01/04/05

If he checks his wallet he will find he already has lots of ID. The proposed ID card is designed to positively identify the holder as bona fide. What is so wrong about being able to positively identify who you are?

If anyone has a problem with this maybe they have something to hide. The criminal fraternity, terrorists, fraudsters, etc use multiple identities to cover their operations. An ID card will not eradicate all these activities but it will go a long way to reducing crime.

At our annual conference earlier this month, I proposed a motion: "This conference urges the Federation of Small Businesses to support the Government in its proposals to issue ID cards for the whole of the UK population".

At the present time the Federation is neutral on the issue of cards but the membership voted for the motion. Small businesses certainly see the card as an advantage. - Colin Stratton, North East regional chairman, Federation of Small Businesses.

JOB LOSSES

SINCE 1997 we have lost a million manufacturing jobs in UK. The latest loss at Mackays carpets and others in the North-East will add even more.

This loss has been balanced in the UK by an increase of a million in public sector jobs. Not exactly a good base for facing the challenge of China and India, particularly when, last year, the trade deficit in goods was £57.9bn, nearly five times the £12.5bn Mr Brown inherited in 1997.

Contrast this with the US, where over the last year, 2.2 million of the 2.4 million jobs created were in the private sector, mainly in the small to medium sized companies. Meanwhile, in the UK, the British Chambers of Commerce have assessed that the red tape burden on British business through Government and EU directives adds up to £40bn since Labour came to power.

The key question is: should we be taking Britain in the direction of Old Europe with its highly regulated and taxed system, or closer to the American model of an emphasis on individual initiative, flexible labour markets, low taxes and minimal regulation? Mr Brown seems, from his last Budget, to have chosen the former. - Les Graham, Hexham.

CLOSED ENCOUNTER

FROM today the toilets in Richmond Market Place will be closed.

This at a time when they have been evidently well used by shoppers, market traders and tourists. People I spoke to could not believe that they would be closing.

Richmond wants to attract tourists and shoppers. However, recent decisions by some members of the district council will only serve to reduce facilities and thus attractiveness for locals and tourists alike. - Jacqueline Bell, PPC Liberal Democrats, Richmond.

TWO HATS

THE deselection of Ken Manton (Echo, Mar 24) would indicate that he has failed the residents in his community. I doubt if Mr Manton is alone in doing this.

I live in an area covered by Ferryhill Town Council and have residents' meetings on a regular basis with, occasionally, members of our town council present, who are denying their presence as a town council representative. A funny world when two hats can be worn by individuals such as this.

In reality, they should all go the same way as Mr Manton. - Name supplied, Ferryhill.

CAP IN HAND

SO local government minister Nick Raynsford wants to cap Hambleton District Council for imposing a 17.6 per cent increase, even though its charges will still be far lower than those of its neighbours.

He says it is the rate of increase which matters not the size of the bill. Presumably, he believes that people would be happier to pay more because the rate of increase was lower. It is a pity that common sense is such a rare commodity in government. - Kevin O'Brien, Ferryhill Station.

FOXHUNTING

IF IT was put to them, most decent British people would say that what they want more than anything else is a just, stable society based on Christian family values and our traditional British customs of tolerance, compassion and fair play to others. And by others I mean not only people, but animals. We British are an animal-loving nation and always have been. Killing animals for fun might not raise an eyebrow in some countries I could name, but it is totally unBritish.

That is why I resent the claim that foxhunting is an authentic expression of rural life. It is not. Rural life is British life at its best and the vast majority of genuine country people are animal-lovers.

Foxhunting is the pursuit of a well-off minority, most of them with no real stake in the countryside, its heritage or future anyway. - T Kelly, Crook.

WIND FARMS

ACCORDING to their operators, the major benefit of using wind farms to generate electricity is that it will bring about huge reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

Can anyone tell me how exactly they can prove or even show that any such reduction is actually taking place?

I doubt if they can, or indeed if, in fact, is does happen. - J Routledge, Witton Gilbert.

REGIONAL ASSEMBLY

MAY I thank the people of the North-East for their near total rejection of the Government's proposals to introduce elected regional assemblies.

I must admit to being seriously worried when the North-East was chosen as it is the Prime Minister's constituency. I had to laugh when I saw that many of the big guns sent up from Westminster to add weight to the Yes vote were non-English.

Despite the overwhelming rejection by the democratic vote to regionalism, the EU, along with its non-English eager little helpers, continues to promote its agenda through stealth.

The North-East is in a unique position having voted No. Has there been any follow-up by the Government, any inclusive debate etc? In a democracy we are supposed to be asked what we want, not told what we must have. - TG Kingdom, Torquay.

STAMP PLEA

I WONDER if I could request from your readers their used postage stamps?

I collect for cats' and dogs' welfare and the stamps are used to buy food, a warm shelter and bed, plus help with vets' bills. I will accept small or large amounts.

Please think of our four-legged, furry friends. - Miss A Conroy, 34 Fairfield Road, Ashington, near Pulborough, West Sussex, RH20 3IZ.