I HAVE not yet seen the itinerary for the visit of the Queen to Darlington next week so perhaps I can suggest the following:

Councillor John Williams and his cabinet could show her around our clean and tidy bus station. At the same time they could explain the reason for the bomb site opposite in Feethams.

Her next port of call should be the South Park, where she would see the results of mindless vandalism and years of neglect.

Along High Row she may wonder where all the good shops are, and she may well ask why Dressers is still boarded up after so many months. She will need to avoid the many cyclists who use it as a racetrack. Of course, she can buy a copy of "bigissuemate!"

Provided she is wearing strong shoes she should visit Post House Wynd - the cobble stones are a real hazard.

She will need to be nimble footed to avoid the piles of dog dirt and litter. She may be accosted by a beggar - "got any change mate" or she can listen to another trying to sing.

In Skinnergate, she will be met by more litter, and she will need to be extremely careful of the young motorists (after 4pm) who are all trying to be budding Michael Schumachers.

In Gladstone Street, she will see the eyesore of the boarded up residential home - one of five closed by our "caring councillors". She may well ask where the frail and elderly people of the town are now housed.

Our MP Alan Milburn can tell her that they are "bed blocking" the Memorial Hospital thus lengthening the waiting lists.

I am sure other readers will have some other suggestions for places for her to visit. - R Elliott, Darlington.

FRENCH ELECTIONS

ALTHOUGH I disagree with Jean-Marie Le Pen, I can't believe the far right is being singled out.

Extreme politicians, be they Marxist, communist, crackpot Trotskyists on the left or the equally despicable Nazis and fascists on the right, have all carried out horrendous acts of cruelty. Left and Right extreme politics, I see no difference.

If we are to blame nationalism for all evils, then surely devolution and regional government are all, in a way, a form of nationalism, and/or local pride. Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein, they all want what's best for their respective countries.

Nobody likes the BNP, but again we see politicians being politically correct, bypassing the real issues and fears of the man on the street. Crime and parental behaviour, along with asylum seekers, are serious issues and for as long as politicians hide from real reform and debate, you leave the door open to the extremist.

Don't blame an apathetic public, start looking at the politicians. The lefty liberals for 30 years have created the mess.

They sided with every wrong-doer, resulting in generations that simply don't respect authority or society, while the good people are branded racist for saying "Come on England". - Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland.

HEALTH SERVICE

IT seems remarkable that South African hospitals have the capacity to operate on patients sent from this country.

It is even more remarkable, given the fact that a large number of doctors and surgeons have already been encouraged to leave the country to work in the NHS.

Do the South African hospitals really have surplus capacity or is the work being taken on at the expense of poor black children with congenital heart disease?

I have great sympathy for patients awaiting surgery but I would hate to think that people from a wealthy country are receiving treatment in the hospitals of a poor country at the expense of the most underprivileged people in that country. There are a few questions here about the conflict between political expediency and ethical foreign policy. - Carl Watson, Darlington.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

WHO exactly is punishing who? (Echo, Apr 26) A well known thief with dozens of convictions steals a can of spaghetti worth £1.

The police and the shop he stole it from were no doubt aware he was guilty again, but he decided to be tried by jury, and fines the taxpayer £8,000.

Unless the law is changed there is nothing to stop other people doing the same thing every week if they want to get revenge on the stupid judicial system.

Surely if a person who knows he is guilty of an offence and decides to be tried by jury hoping he will con them into believing he is innocent he should be made to pay double the amount that the taxpayer has to cough up.

It is about time that the taxpayer stopped paying the fine imposed on them by guilty criminals. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

MO MOWLAM

MO Mowlam states that when she entered the Maze Prison she felt a bit of trepidation being among such dangerous and brutal killers.

I notice she freed them though, and presented them with £3,900 settling-in allowance.

"It was in line with the Good Friday Peace Agreement," she claims.

The Peace Agreement also stated that the IRA was to surrender its arms by a certain date. They have not done so. I have not heard Mo Mowlam question Gerry Adams on the matter.

She claims she was left out of Tony's consideration. She was offered the Ministry of Health. It was good enough for Nye Bevan. - Jim Ross, Rowlands Gill.