HUTTON INQUIRY: I THOUGHT Tony Blair gave strong, convincing answers when he appeared before the Hutton Inquiry (Echo, Aug 29).

As Prime Minister, he fully accepted responsibility for Government decisions.

He saw Saddam Hussain as a unique threat and thought it right to take military action against him.

It was also important for the Government to avoid any suggestion of a cover-up with regard to Dr David Kelly.

Mr Blair has been described as a brilliant politician. For myself, I find him to be an honest, hard-working leader. - LD Wilson, Guisborough.

ROYAL MAIL

NICK Morrison (Echo, Aug 28) did not mention one very important aspect of Royal Mail's pay policy.

The Royal Mail senior executives have seen their pay rise by 350 per cent in the past two years.

Chief executive Adam Crozier received a bonus of £57,000 after just two months in office, and he and his deputy Elmar Taime are the UK's most highly-paid public servants, each on a basic salary of £500,000.

This is the management that is trying to tell the Communications Workers Union and the whole Royal Mail workforce that they can't afford a decent no-strings pay offer. - Name and address supplied.

BBC

WHEN criticising the Government, BBC reporters are keen to use the term "a waste of taxpayers' money".

Would, I wonder, they be as keen to get the balance right and state "a waste of licence-fee payers' money".

During the recent IAAF World Championship Athletics in Paris I counted no less than eight, possibly ten, reporting on this event.

I recall David Coleman doing a fine job on his own.

I also wonder why on Breakfast TV, two newsreaders sit and watch another read the news.

Instead of trying to play Big Brother to the Government it's time they got their own house in order. - J Squire, Durham.

EDUCATION

I'M writing following the newspaper reports concerning Ofstead Chief Executive David Bell's comments on the communication and behavioural skills among five-year-olds. Rather than simply blaming parents for the current situation, schools need to work in partnership with parents to provide the best for children's education.

By suggesting that a divide exists between the two or that either party is working towards anything other than providing the best start for today's youngsters, risks damaging the good work being done by both parents and schools.

Children develop at very different speeds and in very different ways. Surely this is something that should be celebrated rather than pouring more pressure onto parents, some of whom will already be struggling with difficult work-life balances, to produce carbon copy children who are all performing to a set standard by the age of four. - Jan Fry, Parentline Plus.

SPEED LIMITS

I AM greatly saddened to hear of yet another case where police officers escape the law as a result of their position.

Firstly, there was the officer who avoided prosecution because he stated he did not know who was driving his car.

Now two North Yorkshire policemen have avoided prosecution because of differences in the camera signs.

They were "caught speeding" so they should take their medicine as any "ordinary" person caught offending should do.

If the police are to be respected as they should be, these loopholes should be closed and the three officers should accept that they broke the law and should take their medicine. - WR Lawson, Darlington.

SPEED limits are designated to save lives and prevent accidents. No one wants heavy lorries belting through residential areas at 70 or 80mph, or cars doing over 100mph.

Millions of speed signs showing a limit of 30 or 40mph are enough to let most motorists know what their limit should be and are accepted by most of them as law.

If two police officers knew that signs with a camera had the wrong coloured paint and were illegal, they should have informed the authorities responsible for them and not let the police prosecute many motorists for breaking a law that did not exist, until they themselves broke the law they were supposed to uphold.

Similarly, a high-ranking officer could not be prosecuted for breaking the speed limit because he could not remember who was driving his car or where he was at that time.

Ninety-nine per cent of the population believe that the police do a wonderful and dangerous job and we would not have the civilised society which we are very fortunate to live in if it were not for them. But it is about time that a discipline procedure was instigated that would prevent the very tiny minority of police dragging down the good names of all the other honest, hard-working members of the force. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.