Hear All Sides: BILLINGHAM FORUM

He says: "The central issue in all of this is that the Forum buildings are in a poor condition."

Surely the central issue must be why did Stockton Borough Council allow them to fall into such poor condition in the first place?

Is it another case of Billingham being the poor relation? - N Taylor, Billingham.

SINGLE CURRENCY

THOSE who are for the euro and those who are against adopting the currency need to take long-term views of the situation.

After all, it is 50 years since the first step, ten since the Maastricht treaty and three since accounting in euros started.

Just as it takes time to out problems in the individual countries, it takes time for problems to be ironed out in the European Union.

The advantage of the union is a more cohesive approach to dealing with problems.

It is right to say that the US is still more economically important in the global economy with high self-generated consumer demand. However, we have to remember that the US has had over 100 years of common currency and the community needs time to play catch up.

Over the past three years there has been a significant increase in cross border trade, starting from a low base .

This is an encouraging start to the self-generated consumer demand that starts to reduce the dependence on export markets to provide jobs and income.

In response to the decline in Gross Domestic Product from 1999 to 2000, the US Federal reserve cut interest rates a number of times to stimulate the American economy.

The European Central Bank has cut rates fewer times and has achieved a marginally better increase in GDP than America, whose graph is still on the downward trend.

The EU seeks stability within the system and is not intent on going all out for growth. There are problems with each policy but the key as far as the EU is concerned is to move forward at a sustainable pace.

That is what 'prudence' is all about and it is why at some stage we will adopt the euro and play a full part in the building of a second major economic player in the world. - Bill Morehead, Darlington.

ANIMAL WELFARE

I HAVE lived in the heart of the country all of my life. My greatest pleasure has always been to see and hear the wildlife around me and their way of coping in every season never ceases to amaze me.

Why should some people consider themselves so superior that they should wish to control other species?

Could it be an excuse for the lust to kill for pleasure or money or maybe both?

The words 'humanely', 'with sensitivity' and 'respect' are used. Well, I see nothing to constitute that in traps and snares with animals ' stomachs cut open, tongues bitten through, throats cut open, strangled, caught by the leg with the bone growing over, dying from dehydration and so it goes on.

There is far too much suffering and killing to constitute any sort of control by man, other species are cleverer than man by far.

Leave them all alone and ban all of these barbaric instruments of torture. - Brenda Scragg, Bishop Auckland.

RETIREMENT AGE

PERHAPS it is time to look at the retiring age for members of the Royal Family, county and district councillors and MPs.

I think 65 seems a good age. What do others think? The age should be decided by the people, not those in question.

We should also set a wage for councillors. If it doesn't suit them, then they should retire or resign. Their wage should be deducted when they miss meetings.

The tax payers are the paymasters and call the tune. - CM Johnson, Bedale.

HOUSING POLICY

HYPOCRITICAL MPs have derided the Royal Family for living cheaply in London, while many of them were living for free in union-sponsored accommodation.

John Prescott, who has enjoyed 35 years free housing with the RMT and several big houses throughout England, will now force key workers to live in so-called affordable housing in the South-East.

In an acknowledgement of their importance to our society, teachers, police, doctors and nurses will be placed into cheap cramped accommodation.

They deserve the same choice as we expect. With cheap money readily available, cheap becomes expensive as the market drives prices up. Raise the interest rate and low paid workers can't afford it.

It's absurd to think those in charge can't change national pay scales to allow key workers to afford existing housing in the South-East. Why build more houses in an already crowded area?

Let's be honest, the Government found billions of pounds of public money for an army of backroom bureaucrats to monitor key worker activities, thus denying front line finance to the very people and services the public want the money to go to.

In a free society, you surely can't tell folk where to live.- J Tague, Chairman, Bishop Auckland Branch, Conservative Party.