16/12/04

It will pack up its equipment and leave the landscape around the Thornborough Henges alone.

This beautiful place will be at peace again. No more diggers ripping at its heart. No more graves and their contents placed in bags and moved miles away from their resting place.

A new chance to be admired for what it once was and what it is now. A meeting place for appreciative people. A real monument to our ancestors and their skill.

What a dream! - Elaine Swann, Thornborough.

HARRY Mead (Echo, Dec 8) rightly identifies Christ's immortal words: "Love thy neighbour as thyself" as the simple prescription for a peaceful world.

And he asks who first said: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." That was Jesus too, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, 7:12).

Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby and Mrs Bedonebyasyoudid were characters in Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies, written in 1861.

In 1652, Gerrard Winstanley, founder of the Digger movement, argued for the common ownership of the land and its produce, so that the Earth should be a "common treasury" for the benefit of all.

He wrote: "For when men have a law to buy and sell, then... the cunning cheaters get great estates by other men's labours; and being rich thereby, becoming oppressing lords over their brethren, which occasions all our troubles and wars in all nations... Does not Christ tell you that if you have food and raiment you should be therewith content? And in this common freedom, here will be food and raiment, ease and pleasure plentiful, both for you and your brethren; so that none shall beg or starve or live in straits of poverty. And that fulfills that righteous law of Christ, Do as you would be done by."

An appropriate message for Christmas time, which is as relevant today as it ever was. - Pete Winstanley, Durham.

ENVIRONMENT

ON television recently, an aeroplane carrying scientific equipment was shown to be flying over Antarctica and the commentator said that the ice sheet is melting, as well as the Greenland ice sheet, and they would calve (to detach an iceberg) or melt in ten to 100 years time.

The problem is that the ice sheets were frozen to the bedrock, but it has now been discovered that the bottom of the ice sheet is melting and the ice is now moving quickly into the sea.

According to geological sources (Principles of Physical Geology by Arthur Holme,1964, page 466) the amount of water released would raise sea level by 250 feet or 76 metres, but for various scientific reasons would raise the actual sea level by 'only' 100 feet or 30 metres.

The media does not appear to realise the significance of this. All British ports such as London, Liverpool, Manchester, Middlesbrough and Sunderland would be flooded, as well as Peterborough, Nottingham, York, Carlisle, Chester and Worcester.

Darlington would become a seaside resort and the football team, after last Saturday's results, would be 15th in the Coca-Cola League Championship, where the leading teams would be Chesterfield, Bradford and Sheffield Wednesday.

Surprisingly, Newcastle and Manchester City, on their new ground, would survive above the waves in the Premiership as well as Bolton, Blackburn, Burnley, Leeds and the Midlands' teams.

Richmond, North Yorkshire, would survive even a 250ft or 76m rise in sea level unlike Richmond, Surrey, which would be flooded. - John Edmondson, Richmond.

FISHING

YOUR recent article about the fishing industry illustrates how wrong it is that the Government/EU allows the destruction of marine life on such a vast scale.

You quote an estimate of 70,000 tonnes of cod remaining in the North Sea with previous annual landings of over 300,000 tonnes.

With these figures, most junior schoolchildren could work out that the North Sea could be emptied of cod in less than three months.

Would the fishing community do this if left a free rein, and if so who would they blame for having no subsequent livelihood?

History has seen the decimation caused by man on the marine world with massive whale and seal slaughters.

Has anybody considered the simple question of why these populations cannot survive human predation?

The answer is very simple - if we were meant to eat fish we would live in the sea. But we don't and therefore should leave the marine environment alone.

Finally, how can fishing be called industry? To my understanding industry is the act of production. - Name and address supplied.

NORTHERN IRELAND

IAN Paisley wants the IRA to provide photographic evidence that their munitions have been decommissioned.

Since Mr Paisley has set the terms perhaps he would be gracious enough to provide similar evidence for the nationalist community showing the decommissioning of munitions held by Loyalist terrorists and those legally held by Unionists?

Equally, Ian Paisley may be kind enough to say how many munitions held by the Orange Order's terrorist wing have been decommissioned?

But I forget, no munitions belonging to the Orange Volunteers have been decommissioned, as it is still an active terrorist group. - CT Riley, Spennymoor.

TAXATION

K Bowes (HAS, Dec 10) asks how much LibDem policies will cost and wants to see the figures. Well, here they are:

Liberal Democrats believe that it cannot be right that - as at present - people on low incomes or in old age have to pay so much more of their income in taxes and government charges than those who are much better off. Three of our key policies are about creating a fairer distribution of the costs of public services:

Scrapping tuition and top-up fees for students. Cost: £1.2bn.

Introducing free personal care for elderly and disabled people. Cost: up to £1.4bn.

Keeping down the rate of local taxes. Cost: £1.7bn.

These three items add up to £4.3bn and we will pay for them by one tax change, introducing a new 50 per cent rate on very high individual income - above £100,000 a year.

A Local Income Tax is based very simply on the ability to pay. It would be run through the existing Inland Revenue Income Tax mechanism - so saving hundreds of millions - while at the same time ensuring that the typical household and pensioner pays hundreds of pounds less. - Robert Adamson, LibDem PPC for Darlington.