PRINCE WILLIAM: I WAS not surprised to read that the young royal, Prince William, had been foxhunting during the recent holidays.

Humility has never been a characteristic of the Windsors, apart from maybe the Queen.

Charles I lost his head for defying the will of Parliament and young William has already lost his by putting two fingers up at this Parliament.

He will maybe regret this in later years if the future of the monarchy rests with a vote in Parliament.

He is either headstrong or stupid, maybe even both, and he obviously pays no attention to the fact that Princess Diana loathed foxhunting.

What is certainly true is that he was poorly advised, if at all of course, and sooner or later he will have to be brought to heel.

We are constantly reminded that we commoners must know our place. Young William needs to be told exactly the same. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.

TSUNAMI

THE British people, and ordinary people across the world, are digging deep into their pockets to help the victims of the tsunami.

In contrast, the response of the UK and US governments and the big corporations has been pitiful and shameless.

Tony Blair has promised £76m, but fails to tell us that the cost of the illegal war and military occupation of Iraq is £6bn and rising. This offer of aid is then equivalent to just five and a half days of killing in Iraq.

President Bush's derisory pledge of $350m in aid is less than it spends in one day in Iraq.

We must demand that Blair stops spending our money on the occupation and slaughter in Iraq, and instead spends it on saving and rebuilding lives in the disaster zone in the Indian Ocean. Instead of offering a moratorium on debt repayments to these devastated countries, we should drop the full debt now. - Peter Smith, Chair, Teesside Against the War.

STORMS

ON the morning of Saturday, January 9, not long after the storm had disconnected our electricity supplies, to my utter amazement, in dropped through my letter box that day's edition of The Northern Echo.

During such weather conditions it was not really expected that any delivery at all would be possible.

Although I never received any letters that day (but only due to none being sent) the postal deliveries would have been on schedule as normal too.

So it's hats off to the delivery folk of newspapers and mail. They have an unenviable task to do in all weathers and first thing on a morning, too. A big thank you to these good people.

Also, special thanks to all who have to work in the treacherous weather conditions to restore vital services, and my sympathy to those who lost loved ones to the storm and commiseration to all the unfortunate people who were without vital services for days on end and those whose property and belongings were damaged or ruined.

It's to be hoped that our Government won't neglect these unfortunate people in such times of adversity and genuine need. - Bethany Megan Robinson, Darlington.

MS MONK must be singularly fortunate to have received such sterling service from NEDL (HAS, Jan 11).

We were without electricity from 6am on Saturday until 9am on Tuesday, without any apology or hurry to reconnect us.

We were in the dark again later in the week, still without a satisfactory explanation. So much for expertise. - C Lupton, Coatham Mundeville.

IMMIGRATION

I WAS interested to read John Young's letter regarding immigration.

Yes, I too would doubt the Government is telling the truth about the numbers of people seeking asylum. However, I would also doubt that the Government is putting the needs of the asylum seeker before the needs of local communities.

According to recent research by the Economic and Social Research Council, the level of benefits for asylum seekers is so low that it "promote(s) poverty and social exclusion". These people may be housed in accommodation with leaking lavatories and dangerous wiring. They may also be subjected to racial harassment from neighbours. Does this suggest that Britain is "being given away", as Mr Young has written?

Poverty should be dealt with, not by excluding some, but by giving all those in need the opportunity to help themselves. If asylum seekers were allowed to work, for example, this would mean they could support themselves with dignity and perhaps people who feel they are being asked to give too much would be less aggrieved. - Helen Smith, Language Centre, University of Leeds.

EUROPE

IN stating that UKIP clearly has problems in understanding present developments in the EU, Mr Whittaker (HAS, Jan 6) appears to abandon any attempt at debate. Instead, he chooses to misquote and misrepresent one of our greatest statesmen.

The implication that Sir Winston Churchill's desire for co-operation among European nation states to prevent war could ever be construed as supportive of an institution that has as its core objective the end of the concept of the free nation state, is an obscenity.

Sir Winston said in 1953: "We are with Europe but out of it. We are linked but not comprised. We are associated but not absorbed. And should European statesmen address us and say 'Shall we speak for thee?' we should reply 'Nay sir, for we dwell among our own people'."

To malign the memory of a true patriot by implying that he would somehow have approved the surrender of all our sovereign powers - the right to govern ourselves - is not only shameful, but sadly typical of those who seek to defend the EU.

Mr Whittaker further implies that loss of border control, loss of control over our asylum and immigration policies and the creation of a European army are "figments of the imagination". The Maastricht Treaty, the Nice Treaty and the EU constitution all say otherwise. - Dave Pascoe, Press Secretary, UK Independence Party, Hartlepool Branch.

LAW AND ORDER

IT is good to know that community support officers have been given extra powers to use in the fight against crime.

These powers include the right to detain suspects for up to 30 minutes until police arrive. They will also be able to confiscate alcohol or tobacco from under-age consumers.

For those people acting in an anti-social manner, the CSOs can demand a name and address from them. Fixed penalties of up to £80 can be issued for graffiti, truancy, litter and cycling on pavements.

Despite protestations from some quarters, these measures, I feel sure, will be applauded by the public. - LD Wilson, Guisborough.