13/01/05

There is no pleasant way of reporting such an event. The BBC reporters have an unenviable task of showing things as they are; the events themselves are lurid and sensational enough.

As a direct result of such honest and straightforward reporting, the world has responded with generous donations to ensure practical help.

Would the response have been so generous had the coverage of the disaster been played down? - Barbara Tinsley, Durham City.

LIKE everyone else, I have been moved by the death and destruction on the other side of the world and have made my contribution.

I heard the Prime Minister say on the radio that he will far and away more than match the generosity of the British people. Our governments have no money to give, every penny comes from the taxpayer, which, directly or indirectly, means almost every member of the general public.

Tony Blair should be concentrating on the rich and big industrialists of this country whose contributions have been infinitesimal. Soak the rich, serve the poor is still a good socialist slogan.

Euro fighters cost £82m each. Stealth bombers cost £11m each. By this measure the UK Government contribution to tsunami relief is nearly two-thirds of a Euro fighter and the American is a sixth of a Stealth bomber.

If all this money is available to save lives, why are people in Britain denied kidney machines, proper care for elderly Alzheimer's sufferers and help to care for severely damaged children?

And by the way, why didn't Tony Blair hold a three-minute silence for the 100,000 civilians who have lost their lives in Iraq? - James Fitzpatrick, Gateshead.

IMMIGRATION

PETE Winstanley (HAS, Jan 7) is wrong when he suggests the numbers of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers - so called - are not known by the Government. The Government knows but won't tell us.

It is not so long ago Mr Winstanley and his followers were accusing the Prime Minister and colleagues of misleading us over Iraq, yet he wishes us to believe the Government is being honest with us on the immigration issue.

The Government has no intention of telling us the truth. It is simply letting us get on with the mess and tolerate it whether we like it or not.

Mr Winstanley, as usual, blames the people who have seen their lives and communities torn apart by a Government, establishment and the likes of the correspondent who could not care less for their situation.

It is the less well off who have to carry the can. It is the less well off who are seeing their living standards suffer and it is the majority of people who watch helplessly while their country is being given away.

The Prime Minister is an arrogant fool and it seems he has many followers. - John Young, Crook.

LABOUR LEADERSHIP

FOR all there is talk of a rift between Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown, it never seems to show itself in public.

As far as the ordinary voter is concerned, there is no rift.

Tony Blair has more than once gone out of his way to praise Gordon Brown over his successful handling of the economy.

Gordon Brown for his part, has never been less than respectful to Tony Blair and has shown due acknowledgement to him as Prime Minister.

At the time of the 2001 general election, Labour said that, if elected, it would invest heavily in public service and this is what it has done.

The Conservatives, as the main opposition party, made no mention of public investment.

When the nation next goes to the polls, I believe voters will have far more important matters to consider than any supposed dispute in Downing Street. - LD Wilson, Guisborough.

THERE is supposed to be a rift between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown which might split up the Labour Party.

Tony Blair said on Breakfast with Frost that there was no rift between the two of them and they were working in perfect harmony.

What this tells me is that members of the Conservative Party like to speculate and get everyone thinking that there is a rift, just so that the Conservatives can gain more votes and the Labour Party can lose more votes in the next General Election. - Margaret Greenhalgh, Darlington.

LAW AND ORDER

THE magistrates' decision (Echo, Jan 8) on naming and shaming offenders has got to be the most stupid ruling ever made by so-called intelligent men of the law.

Of course, these offenders should be named regardless of age.

Again we see these mindless yobs being protected and mollycoddled while making lives hell for the law-abiding people they offend against.

In fact, they should not only be named, but we should be bringing back the stocks and put them on public view for all to see and then send them to Borstal or reform boot camps.

They are making a laughing stock of all of us and it is time they were put in a position where we could laugh at them and they paid back society and the victims for all they do, both in prison terms and financial remuneration. - Malcolm Stubley, Barnard Castle.

DEMOCRACY

HISTORY tells us that much of the misery and turmoil suffered in this world stems from the pursuit of domination. Racial and religious intolerance being prime examples.

Politics must also come in for a fair share of criticism.

Throughout my lifetime of 80 years, I have no recollection of any other but Labour-controlled councils in this particular area.

While readily admitting that most councillors are dedicated to serving the greater public interest, a regrettable consequence of these seemingly impregnable citadels of administrative power is that the self-interested opportunist can take advantage of it.

This by simply gaining membership of the ruling party. The more oratorally eloquent of them may even achieve cabinet member status, despite often appearing to put self interest before all else.

Our flawed electoral system, as seen in another degree by Jim Tague (HAS, Jan 5) allows anomalous situations.

Injustice may only be a matter of someone's personal opinion, yet all that is needed for injustice to prosper is for good people to just look on and stay silent. - AW Dunn, Spennymoor.