18/09/04

His belief in zero tolerance and a generally hard line, commonsense attitude towards the criminal fraternity has gained him many admirers, myself included.

I cannot, therefore, reconcile how Mr Mallon squares his desire to let the villains know who is boss with his slavish dedication to the Labour Party.

Does Mr Mallon not realise that we now live in a society where the criminal reigns supreme and where the law acts against the victims of crime, and that this has been brought about principally by the values that lie at the heart of Labour Party policy?

Take also Ray Mallon's support for a regional assembly. Ray has built his reputation on straight talking and often declares his independence. Why then can't he see that in supporting this EU-led drive for puppet authorities breaking up the United Kingdom he is acting as a stooge for those whose primary cause is the destruction of the nation state?

So by supporting Labour, Mr Mallon has joined the ranks of those referred to by Lenin as useful idiots.

Anyone believing that regionalisation is intended to bring greater local democracy is in for a rude awakening unless they find out the true facts before voting on November 4. The damage will be done if people don't take the trouble to find out the scale of the deception being visited upon them. - Dave Pascoe, Press Secretary, UK Independence Party, Hartlepool Branch.

IT appears even Ray Mallon is 'shocked' by the blight and decay evident in Hartlepool's town centre (Echo, Sept 14).

It is ironic that he is the only person to publicly make such a statement and his clear refusal to blame years of Labour for this sad state of affairs seems to imply that Hartlepool people are responsible for the state of their own streets and homes.

Certain areas of west central Hartlepool have been in a downward spiral of decline for the past four or five years.

Does anyone propose to do anything about this? - P West, Hartlepool.

REGARDING the visit to Hartlepool by Ray Mallon, I find his comments unacceptable and downright rude. How dare he make remarks on the boarded up properties in and around the town centre?

The problems are there because of Labour's New Deal for Communities which, along with Iain Wright and the Labour Party, have caused the problem in the first place.

Labour's New Deal for Communities has made the centre of Hartlepool an urban wasteland. Little progress has been made in the four years since it was formed, now renamed Hartlepool Revival.

Houses have remained empty for years when demolition should have taken effect immediately.

People of Hartlepool have seen through the charade that promises everything, but in return gives nothing. Labour is finished.

And as for you, Mr Mallon, the only good thing you did for Hartlepool was to go to Middlesbrough. Stay there, Mr Mallon and do the job you are paid to do. Leave politics to those that know about them, the people of Hartlepool. - R Andrews, Hartlepool.

NEW LABOUR

ANDREW Marr, the BBC's political editor, when asked by the media what he thought of the appointments of Alan Milburn and Peter Mandelson to cabinet minister and top job in Europe, replied both these men are 100 per cent Blairite. But we now see Tony Blair's North-East mafia in operation.

Just look at the damage New Labour has done to our once Great Britain and our way of life and customs and see the country swamped with thousands of immigrants, illegal and otherwise, who have to be housed and kept by the taxpayer, and our beautiful countryside being taken to house them to the detriment of our own people.

I also forecast two years ago that we were heading for a police state: ie Big Brother is watching you. Now we have all kinds of police, wardens, rangers, council wardens, CCTV all over the place, anti-smoking, anti-drinking, anti-hunting. What is next - anti-fishing.

What a joy to see the Last Night of the Proms with thousands of Union Jacks waving and to hear Land of Hope and Glory. - F Wealands, Darlington.

CYCLISTS

FURTHER to my letter (HAS, Aug 25), regarding cycling on public footpaths, I have now had a reply from North Yorkshire Police who confirm it is an offence to ride on a public footpath under Section 72 of the Highways Act 1835, but with the emergence of cycleways, confusion has occurred as to where cycles can be ridden lawfully.

They also tell me to contact police if I see anyone riding on the footpath as soon as possible so that they are aware of such an incident and can trace the offender.

Would it not make more sense for the police to have more presence on our streets so that they can see for themselves what is happening? - AE Donnelly, Northallerton.

JUSTICE SYSTEM

FINES are a type of punishment, albeit a financial one, so how can it be fair when the amount fined is the same for everyone, no matter what the wealth or income of the person being fined?

An old age pensioner with an income of £90 per week will be fined £60 for speeding (two thirds of his weekly income).

A footballer on £9,000 per week will be fined £60 for speeding and he will laugh at the derisory amount, but if he was fined two thirds of his weekly income, £6,000, then the smile would disappear. Yet the punishment is the same for both of their incomes. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

BESLAN

THE situation in Chechnya is not as simple as Hugh Pender suggests (HAS, Sept 9).

Mr Putin knows that if he allows independence in Chechnya then the adjoining Muslim countries will continue to wage war to secure their own independence.

If Mr Pender wants to wallow in guilt over this, let him, but he must not impose it on us as we have no hand in the matter, and to imply that we have is an insult to the West. - P Atkinson, Redcar.