13/11/03

Mr Brown and Tony Blair admitted so themselves in 1997, that they had inherited an economy that was stable with interests rates and unemployment already under control and people had, although not necessarily in our region, more disposable income.

Inflation was also at a good level. It is a myth of only the prejudiced left that still believes the economy of Britain was badly placed in 1997.

Would Messrs Brown and Blair have faired so well in 1979, with 30 per cent inflation, weekly strikes, appalling productivity levels and a nation falling behind drastically?

Would they have made the tough choices needed to drag the nation, by the scruff of the neck, to wake up and compete and the investment will come?

Like previous Labour governments, New Labour has set the ticking bombs away for some other suckers to sort out and take blame. Pensions and care for the elderly to name two.

New Labour's longevity has much to do with its inheritance, very little yet to do with policy of its own making. - Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland Conservatives.

GHOST SHIPS

PEOPLE of Hartlepool have had to put up with statements from Friends of the Earth.

Quite rightly precautions have to taken at the shipyard, and they are already in hand. You don't need scaremongering; you need, and deserve, some prosperity.

For goodness sake use your common sense. This lucrative contract was won against competition.

By all means do insist on high levels of protection, do watch like a hawk, but don't drive away jobs. Become the world leaders, prove you can do it and do it safely.

Pollution is a danger to the whole planet no matter where it occurs. Better to be doing this work here than on some Third World beach. - G Wild, Richmond.

IMMIGRATION

I AM surprised by Tony Kelly's claims (HAS, Nov 11) that English is not a hybrid language.

The land has been invaded by Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Vikings and finally the Normans, all of whom have left discernible marks on our language.

One has only to check in a dictionary which gives such details to realise that we have assimilated parts of all of these sources. If we speak a Germanic language why do so many words have French and Latin roots?

One has simply to consider our bizarre spelling and pronunciation, impossible for foreigners to grasp, and what about our many strange plurals?

Compare English with German or Italian, where by following a few simple guide rules, one can pronounce the words correctly without having any understanding of their meaning.

Mr Kelly is resorting to desperate measures to boost his concept of "Englishness". - Eric Gendle, Nunthorpe.

T KELLY (HAS, Nov 11) is correct when he writes that 19th century Irish immigrants "showed a willingness to assimilate and to obey the law of the land".

However, he fails to mention the fact that, while doing this, they were subject to the same lies, racial hatred, exploitation, verbal and physical abuse, cultural and racial stereotyping that many people are now showing to refugees, asylum seekers, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and those belonging to other faiths, races and ethnic groups. - CT Riley, Spennymoor.

IDENTITY CARDS

WHAT is all the fuss about? I carried an ID card for many years as an MOD worker and so do many other people in their lines of work.

When I retired, I received a DSS entitlement card, I stuck a passport size photo on the back with my signature and then had it laminated.

I still have the National Identity card that I was issued with during the war. Admittedly it doesn't have my finger print or anything else impressed on it, but if I had to I would be in the queue. I've got nothing to hide.

We could also have our blood grouping and donor details put on it. After all, what is another piece of plastic in our purse or wallet?

It's not Big Brother, just commonsense. - A Saunders, Richmond.

FIREWORKS

TONY Blair and his Government are against hunting with dogs, saying it is cruel.

It is, however, a natural thing which has been happening since time began.

Aren't the endless barrage of fireworks more cruel and unnatural?

Isn't it time he got his act together and his priorities right? - E Bowen, Darlington.

CONSERVATIVE PARTY

AS a member of the Liberal Democrats, I have had a vote in the last three elections for the leader of our party.

Therefore, it is with some amazement that I watch the manoeuvres within the Tory Party.

One leader - elected by the membership - is knifed in the back and his successor is crowned without the ordinary party members having a vote. If Conservative MPs cannot trust their members to support their choice, can they really expect the electorate to have confidence in him?

Michael Howard was fifth when William Hague was selected and did not stand when IDS was elected.

The Tories are going back to a Thatcherite yesterday's man to rescue them from the electoral abyss into which they are about to fall. - Brian Fiske, Vice Chairman. Darlington Liberal Democrats.

REGIONAL GOVERNMENT

IN all the fuss about thumbs up or thumbs down for the proposed regional assembly (Echo, Nov 4), one thing John Prescott has been very careful not to highlight is the fact that Europe demands that the UK become a group of regions rather than a united country.

Maps produced in Brussels depicting the EU already show Britain divided into regions. The name England does not appear on these maps. As far as our European overlords are concerned, the deed is already done before any referendum is held. They have no doubts that Mr Blair and his henchmen will deliver the goods for them.

This is not a matter of giving the North-East more say in its affairs, as is being claimed. It is a matter of breaking up the UK into bite-sized bits as Brussels decrees. After all, let's face it, if Mr Blair signs up to the proposed European constitution, as he most certainly will, again without the will of the people, regional assemblies and also the Westminster parliament will be mere rubber stamps to what the European parliament decides. - EA Moralee, Billingham.