01/07/04

No-one, certainly not our own media, mentions that the North-East has had its assembly for years. Former leader of the Newcastle Council, Tony Flynn, is one of its previous chairmen.

It was questionably funded by local councils and it took campaigners like Neil Herron, with the backing of UKIP, to first bring it to public attention. Maps from the EU, printed long before the 1997 election showed these islands not as Britain but as NE, NW, SE etc.

Will the referendum ask us: "Do you want a Regional Assembly or not?" No, we will be asked only: "Do we want an ELECTED regional assembly?"

Either way, we will be given the assembly the EU wants us to have. And we, the people, will pay for it and be controlled by it, yet will have no real say at all.

The only people who will benefit are those appointed to sit on the North-East quangos and committees as reward for selling out their fellow countrymen. - Graham Bull, Darlington.

I SUPPORT the establishment of an assembly for the North-East because, as a region, we have had something of a raw deal from London-based decision makers for generations.

We need a strong single voice to push our case at national and international level and surely we, as North-Easterners, must know what is needed to tackle our problems rather than someone sitting in an office 300 miles or so to the south.

Other parts of Britain, such as Scotland, Wales and London, already have regional government and we in the North-East are in danger of being left behind.

I say yes for the North-East for a fairer deal and a better future. - Paul Rivers, Wallsend.

SEAGULLS

THE thing that is really worrying the citizens of many North-Eastern towns, is seagulls. Or, to be more accurate, urban gulls.

The gulls are moving inland, and can be seen frequently in Darlington. They are multiplying at an alarming rate and cause mess, noise and disruption. Frequently they are becoming so aggressive that people are afraid to leave their own homes.

Interviewed on the BBC Today programme, however, Coun Tom Bothwell from Lossiemouth in Scotland - where they have a similar problem - gave the reason as to one of the causes. Fifteen years ago, he said, there were 40 fishing boats operating out of Lossiemouth. The fish were gutted at sea and the gulls fed on the remains.

Now, said Coun Bothwell, the fleet had been decimated. There was only one boat working out of the harbour. The gulls no longer had the food and they were moving inland seeking food.

The reduction of the North-East's fishing fleet has had a devastating long-term effect on the local economy and many small businesses have suffered; but I had not then fully appreciated the effect on the bird population and subsequent ecological effect.

All of which is a pity since there is in reality sufficient stock in the North Sea fisheries to sustain a thriving industry; but that is an other story. - Peter Troy, Chairman, Darlington Branch, Federation of Small Businesses.

SMOKING

IN his Eating Owt column (Echo, June 29) Mike Amos suggested that the Spotted Dog pub at High Coniscliffe "may be the first pub/restaurant in the area to be wholly non-smoking".

By "the area", I assume he means that within which The Northern Echo circulates.

So, to put the record straight, Oldfields Restaurants in both Durham and Jesmond, Newcastle, have been fully non-smoking for many months.

This is not an anti-smoking measure, rather that eating and smoking don't make great bedfellows.

My congratulations to the Spotted Dog for following our lead and I wish them every success. - Bill Oldfield, Director, Oldfields Restaurants Ltd, Durham.

RACISM

IT is rather worrying that Coun John Davies (HAS, June 25) and Pete Winstanley, who write so passionately about racism, seem to have forgotten the issue of equality of opportunity.

All sections of society have a right to defend their rightful heritage and traditional way of life without being labelled racist. Surely a local community has a right to complain about a range of anti-social behaviours without being branded as racists.

Perhaps the two gentlemen should try to think a little more holistically, put aside the racism card and remember that everyone has human rights. In particular, Coun Davies and Durham County Council should remember that they have a duty of care to all sections of society without discrimination - this includes their obligations to taxpayers and the communities whom they represent and who are entitled to equality of opportunity and respect.

Their biased labelling of racism is very unfair. - Mike Gibson, Defend Our Village Environment, Sedgefield.

COUNCILLOR John Davies claims that people who try to defend 'our traditional way of life' are racists. Really? Why?

He either does not understand the term 'racist' or if he is being scurrilous.

As for him demanding that we show unfailing respect for the travelling community, I suggest he say things like that communities which have, in recent years, suffered visitations from hordes of these travellers and then had the unsavoury experience of having to clean up after them. - T Kelly, Crook.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

I WONDER how many ladies of a certain age, like myself, sighed at reading the report of Kesgrave High School having to change its uniform code to trousers rather than skirts because the girls insist on just about revealing all with their very short skirts (Echo, June 21).

In 'our day', skirts were two inches below the knee, no arguments. The rest of the school uniform was just as strictly enforced. Blazers and Panama hats in summer, gabardine macs and velour 'pudding bowl' hats in winter. Tie properly tied and buttons done up. Woe betide any girl caught, by teacher or prefect, with any item of uniform incorrectly worn, in or out of school. It was the school rules that we agreed to when we took up a place at the school.

It seems a pity that standards of dress agreed by the school governors in this case have to be watered down because the girls won't comply. Saying trousers are more practical sounds like a cop out; an excuse not to have to take a firm stand.

Not all girls like to wear trousers. Should they not have the choice of regulation length skirt or trousers? Not wanting the girls giving a 'come hither look' is sensible, but forcing large-sized girls to wear trousers, which can be most unflattering to those extra inches, could be opening the floodgates to name calling and ridicule. - EA Moralee, Billingham.