14/01/05

The BBC is the finest and fairest news gathering service in the world.

The BBC is giving lots of coverage to the tsunami disaster to encourage people to give more.

We all know that disasters soon fade from the public mind and this one will probably be no different in a week or so.

The supporters of Mr Mullen should engage their brains before indulging their prejudices. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.

POLITICS

OUR Government has been described as "the most religious we've had for 100 years".

Given that it consists largely of opportunists and bullies, it's tempting to wish that more who profess Christianity actually practised Christianity.

Unfortunately, that seems to be a very, very rare breed of person and New Labour simply reflects that sad fact. - Peter Davison, Guisborough.

ROYAL FAMILY

THE history of the British Constitution (HAS, Jan 10) part of which is the Crown when "sitting" in Parliament, is something we all should read and, presumably Aled Jones himself has already done just this.

Agreed, the Royal Family is the embodiment of harmful (undesirable) class divisions in our society. Meanwhile, the classless society exists only in the minds of dreamers.

And which of us doesn't have a moral criteria to do with culture and refinement?

Maybe Aled Jones believes that the English Civil War would have been better off being a la French Revolution, whereby the aristocracy, the monarchy included, ran for their lives and remained in exile ever after. - Alfred H Lister, Guisborough.

TOWN CENTRES

I CAN hardly find words to express my thoughts on Darlington Council.

Does it think we believe all these promises, the latest the new town hall etc?.

For goodness sake, we have so many more priorities instead. I would be the first one to offer praise but at the moment it's dreamland.

Let's see one of the plans coming true. - JR Ward, Darlington.

FOLK of Darlington beware. Look what has happened to Stockton, so keep the planners off your High Row.

Another store leaving Stockton is another sign of the failure of the pedestrianisation of such a wide High Street.

There used to be ample parking for cars in the centre of town and people just want to park close to the shops.

Just look how Northallerton and other small towns are thriving with providing parking place on the high street.

Stockton Council put up the Christmas lights, but who will see them? No cars are allowed to drive down the High Street.

Previously, it was easy to cross the road. We just had to look one way for down High Street and the other way for up and I am sure there were no more accidents than there are now.

Stockton Council should open up the High Street and bring some life back to the centre of Stockton and also provide a pick up and drop off for coaches close to the centre (eg in front of the council offices) to encourage visitors to the town, then Stockton might be able to compete with the out-of-town shopping. - ED Pattison, Stockton.

NEW YEAR

ONE aspect which appals me most is how impatient and judgmental people are. We pass judgement on others far too quickly and harshly - many of us lack judgement and we expect other people to do as we do.

They say that every generation learns from its mistakes, but surely this has to end somewhere. I get constantly sick of how the same faults occur again and again - and war in Iraq is one stunning example. And, dare I say it, this seems to be solely for money and oil.

If a family member of the British or American government was killed, the troops would soon pull out I'm sure.

This argument can also apply to crime and punishment. If one of Tony Blair's or President Bush's family was viciously attacked, the wheels of change would clank around very quickly.

Nowadays, when I think of the New Year it is with sad resignation that I ponder on "more of the same" with mankind just replicating its previous mistakes. Happy New Year! - Ken Jackson, Northallerton.

MINING

NOT the least egregious of Durham County Council's many extravagant acts of stupidity was the clearing away from the 1960s onwards of the old colliery waste heaps. These were spectacular features of the landscape and their levelling must have cost the ratepayers an astronomical sum, as well as ruining huge areas of vital wildlife habitat.

In the process, had they instead been planted with trees and shrubs - using species that thrive on colliery waste, eg Scots pine, grey alder, hawthorn, sallow, broom, sycamore, to name but a few - they would, by now, be objects of surpassing beauty, as well as serving as a constant reminder of our mining heritage.

As it is, as the years roll by and the numbers of former miners become fewer and fewer, what have we left to commemorate this vital part of our past? There are young people growing up today who are totally ignorant of it.

Unfortunately, Durham County Council tends to have grandiose ideas which are not always grounded in reality or a due sense of responsibility, financial or otherwise. - T Kelly, Crook.

DAVID BLUNKETT

HAS it not occurred to John Gilmore (HAS, Dec 31) that most Britons, myself included, could not give a caber throw about David Blunkett's private life and abuse of power?

What concerns the electorate is not the gift of a rail ticket to a mistress or the provision of a fast track visa for a nanny, but the appalling state of affairs (a murder is committed in Britain about every day) that Mr Blunkett has presided over. - D Cook, Sacriston.

FATHER TONY BATTLE

ONE of the many achievements of Tony Battle, which was not mentioned in your tribute (Echo, Jan 8) is that he was a founder member of the charity North East Nightstop.

North East Nightstop is one of the oldest, and almost certainly the largest, of the many Nightstop services in the UK. We provide young homeless people with emergency accommodation in people's homes, and provide them with housing advice.

Fr Tony served on the management committee for over ten years, and was also our first host to take in a young homeless person. We have a lot to thank him for. - (Rev) John Gibson, Chair, North East Nightstop, Newcastle.