s lives easier?

The officer was in the wrong place, doing the wrong job. How many other policemen are in the wrong place doing the wrong job? - Amanda Adams, Richmond.

UNDER THE SUN:RICOCHET Films are the producers of the BBC1 series Living in the Sun. In previous series we have followed British families beginning a new life in Spain. We have covered such diverse stories as people setting up a dog grooming parlour to a donkey rescue centre.

With the upcoming election, we are consistently finding more people becoming disillusioned with life and deciding to relocate to Spain.

The attraction of a slower pace of life, a lower cost of living, a greater sense of community and excellent hospital care and education seems too great for many, fed up with the UK rat race.

Many Brits are now enjoying a richer, more enjoyable and more fulfilling life than they ever thought possible in the UK.

Living in the Sun for BBC1 is currently in production, and if anyone is planning on relocating to Spain to start a business this summer, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us on 020 7251 6966 or mail to: livinginthesun@ricochet.co.uk - Chris, Ricochet Films.

ELECTION PAGES:YOUR newspaper is surely leg-pulling its readership by publishing pages of apparently serious debate of election issues (Echo, Apr 5).

Certainly, on May 5, many local electors will go through the motions of casting votes, but the outcome will as usual, be a foregone conclusion.

Some years ago, someone said that the Conservative Party knew they would never receive any votes here so they ignore the North-East when in office.

Likewise New Labour also know that the Tories will never receive any votes locally, so they too ignore us. Heaven help us. - DE Sparks, Hartlepool.

SPEEDING APPEAL:RE: motorist"s success in speeding appeal, (Echo, Apr 13). This implies that not knowing who the driver of a car was will automatically result in an escape from prosecution for speeding. This is not the case.

After the detection of a speed offence, a Notice of Intended Prosecution has to be sent to the registered vehicle keeper involved within 14 days.

Not to do so debars any prosecution for speeding. Along with this is a form under Section 172, Road Traffic Act, 1988 to name the driver. Until a driver is identified there can be no prosecution for speeding.

Failure to name a driver is an offence but a person shall not be guilty of this if he shows that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained whom the driver was. An offender will have to convince the magistrates of this fact.

In the case you reported, the offender does not seem to have been reported for speeding but for failure to name a driver. He was convicted as the magistrates did not believe the defence, but the conviction was later overturned on appeal.

Any person attempting to put forward such a defence should not make a frivolous claim but have good and provable grounds for raising this. In fact, the appeal seems to have set a precedent as Judge Whitburn has stated where multi vehicle/drivers are involved, records should be kept. - G Sanderson, Northallerton.

CLASS SIZES:RE the letter from Michael Fishwick (HAS, Apr 6), I would like to point out that Mr Fishwick has got his facts wrong.

He says Labour promised to cut the class sizes to 30 for five, six and seven year olds. True.

He says that, in 2001, the number of infant classes with more than 30 pupils doubled. Untrue. In 2001 the number of crowded classrooms in infant schools was halved.

Yes, Labour has put an awful lot of money into public services, but this money was spent for the benefit of the whole community, and we have achieved far more benefits for everyone than would ever be possible under a Conservative government.

Only the privileged few can afford medical insurance, which would be what we would have to resort to under the Tories. The National Health Service would be lost for ever, and it would be the last we would see of free medical treatment. - MA Greenhalgh, Darlington.