FIRE STRIKE: I AM a soldier's wife and my husband is at Darlington TA Centre. He's not far away, but he has been away from home for three quarters of this year already.

He is on the same pay as two years ago, but has never gone on strike because he can't.

On top of all the time he and the rest of the troops have to spend away from their families, there is now the fire strike. I support him with all my heart, but where is the end? My kids want to spend time with their dad and I want to spend time with my husband. How about Christmas?

I think the firefighters should get back to work and do their job. I work for the council and we've had many cutbacks, and after my pay rise I am £28-a-month better off. Wow!

Thank you for listening. - Name and address supplied.

AFTER a breakdown of talks last Friday, John Prescott said quite rightly that no one had provided him with costings of the proposed pay rise.

Has anyone done costings for the prospective war with Iraq? Which is liable to cost more? - K Snowdon, Middlesbrough.

I MUST condemn the hypocritical stance taken by the Government. MPs have recently taken a 40 per cent pay increase in one go. The same inquiry team recommended a 40 per cent increase for firefighters. According to our very own MPs, this was far too much and the country cannot afford it.

Now a 16 per cent increase has been mentioned as a satisfactory settlement. Once again, according to the Government, this is still not affordable.

Firefighters may only work a four-day week - although they do work long hours - but our MPs are just about to vote themselves a three-day working week, complete with perks and a whopping pension.

Today, we find New Labour in power, the party of the working man. I don't think so. More like watered-down Tories with an 'I'm alright Jack' attitude.

Probably Mr Blair would say 'how can I find a modest amount for firefighters when I have to spend billions of pounds on bombing Iraq alongside Mr Bush?'

If firefighters are not at work they are missed tremendously. If MPs are not at work, does anyone miss them? - Jeff Ashton, Darlington.

WHAT is it with Peter Mullen (Echo, Nov 26)? What right does he have to claim in his piece about the firefighter's cause: "Everyone knows that the schools and hospitals are a shambles."?

Many dedicated teachers and nurses - from the entire political spectrum - know what to make of sweeping statements like that.

Why does he not keep his opinions to himself, at least during the festive season, unless they contribute positively to a serious issue.

Goodwill to all, I say (even to Peter Mullen)! - Ben Andriessen, Ramshaw, Bishop Auckland.

PRESUMABLY all those firefighters who are willing to strike for what looks like forever more can afford to do so. This means that they must have enough money saved, so they can't be too poorly paid.

Peter Mullen (Echo, Nov 26) was right to say that "firefighters have no moral right to strike". I am reminded of mob mentality. - Alfred H Lister, Guisborough.

CAN somebody please explain how our nation can plough millions of pounds into things like Railtrack and the Millennium Dome and billions of pounds into helping George Bush blow Iraq apart and nothing is said about the economy?

Yet when 52,000 firefighters ask for a wage rise, mortgage rates, interest rates and council taxes will have to rise and the stability of Britain's economy is in danger.

Why are the Government and police so suddenly interested in prosecuting hoax callers when neither have exactly gone out of their way to do this before? - Ian Welch, Durham.

WHAT a shame firemen cannot afford to live on their wage of over £400-a-week and the derisory offer of 16 per cent. It isn't only working firemen that get this rise, as all the retired firemen will as well. It is people with a lot less money to live on who are going to have to pay for it. Spare a thought for this pensioner who received four per cent. This, to me, was a rise of less than £4. But my rent went up £2, my council tax £2 and so did my water rates. My small private pension went up 49p-a-month.

I think it is time that pensioners took some form of action. Think what would happen if all pensioners decided one Friday at about two o'clock to use every pedestrian crossing in the country. There wouldn't be much moving for a while. - Name and address supplied.

IT'S bad logic for Hugh Pender, (HAS, Nov 21) to compare himself as a pensioner with the firemen. A pensioner, and I'm one, has nothing like the out-goings of a working person and I say we pensioners are better off now than we've ever been. We get all sorts of perks which the working person doesn't. - R Lewis, Birtley.

A BALANCED and fair editorial (Echo, Nov 27) was spoilt by the deeply cynical ending. The vast majority of public service workers have already settled for one or two years ahead. The firefighters are recognised by the TUC and its affiliated unions as an exceptional case that cannot establish a precedent for others to follow.

Why is this? Firefighters have had no reward for the last 25 years of improved efficiency and modernisation. The current pay formula ridiculously compares them to semi-skilled labourers. There has to be an agreement that relates to the technical skills now involved in firefighting with biological and chemical de-contamination, etc.

The Government will find it quite impossible convincing people that fire protection services can be maintained with fewer fire engines and firefighters.

Sixteen per cent over two years with jointly agreed modernisation and a fire service budget expanding to meet the threats of international terrorism seems sensible enough to me. - Stuart Hill, Darlington.