PENSIONS: RECENT publicity in the press shows that a manifesto is to be put before Parliament outlining demands and the rights of the pensioners of this country to be listened to by this Government.

It has been drawn up by the National Pensions Convention and will be endorsed at the Pensioners' Parliament in Blackpool on May 18-20.

It is up to the pensioners of the country to get behind this fight and show the Government we mean business - after all, we do turn out and vote - so we should be listened to.

Write to your local MP insisting he/she be present in the chamber at the time of the reading and to back all the proposals laid down.

Also contact the National Pensions Convention at their head office: 10-23 Ironmonger Row, London EC1V 3QP offering support and perhaps a donation. They rely on donations, yet could be a much bigger voice if subscribed to and lots of support given.

Grey Power is now getting the publicity it needs. The Devon pensioners have got their act together, so why not the whole country? - M Brown, Durham City.

MINERS' COMPENSATION

I REFER to the concerns expressed by Nigel Griffiths MP (Echo, Feb 28) on the double fees being charged by solicitors for the handling of claims for compensation by miners and their families.

As a Government Minister responsible for the legislation introduced to accommodate the distribution of the public money from which compensation is paid, he stands accused of gesture politics.

In the fifth year of an ongoing claim I have written to MPs, including the Secretary of State and my own MP Tony Blair, informing them of my concerns at the anomalies and irregular practices, which cannot possibly have been legislated for, being used to deduct money from compensation paid to sick members.

Involving millions of pounds of public money, I add to the concerns expressed by Nigel Griffiths, even if only gesture politics, and call for an independent inquiry into all handling arrangements for compensation paid to sick miners. - C Jackson, Ferryhill.

COUNCIL TAX

IT has been known for decades that the method of collecting council tax is flawed.

Any aged couple struggling on a pension living in a semi-detached house will pay the same as four wage earners living in the next semi-detached, and those four will be able to use all the advantages the council provides for half the money.

The poll tax was scrapped because so many were paying nothing yet using all the facilities provided.

To decide the amount you pay according to the type of house you live in is silly. You might as well tax people on the type of car they own.

The only real way is to tax people on the amount of earnings or income and it would be easy to do so, for income tax payers have their earnings and addresses known to the Government, so it should be easy to add a few pence to everyone's income tax and the money returned to each council.

It also might be more effective and cheaper for councils to get the rates in that fashion. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

BBC

JAMES Mawdsley was right to protest to the BBC about their joke cartoon Popetown (Echo, Mar 1).

I'll bet a pound to a penny the BBC would not put on a joke cartoon about the Muslim religion. It would not be politically correct. - RW West, Darlington.

ANN WINTERTON

YOUR Comment on Ann Winterton (Echo, Feb 27) makes many in this country wonder whether speaking out loud is a safe thing to do.

Ann Winterton and her lack of judgement pales into insignificance when one considers the tragic events leading up to the cockle pickers' deaths.

Tony Blair should hang his head in shame and so should the media who have ignored what is going on, trying to keep us in the dark.

Does anyone believe that the Government did not know what was going on and the fact this kind of hardship is all down to total arrogance and greed?

The local fishermen and women were trying to bring this to the notice of the authorities and the police for a long time yet were ignored. Why?

Local people whose livelihoods are under threat and who have the sense and experience, know these are dangerous waters. Why was no one bothering to consider the consequences?

This uproar about a silly MP's remarks may well cost her her job, but there are lots of other people, including the Prime Minister, who should be following her. - John Young, Crook.

SCOTLAND

HUGH Pender (HAS, Feb 28) is obsessed since he apparently combs the pages of history to find whatever he can to deride English people on a regular basis.

This time it is with regard to the Scottish people.

Since all nations have a history of misdeeds, what do we find of Scottish history? I seem to recall the Romans had to build a wall to keep them from pillaging Northern England. Later the Scottish King James I, (below), who became James VI of England, began the plantation of Northern Ireland to rid himself of troublesome Glaswegians.

The Scots invaded England as much as we invaded them; also if our Spitfire pilots had not beaten off Hitler, he would have invaded and would not have stopped at the border. Scotland would have come under his rule.

Tony Blair, who is Scottish, along with most of his Cabinet, has sold 60 per cent of our gold reserves, taken us into two dubious wars and barely conceals his contempt for the English people, which seems to be a disease peculiar to the political left wing.

In short, Mr Pender, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. - Melanie Bell, Darlington.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

THE media has carried two items recently: the rising prison population and the writing off of unpaid fines.

Recently (Echo, Feb 25) you carried the story 'Heiress jailed for 42 days'.

Her crime was harassment, annoying and vulgar, but not dangerous. Surely this lady could easily have paid a stiff fine and one less person would have been in prison?

It is quite apparent common sense is not a requirement of our judiciary. - Leslie Lewis, Bishop Auckland.