21/12/04

It is for this reason that I will certainly not be returning permanently to the "homeland" as long as we have such people who make such decisions. - John A Walkington, Germany.

SCHOOL TRANSPORT

THE School Transport Bill is currently going through Parliament. This will allow local authorities to charge pupils for going on school buses if they are going more than three miles (two miles for under-8s) to school unless they qualify for free school meals.

This is a stealth tax on education, which will cost parents in the Yorkshire and Humber area £19.2m.

The Liberal Democrats tried to introduce an amendment to the Bill which would scrap the charges. However, this was defeated.

The Liberal Democrats believe in free education and are against measures to introduce charges for transport. The potential charges will affect rural areas where children have little or no access to public transport and will encourage more parents to use private cars to take their children to school.

Many parents are unaware of the proposed changes and would surely protest if they knew about them. - Jacqueline Bell, PPC Liberal Democrats, Richmond.

CHRISTMAS TV

I HAVE just read the television listings for Christmas, and what a shambles it is.

Instead of having programmes concentrating on the birth of Jesus Christ and the odd old great British comedy, we will only be able to watch films best suited for Halloween and documentaries concerning the starving inhabitants of the Third World.

As a youngster, I remember watching festive editions of programmes like Minder and Only Fools And Horses, which always went down a treat in the living room on Christmas Day.

These days, it seems as though celebrating Christmas is looked upon as a crime by the BBC and Channel 4, who mostly offer programmes on other faiths and the plight of dolphins.

My message is simple. Thank the Lord for satellite television. - Christopher Wardell, Darlington.

DOWN'S SYNDROME

WHAT an up-lifting story about Tom (Echo, Dec 20).

At a time when so much news seems depressing, it is wonderful to read of the unconditional love of Tom's parents and their marvellous enthusiasm in setting up a new charity.

The Echo is to be congratulated on publishing the article which demonstrates that good news can be newsworthy. - Brian Jones, Witton-le-Wear.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

WITH 30 years of public service, you'd expect someone who shouts his mouth off in an opportunist manner might just expect some comments in return.

Someone has a pop at Coun Foote-Wood, and he's off to complain (Echo, Dec 20).

I think the authorities have enough to do without sorting out LibDem pantomimes.

Stephen Gregory was foolish in the extreme, but I don't think we should single him out until the public are given the full facts on attendance, allowances and more importantly achievement.

Before the Echo highlighted this story did Coun Foote-Wood contribute anything?

He surely knew. It was rife in the town and Wear Valley District Council's newsletter displayed an international contact number.

The elected leadership had an obligation to inform the people of Bishop Auckland of the full situation.

A year or so back, all bar two councillors at WVDC accepted 45 per cent increases in allowances, the leader receiving 84 per cent.

I will remind the public that Chris Foote-Wood and Olive Brown still sit on the North East Assembly at our expense, that is the same North East Assembly that would have rid the district of local representation, obviously backed by the leader and leader of the Opposition. - Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland Conservatives.

EUROPE

THIS week all the fisheries ministers of the European Union, including those from the landlocked countries of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg and Slovakia, gather together in Brussels to decide how many fish British fishermen can take from UK waters.

Together with the ministers from the Mediterranean states of Italy, Malta, Slovenia and Greece - whose countries do not even operate the European Common Fisheries Policy in their own seas - will also agree the rules and regulations by which our local fishermen will be bound.

They will come under pressure from countries like Spain and Portugal, who bring no resources to the table but will insist on their "share" of the maritime bounty that inhabits British water, and will devote a mere two days to considering extraordinarily complex and contentious proposals presented to them by Maltese Commissioner, Joe Borg, who has been in the job less than a month.

When the ministers have finished their deliberations based upon faulty science it will be down to the EU Commission to work out what has been agreed, to tie all the compromises together and draw up the detailed regulations which will then apply to UK fishermen.

No account will be taken of well researched representation made during the past 12 months that if properly managed and properly surveyed the fisheries off the coast of the North-East of England and Scotland could be fully productive and support a thriving fishing industry.

Having left it so late in the year to meet, the regulators have no chance of actually publishing these rules by January 1 but, this notwithstanding, they will come into force on that day when the fishermen will be expected to obey them sight unseen.

This is not just a bad regulation organised in a bad way it is crass stupidity. - Peter Troy, Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, Darlington Branch.

Green Howards

MY sadness to learn that the Green Howards may no longer operate as a regiment will be shared by all past and currently serving members.

This magnificent regiment has proved itself second to none in two world wars and in places such as Afghanistan. No-one old enough to have read The Northern Echo in the early 1950s will forget the Howards in the Malayan campaign where they played a vital role, taking on an enemy and beating him at his own game in jungle warfare. In that campaign the Howards were the first regiment to notch up 100 bandit kills.

Forget numbers, men volunteer to be one of a regiment they are proud to serve in (one volunteer beats ten detailed). It's called regimental pride which is a vital element in the moral a soldier needs in any firefight, in any war.

I believe it was Winston Churchill who was spot on when he said: "Footsoldiers, the least spectacular of all arms, yet without them we can do nothing, indeed, nothing at all". A fact that rocket science won't change, Mr Hoon. - Ed Mallon, Middlesbrough.