JEFFREY Archer's picture (Echo, Aug 20) shows a man still full of himself. This neither shocks nor surprises me. Why? There is no knocking down the Archers of this world down.

Parasites there always will be in this world of ours and there will be many of them still keen to mix with Jeffrey Archer soon after, well-heeled, he gets out of jail. - Alfred H Lister, Guisborough.

TV SOAPS

IT is interesting that clergymen are to take lessons from TV soap EastEnders on how Christianity is viewed by society (Echo, Aug 17). The idea of clergymen updating their methods of teaching through studying soaps and the themes they highlight should make for a challenging study course.

As far as EastEnders and other soaps are concerned, they have covered just about every issue of the day, except one, which I don't think has been properly portrayed and made a central issue of a story line. I refer to a truly Christian person or family and the positive effect they can have on a community. I'm not talking about the comic, Bible-quoting Dot Cotton, or the ill-fated Walford church group, which turned out to be a cult - an example of how Christianity is usually portrayed; twist it and make it weird and unpleasant.

How about writers and producers grasping the nettle of centring on no illicit sex, non-violent, completely honest, good living, thoroughly nice outgoing Christian characters just for once? Give audiences something decent to emulate for a change. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

MODERN POLITICS

TO avoid railway track-laying areas, party political delegates are being offered special trains to their conferences, while no doubt everybody else unwise enough to book up for the same routes will be chucked out into replacement buses.

The politicians already are isolated enough from the public's transport problems without the need for this extra elitist treatment.

Democracy has become a shame and a scandal because its representatives no longer experience the daily life of the common people, and, indeed, often go into politics to escape it. Voter apathy is bound to increase if we see our leaders riding not only upon special railway trains, but on any other available gravy train as well. - E Turnbull, Gosforth.

FUND-RAISING

WE live our lives from day to day taking the finer things for granted. That was us until the day we were told that our unborn son would need surgery at birth and the outcome might not be as we could hope for.

Last August our second beautiful baby was born at the RVI, Newcastle. For two weeks we prayed and pleaded with whoever would be listening above to let us have our son and for his brother to know him. We brought him home to an army of supporters, including his dear grandparents and great grandparent.

The care given to him from the surgeons, nurses and paediatricians was second to none. Their kindness will always be with us.

We decided to fund raise for the children's ward and children's intensive care unit at the RVI. The support from family, neighbours and friends was astonishing. Neighbours who we had never met, children from the local football team (Spennymoor Under-12s) helped us to raise a total of £923.

Life with our two sons is fantastic. Never again will we take life for granted.

In the last year we have been shown a world of support and love and because of this we will be forever grateful. Our faith in human nature has definitely been restored and we are stronger thanks to the special people we have had surrounding us during the last year when we felt there was no hope or reason to go on.

Thanks to you all. - Dawn, Nigel, Lewis and Curtis Tweddall, Kirk Merrington.

THE COUNTRYSIDE

THE way the people from the Countryside Alliance go on, you'd think the Government wants to ban farming.

Instead, all that is proposed is that these people - who claim to love all things 'country' - will be prevented from indulging in their horribly outdated idea of 'fun' - that of hunting down and allowing their dogs to tear apart our native wildlife.

As people who have done their research will know, studies have shown that hunting with dogs does not help keep the fox population down. It is well known that hunters actually encourage animals to breed so there are plenty for their sport season.

The more foxes are killed, the more rabbits there will be, which farmers also hate. It is upsetting the balance of nature, which, if left alone, takes care of itself. It is also such rubbish that thousands will lose their jobs. The people who hunt have well-paid jobs in the towns and cities. They don't all work 'on the land' as they would have us believe.

As the hares, foxes, rabbits and deer of this country don't have a voice or the liberty to speak for themselves, as the hunters do, it is up to decent people in this country to stand up for them and to prevent those who still wish to kill animals for fun and to put them firmly where they belong - in the past. This is the enlightened 21st century, where we respect the creatures of this world's right to life. Support the hunting ban. - Name and address supplied.

E STEELE (HAS, Aug 18) asks whether I advocate the snaring or shooting of foxes in urban areas. Can I make it clear, as a full-time professional wildlife consultant, that I believe killing or harming foxes is totally unnecessary either in towns or the countryside.

In London and the South-East fox populations are declining as more and more local councils replace plastic rubbish bags with wheelie-bins, thereby depriving scavengers such as foxes of huge amounts of food. When food is scarce vixens either have smaller litters or are barren, thus naturally reducing the population density.

On his other point, as E Steele confesses he knows nothing about hunting.

Can I advise him that when fox hunting is banned, the fox population will decline in rural areas, as fox hunters are the only group of people in Britain with a vested interest in encouraging an unnaturally high fox numbers for their 'sport'.

Finally, with regard to the recent sensational press reports of 'fox savages baby' in Kent, the doctor concerned stated that the injuries were not serious and amounted to 'indentations' .

Neighbours have since alleged that the culprit was a German Shepherd and have expressed anger at the pointless slaughter of two local foxes by a so-called pest controller who was so keen to get in on the act that he didn't even charge for his services. - John Bryant, Plumstead, London.