Hear All Sides

MMR

WE have been bombarded with the case for and against giving children the MMR jab.

Tony Blair, hiding behind the "right of privacy", will invade the privacy of every family in the UK if he feels like it, and insists that there's nothing wrong with the vaccination.

There may not be anything wrong with it, but, during my lifetime, there have been three big government denials that bear thinking about.

The British Nuclear Veterans' Association has been fighting for its members who have contracted cancers, some of which may be due to radiation. The Government and MoD says there's no scientific proof of a connection.

Many soldiers, vets of the Gulf War, were fed a cocktail of drugs for the war zone and contracted various illnesses on returning to the UK. Again, there's said to be no scientific proof of a connection.

Now, parents are being told that the cocktail of drugs, which is MMR, is perfectly safe and there is no connection between it and autism.

Is it any wonder that the Government is disbelieved? Even if there were an announcement from Downing Street with a fanfare of trumpets that Leo had been inoculated, how many parents would believe, wholeheartedly, after all this time?

All parents are asking for is the right of choice. - ME Harris, Darlington

BLUE CIRCLE

LAFARGE, which bought out Blue Circle Cement, wishes to open a cement unloading facility at Seaham Docks. This will, the company says, unload cement shipped from other plants in the UK, via Grimsby and Leith docks, to make up for the shortfall due to the closure of the Weardale plant.

Who, in their right minds, would load cement onto transport in Derbyshire, take it to Grimsby, transfer it to a ship, take it the short distance up the coast to Seaham by sea, and then again transfer it back to rail or road transport, when it could have been left on its original transport for the short journey, avoiding the cost of the unnecessary two transfers?

The proposed facility at Seaham is obviously a ploy to get people used to seeing cement coming in by sea, and Lafarge would undoubtedly soon switch to imports from its own production facilities in France.

Lafarge would then have not one, but three port facilities for importing cement on the east coast.

Its next move would be to shut down production facilities in Derbyshire and Scotland, as it is obvious that the only reason that it acquired Blue Circle Cement was to obtain its distribution network.

Lafarge's true motives are also confirmed by the fact that it will not sell the Weardale plant and allow production to continue.

Now that Lafarge is reducing British production of cement, the Government should step in and warn Lafarge and its associated companies that they will not be allowed to import cement at any time in the future. - RW Alexander, Darlington.

CHURCH VALUES

IN the At Your Service (Echo, Feb 9), which chronicled the 150 years of St Mary Magdalene Church, Belmont, the Reverend Lawrence Pickles was quoted in 1949 as saying that 85 of the population of the parish were of low mentality. This demonstrates the attitude of the church at the time, which was more concerned with promoting middle-class values than championing the causes of those who had to leave school at 14 for a life down the pit.

I recall the Rev Pickles once approaching me on the way to work and remarking that he had not seen me in church. "No vicar," I replied. "And I haven't seen you in the Travellers Rest."

The people of 'low mentality' went on to raise funds and build a thriving workingmen's club, providing a welcome focus for the community. The church went on to sell its extensively-used scout hut for a tidy profit without replacing this facility for young people.

My prayers will continue to be said in the club. - Eric Clough, Durham.

AMY GEHRING

IN the aftermath of the Amy Gehring case, a TV interviewer used words like "sordid" and "appalling" to describe Miss Gehring's conduct. What I find appalling is the alacrity, even downright hypocrisy, of the interviewer concerned and no doubt others, in jumping on to the moral high ground.

If you use words like those of Miss Gehring's really quite minor lapses, how do you describe the real dangers to our children: the vicious, systematic paedophiles who, in our lifetime, have infested all the so-called "caring" professions?

I have to admit that, on seeing Miss Gehring's photograph, I wished I had had a teacher like that when I was 15.

I hope what has happened has been a learning experience for Miss Gehring and I wish her every success and happiness in her future career. - T Kelly, Crook.

GOVERNMENT PRIORITIES

I THINK Tony Blair, instead of handing so much money to African states which are now independent, should stay at home. So many elderly people are having to stay in hospital because there are no residential homes for them to go to.

Some of the money going to Africa should be spent on updating these homes to help our own people, instead of them worrying, not knowing where they are to go next. - H Allinson, Darlington.

INTERNET MARRIAGE

BUSINESSWOMAN Kay Hammond is prepared to marry whoever makes the highest bid for her on the Internet (Echo, Jan 29). Is she greedy for money, desperate for publicity or just plain stupid?

Surely her self-esteem can't be so desperately low that she is ready to give herself to a complete stranger.

The men who are prepared to bid £250,000 for her are equally to blame. No wonder marriage is being trivialised these days. Such antics are worse than forced or arranged marriages. - EA Moralee, Billingham.