CABINET RESHUFFLE: TONY Blair promised reforms to the House of Lords as part of his manifesto leading up to the last elections and most people thought that meant a reduction in their present powers followed by making it into an elected chamber.

He's making changes all right. He is taking Secretaries of State out of the House of Commons and putting them into the House of Lords. Clare Short's post has gone to the Lords, and we now have his old room mate and buddy Lord Falconer running a new Department for Constitutional Affairs, also being run from the Lords and covering England, Scotland and Wales.

Once more it is Mr Blair in total control, and not the Commons.

Alan Milburn, Secretary of State for Health, has left whilst the going is good because it is all rubbish that everything is improving in the NHS.

The only time waiting lists go down is if they are for a serious illness and the public find that a long waiting list exists - then it is reduced with great publicity and everyone is told that it is due to all the extra money being put into the health service.

The money is there all right, but only spent when people find there is a long waiting list for some illness. - Peter Dolan, Newton Aycliffe.

I CANNOT say I agree with Alan Milburn's general position in politics of support for the reformist agenda of the present Labour leadership.

I do support the increased resources going into the NHS, but I am against the private finance initiative, foundation hospitals and the over-centralised control of health.

I have noticed Alan Milburn for a long time and that he has always had a good grasp of his brief. He works from facts and careful analysis. He has a scientific frame of mind. He may lack charisma, but he makes up for it with his enthusiasm for the greater potential for everyone to enjoy a greater quality of life through the applications of technology.

He has qualities which sooner or later will attract the business world. He is ambitious, sees the big picture, and has the confidence to push through his ideas. He may return to politics at a high level, but I would not discount a business career.

With regard to family, there is no doubt that the life of any man lucky enough to have a good partner and children would be a waste if it was so devoted to public affairs that the children grow up without any input from him.

I think that your editorial comment that there is no hidden agenda is spot on. He can now spend more time with his family and I am sure still make a worthwhile contribution from the back benches. - Geoffrey Bulmer, Billingham.

MICHAEL Meacher was a lot greener than the Labour Government, but he had very little impact.

With or without Michael Meacher, the Government is still building roads, expanding airports, promoting GM foods and dragging its feet on non-nuclear renewables.

Mr Meacher won praise from a lot of environmentalists, but he still did the Government's dirty work over the Home Energy Conservation Bill.

His demise is the final nail in the coffin of New Labour's green pretensions.

With or without Mr Meacher, Labour environment policy has always been and remains far more spin than substance. - Nic Best, NE England Green Party, Northumberland.

SCHOOL CLOSURES

HAVING seen an extract of the "consultation" document produced by Durham County Council regarding the surplus capacity in schools, it is little wonder that it did not want the details disclosed.

The spurious basis for many of the proposed closures is a "calculation" of surplus places based upon a relationship between the floor area of the schools and the number of pupils that could be taught in that space.

There is no recognition of the use that is made of the space and, perversely, this rationale penalises those schools that have transformed "dead spaces" into useful learning spaces, created separate ICT suites to encourage computer use, developed libraries to support literacy, and separate learning areas for specific subjects.

Essentially we are now seeing the economics of the battery farm applied to our classrooms.

The county council should be ashamed that this incomplete document ever saw the light of day and order an immediate rethink. - M Henderson, Durham.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

YOUR report (Echo, June 9) on the North of England Victims' Association conference must have stirred pity in many readers.

We live in a society which, rightly or wrongly, is turning away from punishment. The very word is little heard nowadays among the chattering classes.

Shortage of prison space is forcing moderation in custodial sentences, and a growing number of influential public figures claims to doubt its propriety.

Meanwhile, there is continued growth in associations dedicated to the defence of criminals.

So the victims are destined to see increased leniency being shown to the villains, whatever measures emerge from Lord Falconer's soothing words. - Bob Jarratt, Caldwell, Richmond.