Hear all sides

STOP the bombing campaigners seem to forget one date - September 11 - when 5,000 innocent people lost their lives, with relatives of the victims unable to bury their loved ones because of the horrendous density of such a perverted deed.

They are the same whingers who were up in arms about this country's involvement in the Gulf War and Kosovo.

Saddam Hussein, who started the Gulf War, starves his own people to fund his passion for chemical weapons, then blames the Western world for imposing sanctions.

Milosevic, blamed for the conflict in Kosovo, ordered his soldiers to rape and kill, then bury the bodies in mass graves.

Bin Laden and Mullah Omar played a part in New York's wicked atrocities.

It beggars belief how some people can give the slightest support to these evil perpetrators who stand on the same pedestal as Hitler.

Who started this latest conflict? Not America or Britain, but it will be Britain which saves thousands of lives through humanitarian aid, something denied the Afghan people by the faceless, yellow cowards of bin Laden's network. - JL Thompson, Crook.

RAIL SERVICES

YOUR comment (Echo, Nov 19) was fair in respect of the fact that Railtrack is not blameless over the current problems. The management team must be held to account for a lot of the present issues. However, Stephen Byers' handling of matters means any future private investment will have to be hard won.

In Sir Richard Branson, we have one of the greatest entrepreneurs Britain has produced. I have personally flown Virgin Atlantic, BA and KLM to San Francisco and Japan. Virgin is simply miles ahead.

Yet this same skilful businessman is struggling to have the same magical touch with the railway system. Sure, he was given the notoriously difficult cross-country routes, but what does this tell you about following in the footsteps of nationalised industry.

Personally, I think the railway system is a national asset we should be proud of. We are arguably the birthplace of the railway, but a return to nationalisation surely is not the answer. Private investment was the right route, it was simply badly managed by Railtrack bosses.

If Labour thinks Railtrack was a totally poor idea, then it was a poor idea in 1997 when they took over. - J Tague, Bishop Auckland.

I AM pleased to see that the Strategic Rail Authority seems set to press ahead with their £2m fine on Arriva Trains.

To those who say that the money would be better spent on improving services, I would point out the following.

I believe the fine covered a three-month period, during which Arriva's cancellation of trains was excessive because it was short of 18 trains and about 70 drivers. The amount of the fine reflects approximately the costs of hiring those trains and paying those drivers, essential for the provision of the service level. In other words, the fine is approximately the amount saved by Arriva from not making the expenditure it was contracted to make (plus a small element of punishment).

If the SRA is to be able to force operators to spend the public money they receive on services rather than pocketing it and cancelling trains, any company guilty of such actions must not be allowed to retain the savings it has engineered. - S Hogg, Northallerton.

SINGLE CURRENCY

TONY Blair is clearly determined to have Britain join the single currency. In his speech in Germany (Echo, Nov 21), he is quoted as saying "we are committed to holding a referendum and joining the single currency". This shows his real intent to have Britain ditch the pound, regardless of the views of the majority of the British people.

If he was prepared to respect the outcome of a referendum, he would surely have said something like "holding a referendum then, depending on the result, joining the single currency if it is clearly the wish of the majority of the British people to do so".

The phrase he chose tosses aside the referendum as of little or no significance.

Mr Blair is determined to have Britain "a full partner with Germany". There's another phrase that sends shivers down the spine of those who don't agree with Mr Blair's headlong rush to make our country a mere province of Greater Germany.

Please, Prime Minister, don't make high-sounding speeches committing our nation to things before you have fully consulted the people you claim to represent. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

HERO WORSHIP

HOW bitter and envious J Ross (HAS Nov 26)) sounds when slagging off the Rolling Stones, Billy Connolly and The Beatles.

He is entitled to choose his own heroes, to admire them by whatever criteria he fancies.

Taking his criteria as those "who made the world a better place", millions still enjoy the music of the Rolling Stones, millions more have laughed at Billy Connolly jokes and stories. The Beatles were at the cutting edge of music, culture and ideas, as well as great to listen and dance to.

And, yes, we all change, grow older and die. Manny Shinwell, a firebrand when a red Clydesider, ended up in the House of Lords for many years, leaving his past far behind.

The real point is to value the achievements of all people, including the not so famous.

Young people have always believed that the "status quo" and "the Establishment" need drastic change if the world is to become a fairer and happier place.

They have always been right and they always will be. - S Hill (a "kid" of the 1960s), Darlington.