20/08/04

Until recently, I had an order book which was renewed about every six months. Then I was told that my benefit would be paid directly into a bank in future. Told, mind you, not asked if I thought it was a good idea. As it happened, I probably would have liked to continue with an order book, since the post office trip is quite therapeutic and helps to maintain my limited mobility. But, as I say, I was never asked and now make a voluntary trip to the post office to cash a cheque for my weekly 'float'.

All this makes me deeply suspicious of this so-called public consultation being held at present. Of course customer numbers are falling, things have been arranged that way. If you take the large number of people who receive pensions and benefits from the post office in person out of the equation, then obviously you can 'prove' a narrow economic argument, set on your own terms.

That is not the real point though. The real point for me is a social one... the personal triumph of struggling to the post office, standing on my legs at the counter and being served by someone I know. I don't want that to change; I have enough to think about.

I suspect though that such points will not enter into the consultants' scheme of things. They and I will be answering the post office question in entirely different ways. I feel sure that the people with the money will get their own way. How sad. - Geoff Taylor, Darlington.

DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL

REGARDING the boastful, self-congratulatory letter of Councillor Ken Manton, leader of Durham County Council (HAS, Aug 16), if indeed the council has received such a glowing report from the inspectors, I suspect it's a case of people only seeing what they want to see or, more to the point, what their hosts want them to see.

One is reminded of the reports regularly brought back from Russia in the 1930s by the likes of George Bernard Shaw and the then Dean of Canterbury, about what a wonderful, happy country that was. One is also reminded of a recurrent phenomenon concerning people in exalted public positions when they engage in self-publicity.

When rating public services there's only one valid criterion, not the views of officials or politicians, but those of the public themselves. - T Kelly, Crook.

RAY MALLON

DARLINGTON Council could do with someone of the calibre of Ray Mallon (Robocop) who seems to want the right results that the law-abiding citizens are not getting.

At the present time the villains are favoured. - N Tate, Darlington.

POLITICS

JIM Tague's letter (HAS, Aug 13) made depressing reading.

Just what does he man by the term 'Liberal left' and their lack of 'backbone'?

I suppose he feels we showed 'backbone' by invading a sovereign state and killing thousands of innocent people.

I suppose the Americans showed 'backbone' by killing two million people in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Mr Tague must be aware that the status of the working class in the UK was elevated by the efforts over many years by those you would call the 'Liberal left'.

The great Reform Bills of the 19th century were promoted and put on the statute by those you would call the 'Liberal left'.

The phrase 'our way of life' applies to all who live in the UK and fundamentally states that we are all equal under the law irrespective of race, creed or colour.

No doubt the ordinary Iraqi sees the Americans and ourselves as 'terrorists'.

If al Qaida decided to send suicide bombers to our shores, no power on earth could stop them - we can only assume we are not their prime targets.

Finally, on a historical note, I can think of three saintly figures among many who were murdered by those you would consider 'backbone', Thomas a' Becket, Edmund Campion and Sir Thomas More.

When wild words are used to demonise a section of our nation - when it is advocated that Muslim clerics are eliminated by 'any method', it is little wonder that we attract hostile responses.

Any serious student of British history knows that we were no shrinking violets when it came to terror, extreme violence and exploitation.

Thanks to the 'Liberal left' these days are almost behind us. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.

IRONY

IN recent weeks we have seen the images of starving children in the Sudan, helpless and clutching for life.

Contrast those agonising scenes to the binge drinking and the excessive spending that preoccupy so many of us.

For most of us life is a roller-coaster ride, full of expectation, material gain but with little thought about the quality of life. The belief that money buys everything is a myth, yet the opportunities exist.

So often we think of ourselves, of our next purchase or night out on the town. We rarely think of our next meal, other than it will happen. To starve is an unlikely event but to overindulge is so often commonplace.

Food and drink is a necessity. The prospect of clean fresh water and the basic nutrition we all need is available even in the poorest households in Britain. In countries such as the Sudan, the notion of decadent living is so remote; opportunities and choice don't exist. Relying on the conscience of the wealthy nations and individual donation is a far cry from the irrational spending of binge drinkers whose behaviour in many of our towns and cities causes so much distress and embarrassment.

There is a parallel, in that the misery and cost in human terms is unacceptable and threatens the fabric of life. The difference is that the Sudanese people can do little about their circumstances and living conditions. Death is as inevitable as the binge drinker feeding their addiction. - Bernie Walsh, Coxhoe.

LAW AND ORDER

MICHAEL Fishwick's letter (HAS, Aug 17) on law under labour brought a smile to my face.

How can he say law and order was better under the Conservatives? Forgive me if I am wrong, but wasn't it Conservatives who sold all the local police houses, took the bobby off the beat, made the police feel undervalued and closed most of our police stations, not to mention, cutting the police budget?

So why would things be any different under Michael Howard? I don't think so. - T Amos, Colburn.