10/04/04

Mr Pennington states that the LEA is only in a very early stage of trying to put together a coherent plan for secondary school allocation in Darlington, unlike other LEAs that have already taken advantage of the Building Schools for the Future programme.

He has not been 'open' about this issue. The Hurworth-Eastbourne federation was passed by governors and supported by parents who had no knowledge of the proposed church-assisted status of Eastbourne School.

It is alarming that Mr Pennington's criteria for deciding which schools are to close do not include quality of education, the value added aspect on which all school league tables are now assessed and on which our children's futures will depend.

If plans go ahead, two of Darlington's seven secondary schools will be church-assisted, resulting in their management being very much out of the LEA's hands; a financial decision.

The LEA states that Haughton will be the "least likely" to close. It will not close due to the Private Funding Initiative.

Four secondary schools will be left under threat of closure. It is obvious that the decision will be driven by financial considerations rather than a long-term strategic vision to provide high quality education in all Darlington schools. - Judith Aston, Hurworth.

CAPITALISM

MY thanks to Peter Troy (HAS Apr 2) for explaining the difference between capitalism and corporatism.

My main concern is with the multinational corporations which, by dominating the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank, manipulate world trade for their own ends, creating poverty, injustice and war.

But doesn't capitalism, in any case, tend to drive us to do what is profitable rather than what is right or necessary?

Imagine a primitive village. Suppose I am particularly good at hunting, while Peter Troy's special skill is making bows and arrows. Each of us makes a contribution to the community, but there is no money, nor even a barter system - I simply help myself to as many of Peter's arrows as I need, and share out the meat I produce. Children, the elderly and the sick are cared for as a matter of social responsibility. It is an inherently fair system, which works because people are generally trusted, rather than compelled, to do what is needed.

Can these principles be translated into the infinitely more complex capitalist "global village"? - Pete Winstanley, Durham.

FARMING

MR Kelly's latest tirade against farmers seems to call for some response.

In the case of foot-and-mouth, a ministry vet who inspected Burnside Farm, Northumberland, ten days before f&m was introduced says: "Had the inspection been more rigorous than it was then the awful 2001 epidemic would never have come about"

The cover-up of this information has led to renewed calls for a proper independent inquiry.

Even if it was conclusively proved that BSE resulted from changes in animal feed processing, is it not unfair to blame farmers for a decision made by others? There are other well reasoned theories that this may not have been the cause of this of this very complex issue.

Many small farms are inevitably going out of business, but although the current inadequate income on many efficient medium-sized family farms, which cannot remain viable, means undesirable ever bigger units, it is important to realise that latest figures show still only a relatively small percentage of farmland in the country is farmed in this way.

British family sized farms still need the public's support, to compete with prairie farms in some parts of the world and others where labour is paid a fraction of ours. - J Heslop, Gainford.

IMMIGRATION

TONY Blair's response to the crisis in the immigration system is another shameful episode in this Government's record and typical of the cynical way New Labour operates.

First there is a denial of the problem, then they smear those who uncover the problem, a junior minister resigns to absolve Tony Blair of any responsibility and finally a summit is held because they have no idea what else to do.

There can be nothing more serious than a government which has lost control over its country's borders.

This is a crisis which spin, smear and summits cannot answer and a government which cannot be trusted.

Tony Blair is accountable for Britain's immigration chaos, he should take real responsibility and resign. - Mike Fishwick, Thornley.

EUROPE

AFTER reading the letter from Diana Wallis MEP (HAS, Mar 27), one can begin to understand why some people want the United Kingdom out of Europe.

She wrote that 12 months ago she met Government representatives in her office in Brussels, who briefed her on the case for war in Iraq. She was convinced by their comments and a year later she is still certain Tony Blair was wrong to support George Bush.

Just imagine if in 1938 she had been on the staff of the UK Embassy in Brussels and received information that the German Chancellor and the ruling party were persecuting Jews, burning synagogues, exterminating mentally handicapped hospital patients and torturing and hanging political prisoners in concentration camps.

No doubt she would have drawn the conclusion that, as it was confined to Germany, then it could not be conceived as a threat to the rest of Europe. Asylum seekers, within certain limits, would be accommodated while the rest of Europe would sit back to wait for the German people to remove the dictatorial chancellor.

Had she been presiding at the Nuremberg trials the first person in the dock would have been Winston Churchill for provoking Mr Hitler with his two-fingered salute.

He would have been followed by the rest of Britain's wartime government for failing to find a peaceful solution prior to the ensuing conflict.

Contrary to her thinking, Mr Blair's credentials as Prime Minister are very sound because in his words: "We have to move on." That means leaving the office to become familiar with the real world.

We are now observing the vast majority of the Iraqi people patiently waiting through a period of transition for the rules of a democratically elected Government to manage their affairs.

A defeated Germany eventually became the powerhouse of Europe so perhaps one day Iraq may acquire the same status in the Middle East. - Thomas Conlon, Spennymoor.