28/05/04

That is the least that should have happened to him for putting his desire for a scoop before the lives of our forces serving in Iraq. My preference would have been to put him in Army uniform and make him join our patrols out there.

Had he had real concern about the way that some of our troops were behaving it would have been sufficient to send his evidence to the Ministry of Defence for them to take action.

That way the problem would hopefully have been solved without making all of our troops a target for hatred. - R Brownson, Belmont.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

I READ with interest the letters from County Councillor Terry Hogan and Lileen Cuthbertson (HAS, May 24), which refer to the changes to local government if the regional assembly goes ahead.

As I believe local government should be close to the people, my preference is for the three unitary authority option. Coun Hogan refers to findings from the Sedgefield survey and I am happy to provide more information. A total of 433 people responded and it was clear that there was greater support for the 'three authorities' option.

Over 35 per cent of respondents said they would prefer a division of the county into three unitary authorities, with nearly three quarters of the respondents, (73.2 per cent) saying they had a sense of belonging to Sedgefield Borough Council. Around 62 per cent opposed a single authority.

This survey was clearly larger than the MORI poll, which had around 300 respondents, and the level of accuracy or degree of tolerance was the same.

Therefore, the facts are plain: what is borne out by these findings is that the majority of people do not want a large, remote, single unitary authority covering the whole of County Durham. They want local government and local services, which are best provided by smaller authorities because they are closer to their communities. - Councillor Malcolm Iveson, Sedgefield District Council.

SPEED CAMERAS

CAMPAIGNERS against speed cameras should reflect that the speed limits they enforce were in place many years before the cameras appeared.

The prolonged absence of any such campaign over these years suggests that A McKimm (HAS, May 26) and his fellow protestors can live with speed limits.

Their current objection is to the idea that they should comply with them.

Some readers may recall a comparable situation which arose in the 1950s, when a political crisis in Iran posed a threat to our oil supplies.

Stopping short of petrol rationing, the government of the day introduced a blanket speed limit of 50mph on all roads, not subject to a lower limit, in the hope of reducing fuel consumption.

This limit went unheeded by many, but an unexpected bonus soon appeared in the form of a significant reduction in road accidents involving death and injury.

This led to calls for the limit to be made permanent, but in fact it was scrapped as soon as the oil crisis passed, and within weeks the improvement in road casualties disappeared.

Then, as now, it seems keeping death off the roads has a lower priority than we like to think. - Bob Jarratt, Caldwell, Richmond.

EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

I HAVE now received my postal voting package for the forthcoming European elections.

My enthusiasm to support this is tarnished by the standard voting slip suitable for the entire region.

I can vaguely recall the name of our present representative in the area, but the listing of the party candidates does not tell me who I am supposed to be supporting.

I don't relish voting merely for a party or receiving the traditional canvassing package, but surely we could have received clearer, personal voting details. - R Etherington, Thirsk.

AS negotiations on the EU constitution heat up, it is clear that Labour is securing the red lines necessary for Britain to consider signing the constitutional treaty.

We have set out red lines on taxation, foreign policy, defence, social security and how the essentials of our common law and criminal justice system work. These red lines will not be crossed.

Britain will not give up control of its immigration policy and it is misleading to suggest otherwise. It is of benefit for Britain to co-ordinate immigration policy with the other EU member states so that the system works smoothly and efficiently. EU law is needed to ensure that citizen's rights are not infringed, but this does not mean that the European Court of Justice will have control over British immigration policy.

It is vital for the prosperity of Britain that we work in co-operation with Europe, to ensure the maximum benefits of being in the EU are obtained for Britain. This is something that the Eurosceptic Tories seem incapable of understanding, and worse, are uninterested in doing.

For this reason, it is important that, in the upcoming European elections, the North-East people put Britain and the North-East first, unlike the Eurosceptic parties who want out of the EU. - Gordon Adam MEP, Stephen Hughes MEP, Barbara O'Toole MEP, Joanne Thompson, Labour's European Candidate.

MANY people in this country have been very unhappy in recent years at the amount of power which has been transferred to Brussels and the fact that many of our laws are made, not by our Parliament, but by the European Commission, a body which we do not elect.

These voters will be looking carefully at the candidates in the elections for the European Parliament, which will be taking place shortly.

The UK Independence Party might be expected to get support, but I am very disappointed at the choice of candidate. Piers Merchant is, I understand, their lead candidate. He is a former Conservative MP, having represented a southern constituency.

I do not think he ever opposed the legislation giving more power to Brussels, which gave away our democracy. I don't think he was a rebel when in Parliament.

A far better voice for the North and, indeed for British independence, would be the Independent candidate Neil Herron. - T Wanless, Burnopfield.