10/01/04

Would these be the crimes we are continually told are falling year on year?

Is this not the same Government that said the downgrading of certain drugs would allow the police more time to follow up so-called hard drugs? Is this not the same Government that basically gives the burglar a smack on the hand or the same one that does not wish to extend the amount of prisons, preferring to pass out more lenient sentences?

This, we are continually told, will leave the police with more time to catch "real" criminals. Yes, I bet police officers working hard to catch the criminal love these moral-boosting decisions.

So, over the past few months, we are told of the record number of policemen against a continuing decline in crime.

Could I be so cynical as to suggest this may allow PC Bloggs more time to fill in pointless politically-correct paperwork to keep an army of do-gooders happy, while infuriating a restless, law-abiding majority. - Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland Conservatives.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

WITH the latest protests against unrestrained rural development it should not be forgotten that the purpose of a rural planning regime is to balance conservation of the landscape against the needs of the 13 million people who live and work in the countryside and depend upon a sustainable rural economy.

Conservation needs management. Non-residential historic buildings do not maintain themselves. Ten or twenty years ago the income and employment from farming would have underpinned hedgerow laying, the village shop and even the village school. This is no longer possible. The future lies in examples like Broughton in North Yorkshire, where diversification of farm buildings has created 500 jobs that not only keep the local shop and school alive, but also support farming which maintains the landscape.

Planning needs to involve those who live and work in the countryside whilst supporting and encouraging imaginative solutions, for example, old farm buildings being converted for commercial or residential use. Blanket designations which frustrate well-designed and suitably scaled employment or housing developments will, as a result, do nothing to support either our landscape or heritage.

The Government's draft guidance would not allow unrestrained building, either on green fields or in the green belt. It is a step in the right direction and merits serious attention, not a knee-jerk reaction. - Maj Willoughby, Chairman, Country Land and Business Association, Yorkshire.

REGIONAL GOVERNMENT

THIS week saw the launch of the Yes campaign for an 'elected' North-East regional assembly in London.

What a shame those 'celebrities' involved did not have the foresight to hold this event in the North-East.

After all we are the ones who will be expected to vote and pay for it. - Geoff Lilley, Hartlepool.

ROAD SAFETY

IF speed limits, box-junctions, bus-only lanes, etc, have nothing to do with safety and easing traffic flow, but are intended only to extract money from motorists, as your Comment (Echo, Jan 6) alleges, millions of motorists are getting off scot-free.

They do this by the simple expedient of complying with the law, a practice most of them followed long before cameras and CCTV began watching them. - Bob Jarratt, Caldwell, Richmond.

TOXIC WASTE

THE ghost ships are the thin end of the wedge. Now we have the toxic waste brigade lining up to ply their trade.

European legislation is forcing the UK to take care of its waste properly as it should, and surprise, surprise, the only licenced sites are in the North of England.

Teesside will take care of its own waste, but enough is enough.

The whole business increases the risk to health and safety and will simply add to our existing level of pollution, and cause further blight.

Do we want to become the Sellafield of the North-East? - Fred Jones, Billingham.

REFUSE COLLECTION

TRAVELLING around Darlington during the past few weeks must have reminded many people of the Winter of Discontent when rubbish was strewn around the town.

Over Christmas and New Year the streets have been littered with plastic bags and silly green boxes full of rubbish and nothing done about it .No doubt the foxes, rats and other vermin have had a wonderful Christmas.

Would it be too much to ask for the rubbish collection system to revert to the old way when every one had two bins which were emptied once a week and it did not matter what day or time the rubbish was collected?

The only apparent savings that the new collection system has achieved is that we do not have to buy the dustman a Christmas present any more, as we never see him. - Jim Rushworth, Darlington.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

HAVING read Mr Kelly's response (HAS, Jan 5) to the comments made by myself and the Rev Heslop, several matters present themselves.

Mr Kelly has missed the point that was being made. I do not condemn him for wanting capital punishment back - that is his view and whether I agree with it is another issue entirely.

However, what I do find abhorrent is that he wishes capital punishment to be entertaining and prolonged and it is this which renders such views 'crazy'.

I would suggest that, contrary to what he believes, the majority of the population of this country (which numbers around 60 million), whilst wanting justice for victims and their families, do not wish to return to the blood-thirsty practice of activities that wouldn't be out of place in the Dark Ages. - WJ Booth, Bishop Auckland.

NISSAN

THE latest threat by Carlos Ghosn, the head of Nissan, to move production of the new Almera away from Sunderland unless the UK joins the euro, has an eerily familiar ring to it.

Just over two years ago, Nissan said the same thing about production of the Micra. Then the Government stumped up £40m in grant aid to "persuade" them to stay.

Now we hear that Nissan may again be looking for Government grants for the Sunderland plant. The more cynical amongst us may well see a pattern here.

It's ironic that, for 50 years, Japan has been one of the world's economic powerhouses, despite having its own currency and control over its own economy. I don't hear Carlos Ghosn calling for Japan to scrap the yen.

The reality is that exchange rate risk is just one part of a company's overall risk. There are many factors which make it advantageous for Nissan to make cars at Sunderland, such as lower taxes, less regulation and a highly trained and flexible workforce. These benefits would be put at risk if we joined the euro, as Britain would then lose control over our own economy, which could force interest rates and taxes up. How would that benefit Nissan at Sunderland? - Jeremy Middleton, Conservative European Spokesman, Gosforth.