19/12/03

What are his thoughts about the extra day every four years on February 29th? Do the people on monthly salaries get an extra day's pay? If we are one day short (7x52 making 364 days then every seven years add on another week) so it won't happen as often leap year does every four years.

Britain does tend to complicate things. We have had to come to terms with decimal currency; previously we had 240 pence in the pound, half crowns which had 30 pence, shillings with 12 pence, oh and a ten shilling note which had 120 pence.

The same happened with measurements of 36 inches in a yard. We had feet, furlongs, miles etc. Weights as well 16 ounces in a pound... 112 pounds in a hundredweight (a hundred and a bit).

It will take the next generation to apply decimalisation and yet for thousands of years we have had always ten digits on our hands and ten digits on our feet. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

TEENAGERS

THE report on teenagers "killing themselves" with being overweight, cigarettes, drugs and sexual disease (Echo, Dec 9) makes one really fear for the coming generation. We know not all teenagers live like that, but far too many do.

Amid all the discussion on how to give teenagers the right choices and advice, something is glaringly missing: the little word "no".

In most walks of life, be it home, school, work or sport, there are rules. Some things are strictly off limits. Foul play, wrong words or actions forbidden on penalty of punishment. This is right. Civilisation crumbles without rules. Why then does it appear to be so difficult to say to young people: "No, don't do that, it is wrong and will eventually kill you."

There is far too much emphasis on personal choice and individual rights: "It's my body and life, you can't tell me what to do with it." While not wanting sensible rights and choices to be taken away from anybody, there are some things that are so harmful they should be forbidden. Someone has got to stop these immature young people, who firmly believe they know best, from killing themselves. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

GHOST SHIPS

IT must have taken a lot of work, and effort, to get the ex-US Navy ships seaworthy enough to cross the Atlantic, which is a hazardous journey in itself; only to be told that they can not be broken up in Hartlepool.

"Sorry you must take them back!" What kind of idiots have we at the top, making such decisions?

Surely all such decisions should have been made before those ships left the US. - Jim Ross, Rowlands Gill.

EUROPE

THERE is a common thread running through the rhetoric of many anti-Europeans: the dastardly foreigners are ganging up to do us down.

But how do others see us? A French best seller decries "a methodical power-grab by the United Kingdom at the heart of the EU"; "a consensus... in the European Convention, around the British concept of a market system".

The gap between the anti-European worldview of a weak Britain being pushed around by others, and the reality of British in Europe, has never been greater. - Robin Ashby, Director, North East in Europe Ltd.

THE UK Independence Party supporters (HAS, Dec 11) must have difficulty in obtaining correct facts about the EU constitutional treaty being discussed in Brussels this weekend.

The Foreign Secretary said only yesterday: "The EU is not a superstate and will never become one".

The Government's White Paper of 1971 declared that "there is no question of Britain losing essential sovereignty". As in 1971, this is still true today.

A constitution will clarify many matters and help the future running of an enlarged EU, of 25 and not 15 members. - E Whittaker, Richmond.

"ABOVE all the EEC takes away Britain's freedom to follow the economic policies we need. We will negotiate withdrawal from the EEC which has drained our natural resources and destroyed our jobs".

These are words spoken in 1983, by Tony Blair while electioneering in Sedgefield.

How very odd then that hardened 'eurosceptics' have gone 'totally native' and now espouse total adoration of the EU.

The absolute determination of Mr Blair's Government to ensure that Britain is totally submerged in an EU superstate is clear for all to see.

We are all entitled to question their motivations for this complete U-turn of policy.

Power, greed and a total lack of principle, would be my suggestions to explain the phenomenon.

The current Leader of the House of Commons, Peter Hain, is now the most ardent of europhiles. He was 'representing Britain's interests' at the negotiations for drafting of a proposed EU constitution.

In his book, Ayes To The Left, Mr Hain too, was a resolute enemy of the EU, and its institutions.

Opposing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, Mr Hain said: "It beggars belief that Labour has sleep-walked into support for this treaty."

Messrs Blair and Hain are now supporting, with obscene vigour, the EU constitution that consigns all of our sovereign powers to oblivion.

Given their previously stated position, are we not all entitled to question their honesty and integrity? - Dave Pascoe, Press Secretary, Hartlepool Branch UK Independence Party.

LEAGUE TABLES

YOU posed the question (Echo, Dec 4) are school league tables a successful guide to parents? Looking at the pupils' achievements and rankings in two separate LEAs the results can be misleading.

Harrowgate Hill Juniors in Darlington had 67 pupils with achievements of 85 per cent, 82 per cent, 97 per cent and was ranked ninth in Darlington, which placed it in an above average position.

Chester-le-Street C of E Juniors had 66 pupils with achievements of 82 per cent, 85 per cent, 91 per cent, which placed it in a below average position.

Tow Law Millennium Primary had 13 pupils with achievements which placed it in a poor position. When you look at the collective efforts of the pupils, 161 per cent out of 300 per cent the school can be classed as average.

No one should be too concerned about school league tables because we all know that statistics can be made to prove anything. When those classed as the poorest performers can also be regarded as average we should remember that they, like all the rest, are in a period of transition and we should judge them on their final examination.

It is surprising when they all graduate from the University of Life how many of the bright students fail and those classed as low attainment students succeed. - Thomas Conlon, Spennymoor.