25/08/03

I am just a private hire part-time driver in Darlington and was previously in business for 28 years so I know all about requirements and rules.

After five years doing this job I know that the owners and drivers are hard-working people who work long and unsocial hours, sometimes for such poor money that most people would not get out of bed for.

The gentleman says in his letter that taxi drivers are the most frequent ones to break the rules, yet as I drive around Darlington I see dozens of drivers every day using mobile phones while driving, using no signals as they have only one hand on the wheel etc, also cars overtaking me while I am just inside the speed limit, and many other things.

Then he said drivers are resisting taking the DSA test. Is there any sense in men with 30 to 40-year-old clean licences with no complaints against them having to take a test and be told that it is to get rid of bad habits?

We are asked to pay out more money for this test on top of the ever-increasing cost of just being allowed to work.

The council also tells the public that they want to get rid of reckless drivers. I personally have never seen a reckless taxi driver, but if there are any they would soon be discovered and lose their jobs after complaints were made.

If the council doesn't stop hounding the taxi drivers in Darlington with more rules and expense, our Darlington public will only be able to use taxis that charge twice as much as the present rate. - Name and address supplied.

IRAQ

TONY Blair misled us to start a war with Iraq, the anti-war movement told the truth. Nothing could be clearer.

There are no weapons of mass destruction. Iraq did not try to buy uranium from Niger. The documents had been forged. Iraq could not launch a chemical attack within 45 minutes as it did not have any chemical weapons.

So why did Blair lie in order to go to war?

Former Prime Ministers Asquith and Attlee did much to improve the welfare state systems of Britain. The former introduced pensions and the latter built the welfare state. But who remembers them?

The men of history who are remembered are people such as Wellington, Nelson and Churchill, ie, men who fought wars. Obsessed with his own place in history, Mr Blair decided to go to war.

So far 8,000 people are dead and 20,000 seriously injured and history may well judge Mr Blair not to be a war hero. - John Gilmore, Bishop Auckland.

LULU

AM I alone in struggling to understand the furore concerning Lulu and her gum chewing habit?

Here is a middle-aged lady who many, many moons ago had a few hit records and yet she is pictured spitting gum out in the street. How or why did this happen?

In an echo of her long lost pop stardom is she still stalked by the papparazzi on the off chance of her behaving badly? The whole thing must be important because even Ray Mallon refers to it in his column. But, as a Yorkshireman might say, 'Eee by gum lad, I'm reet baffled by this.' - Martin Birtle, Billingham.

GROUSE SHOOTING

JOHN Haigh of the Countryside Alliance says 'new independent studies' by the Countryside Alliance demonstrate the beneficial effects of grouse shooting (HAS, Aug 15).

That's like saying independent research by the butchers' federation demonstrates the benefits of eating meat.

The Countryside Alliance is the organisation that champions shooting, so how could it possibly be said that it is independent?

I would be interested to know the views on John Haigh's claim of the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology), a truly independent body and one moreover with the necessary scientific expertise to make such a judgement.

Myself, I remain utterly convinced of the ethical unacceptability of blood sports, a conviction no amount of specious eyewash could shake. - T Kelly, Crook.

CHARITY WALK

I AM writing to encourage your readers to dust down their walking shoes and rub on the suntan cream and take part in the British Heart Foundation's Walkabout 2003 to help raise vital funds for the charity.

Walkabout 2003 is a series of over 130 fundraising walks set in some of the most picturesque countryside and park areas in Britain. You don't have to be super-fit to take part - you just need a little bit of motivation and a sense of fun.

What's more, you'll be doing your own heart some good too. It doesn't matter whether you are taking a 30-minute stroll or a ten-minute brisk walk - it's one of the best ways to get the exercise your heart needs.

Money raised from Walkabout 2003 will help the BHF continue to fund pioneering heart research, as well as educate the public and medical professionals about heart health.

For more information and to find out about the walks nearest you, call the BHF on 020 7487 9461.

Thanks for your support. - Sir Trevor Mcdonald OBE.