You write...

THE LibDems' proposals for taxation make interesting reading (HAS, Dec 16).

However, shifting the burden of taxation from one group to another does not solve any problems. The truth of the matter is that everyone in this country is over-taxed.

Apart from income tax, we have VAT, fuel tax, road tax, national insurance and inheritance tax, as well as council tax.

What we should be doing is finding ways of reducing this tax burden for the benefit of all.

One of the biggest causes of national expenditure is our membership of the EU, currently estimated at £20bn per year and set to rise.

Britain's withdrawal from the EU would free this money for use in this country. The measures proposed by the LibDems could be implemented at no cost to the taxpayer and there would be billions of pounds left over, enough to eradicate serious problems such as homelessness and old age poverty. - Eric Wilson, Chairman, UKIP, Hartlepool.

EUROPE

WE need to remind ourselves occasionally that the European Union is not just an inward looking group of nation states.

The EU is concerned about the spread of its values to the rest of the world and there are widespread unpublicised examples of this.

Many of the countries of the Mediterranean basin are part of what is known as the Barcelona Process. These countries appreciate the benefits of the EU and are moving over a period of years to accept EU values and to become closer partners. Libya has not moved far enough towards the values required to have a seat at the table but, over the next few years, will have brought about changes that will be acceptable.

Turkey has been a troubled nation with wide gaps between rich and poor. The Turks also see the benefits of EU membership in terms of peace, trade and human values; that is why they want to join. They know that it will take many years to bring about the changes in their country that will enable them to qualify for membership.

The eventual admission of Turkey to the union can only have a beneficial influence on the troubled nations of the Middle East. The Bishop of Oxford recently said that the spirit of Islam properly understood underlines the values that the union places on its member states. We need to face all the problems, overcome our prejudices and work with all those who want to work with us. - Bill Morehead, Darlington.

ARMY

WE now know the future of the three regiments in Yorkshire.

Late next year they will come together to form a new Yorkshire Regiment, retaining their historic regimental titles as a battalion name.

This is the outcome towards which all three regiments have been working, and it is with some relief that we now know the outcome of the deliberations of the Army Board and the Secretary of State for Defence.

The Green Howards are particularly grateful to the people of North Yorkshire and Teesside for their unstinting support as we made our case for a Yorkshire Regiment over the last few months.

Councils, local organisations and individuals have played a very valuable role in helping the decision for our way. Thank you to everyone.

The generous, thoughtful and supportive coverage that The Northern Echo has provided has played a major part in this successful outcome.

It is good to know that our local press is so fully behind the Green Howards and the other Yorkshire Regiments. We know that you, and all our other supporters, will now back us as we work together to make the Yorkshire Regiment - Britain's only surviving single-county regiment - the best in the Army. - Brigadier JSW Powell OBE, Colonel of the Regiment, The Green Howards, Regimental Headquarters, Richmond.

TURKEYS

AS we all know, Christmas is upon us, and as we celebrate this happy time of year, please spare a thought for the ones that seem to get the short straw, the turkeys.

Turkeys on factory farms are crammed by the thousands into tiny, windowless sheds where they have no room to move or spread their wings.

Their beaks are cut off when they are chicks to stop them from attacking the other birds that are pushed up continually against them. Because they are fed growth hormones to make them grow fatter than they would normally, their brittle legs snap beneath their unnatural weight.

Please don't support this cruel industry this Christmas, buy a free range turkey instead.

They can't choose the life they lead, but you can. - Claire Nugent, Stockton-on-Tees.

LAW AND ORDER

WHAT use would new laws be for elderly people living alone who are attacked and burgled in their own homes?

It's the justice system that wants changing. Cut out the red tape, more policing on our streets with stiffer sentences given to criminals who will think before committing another offence.

Why should innocent people have to put up with crime and violence, which should be stamped out straight away instead of it escalating with the present legal system?

Authorities are frightened to step out of line, which does not help to give confidence to the victims concerned.

After all these years, you would have thought a solution would have been sorted out to deal with crime.

Maybe one day we might find someone with the answer, not just wanting your vote at the next election. - N Tate, Darlington.

CHRISTMAS

MANY people can remember the 'Bad Old Days' about 50 years ago, before the erosion of Christian principles that were the basis of Western civilisation for nearly 2,000 years.

Murders, robberies and muggings were few and far between; likewise divorce, juvenile crime etc. People were safe and secure in their homes and on the streets.

All that has changed and we now need more prisons, abortion clinics etc, in a futile attempt to put things right.

Could the answer possibly be to once more teach children (our future citizens) to love God and neighbour and to have respect for rightful authority and for old people?

Wear Valley Council is to be congratulated on the attractive well-produced Christmas issue of the community newspaper, but surely many of the councillors, as well as many readers of the paper, will be appalled to see that the only reference to the true meaning of Christmas is a disgraceful cartoon of the Child Jesus, the Mother Mary and St Joseph. - FG Hickey, Bishop Auckland.