Minimum Wage

The idea that people should not have to work for poverty wages goes back to the age of Dickens. So it look a very long time to bring in a minimum wage level which Scrooge bosses were forced to pay.

But it goes without saying that if that level is too low, it doesn't do much to help the lowest paid.

The minimum wage for over-21s is about to go up by the magnificent sum of 10p to £4.20 - a mere £160 for a full 39-hour week.

It isn't possible to live on that sort of money at the start of the 21st Century. All you can do is survive, scrimping and counting every penny, constantly worrying not just about the future but how to get through the next few days.

The TUC will call on the Government to increase the minimum wage to £5. That isn't a fortune.

Before the minimum wage was introduced, employers warned that it would drive firms to bankruptcy and force thousands of workers on to the dole. Both threats have been baseless.

Raising the present level to a fiver won't cause companies to collapse, either. But it would help the poorest workers in our country.

Tony Blair puts a lot of effort into the war on terror, if he only put the same effort in to fight poverty, the people Tony Blair and Gordon Brown say they most want to help. - DT Murray, Coxhoe, Durham.

REGIONAL GOVERNMENT

THE massed ranks of pro-regionalisation supporters approached for comment following the recent comments of the CBI (Echo, Sept 24) must be delighted that they can indulge their mock indignation and avoid the real issue, thanks to the smokescreen the CBI has provided.

As I understand it, the CBI opposes an elected regional assembly on the grounds of the doubtful competence of the likely assembly members (few would argue). Instead, it proposed that the existing unelected quangos such as One NorthEast and the existing RDAs be allowed to stay in place 'without political interference'.

Never was a debate more deliberately misrepresented.

If democratic rule is to prevail we should not only reject completely the proposals for elected regional assemblies, but also sweep aside the existing morass of quangos, RDAs, which are as useless as they are undemocratic.

Democratically accountable local government (parish, town, city and county councils) as currently constitutionally established are sufficient alone to meet our needs. We need fewer politicians, not more. - Dave Pascoe, Press Secretary, UK Independence Party, Hartlepool Branch.

SAFEWAY STORE

THE letter from Conservative Party member Charles Johnson (HAS, Sept 24) is full of untruths.

Safeway itself decided to close its Queen Street store and the crche in Victoria Road.

I am sure many of its customers will understandably have strong views about this.

Safeway's action has nothing to do with anything that the council has done. We actively encourage business in Darlington. - John Williams, Leader of the Council, Darlington.

BBC RADIO CLEVELAND

THE treatment meted out to Alan Wright beggars belief.

Coming so soon after the disappearance of Keith Proud, the heart has been taken from BBC Radio Cleveland.

We are waiting to hear if Alan signs up for another station - if he does we and many friends will follow him. - J Sergeant, Darlington.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

IT was good to read the reports of commemorative services for the heroes of the Battle of Britain (Echo, Sept 16). With so much happening in the world and the over-exposure of special anniversary commemorations of September 11 on television and in the newspapers, it is a wonder anyone remembered those desperate days of 60 years ago.

Year by year the number of people with first hand memories of the Second World War grow fewer. Those who lost loved ones can still bring to mind the courage and sacrifice of The Few. This being so, it was all the more poignant to see that the precious lives that came to an end so long ago are still thought of and honourably and proudly remembered. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

SINGLE CURRENCY

PAUL Leake (HAS, Sept 10) is wrong to say that manufacturing is suffering because of Britain staying outside the euro. The problems faced by manufacturing are caused less by the strong pound, which has been stable against the dollar recently, and more by the fact that the euro is so weak.

Investment in Britain is at its highest level for 40 years and foreign direct investment has risen to record levels since the euro's launch. Invest UK figures show that direct investment rose by 36 per cent in 2000, reaching a record £341bn, and Britain attracts over 40 per cent of US investment into the EU.

Investment depends on stability and flexibility, both of which would be jeopardised inside the euro. Our lower corporate taxes and relatively flexible labour markets are cited by businesses as a major reason for greater investment here.

The most important thing for British manufacturing is economic stability and the best way to maintain this is by keeping control of our interest rates and taxation by keeping the pound. The same people who are calling for us to join the euro were also calling for us to join the ERM. Then we were promised economic stability through currency stability, but the result was a disaster because we had to accept the wrong interest rate. Let us learn the lessons of ten years ago and not make the same mistake again.

The British economy is doing well outside the eurozone, but replacing the pound with the euro would be the quickest way to return to boom and bust. - John Elliott, Chairman, No Campaign North-East.