03/11.04

We don't want people coming here telling us what is best for us. Do the Scots or the Welsh want the English to go there and represent them? Of course they don't, so why should we want outsiders here?

What are our MPs supposed to be doing anyway? I always thought that they were paid to represent us. They get good enough money to do it. So why should we want to pay anyone extra to do the same job up here.

I am afraid it is just another scheme where people who work hard for a living will get ripped off by having to pay for someone who will be on over £30,000 a year and maybe putting expenses claims in for up to £35,000 per year, as we have just seen in the news in the last few weeks.

My last point is made to Sting (Echo, Oct 29). Keep your opinions to yourself. You chose to move away and live in the south, so stay there and vote for an assembly where you are. But you probably don't want one down there, though. - A Whelpton, Stockton.

I AM not in the least bit surprised that a majority of the business elite are against the regional assembly.

A regional assembly would have the powers, in conjunction with regional development agencies, to encourage new and small businesses to start up and be successful.

It would also have the platform to attract business from outside the North-East to invest in this region.

The business elite of this region are worried that they will lose their monopoly of the stagnant economy in the North-East when it is replaced by a new and vibrant economy dominated by new businesses.

Don't be fooled by their concern for this region. They are concerned solely with their own profit and, let's be honest, they have not exactly set this region's economy alight. - William Hall, Newcastle.

THE North-East assembly now under consideration would be nothing more than an amalgamation of the present local authorities in the area with only their present powers.

Unlike the Scottish and Welsh national assemblies, it would not have even the very limited new powers of these assemblies.

What we really need is an English national assembly, which could represent the interests of the people of England on an equal footing with the Scottish and Welsh national assemblies, and perhaps get things like the Barnett Formula, which unfairly diverts development funds to Scotland, repealed.

The only way that we can ever hope to achieve what should be our true goal, an English national assembly, is by voting no to the present proposal of a powerless local North-East assembly. - RW Alexander, Darlington.

IN discussions about the regional assembly, one important fact is overlooked, namely that an assembly is part of the European Union plan for political integration, and the end of British independence and self-government.

There are three main planks of the EU plan: a single currency, one constitution, and regional assemblies dividing countries. A Committee of the Regions has existed in Brussels for over 40 years, and the regions' map, carving up Britain, was drawn up in the early 1970s, when John Prescott was working in Brussels. The regions are the same as the European "Parliament" constituencies.

The Committee of the Regions issued a document called "Major Steps Towards a Europe of the Regions and Cities in an Integrated Continent", charting the progress of integration. The committee states: "The Europe of Regions is a cornerstone for the political integration of Europe."

Mr Prescott pretends that having a regional assembly will bring democracy closer to the people. It will do nothing of the sort. It is vital that we in the North-East vote no in the referendum to help preserve our country's independence. London may be some distance away, but Brussels is much further; we have no say in the election of those bureaucrats. - Michael Rollings, Stamfordham.

IN order to redress the North-South imbalance we should have been offered more than London got. What would happen if all the regions got a regional assembly with watery soup to feed on?

We would all be fighting over scraps while the big southern dogs would still be sitting back smiling. Offer the North-East a powerful bone that we can get our teeth into. Otherwise we will continue to say no, and will expect our present local politicians to do more standing up and fighting for a fair share of the pot. - John Scott, Billingham.

I THINK I take a different stance to most letters I have read arguing for or against the proposed regional assembly.

I think if I were a passionate Cornishman (with distinctive culture and even language) I might feel aggrieved that suburbanites from, say Swindon, (as near to London as to Truro) were being included in my regional assembly area. - B Roberts, York.

PETER MULLEN

PETER Mullen berates the Guardian for its recent foray in the US election.

He suggests that we British have no right to comment on an event that could have very serious implications for Britain, considering what has happened in Iraq so far and what might happen in the Middle East in general in the very near future.

I find it odd that Peter Mullen thinks that we British are "impudent in the assumed right to tell the people of other nations how to vote in their elections".

I find it impudent that he writes a column in The Northern Echo, a newspaper that is part of the Gannett media group, which is America's biggest newspaper publisher. - Willis Collinson, Durham City.

IRAQ

AFTER the shocking deaths of the 49 Iraqi army recruits, no words of condemnation can be too severe for the Anglo-American administration there. These young men were serving their country in its direct need; they were in a war zone; and they were without weapons or escort.

The negligence and incompetence of the authorities concerned beggars belief; indeed, worse than incompetent - uncaring. In fact uncaring is the key word in the whole story of Anglo-American involvement in Iraq. Unfortunately, the politicians and senior civil servants responsible will not have to pay the price, it is the poor people of Iraq and our servicemen who are doing that.

And make no mistake, there is worse to follow. - T Kelly, Crook.

THE shooting of the young Iraqi police recruits was a callous, cruel and senseless act.

Some of the media said: "How low can you get?"

Now, let's look at what we have been up to with our allies, particularly the US. Many thousands of innocent Iraqis, including countless women and children, blown to pieces by brave airmen safe in the sky.

Why don't we put the blame where it really lies, with George Bush and Tony Blair who hatched this war behind our backs over a year before it actually started?

There is no end in sight to this catastrophic situation and I would hate to predict what the future holds. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.