Hear All Sides

DOREEN KETT

WHAT a moving article on Doreen Kett and her efforts to bring her community on the Woodhouse Close estate in Bishop Auckland back to life (Echo, June 26).

I sincerely hope she and her co-workers succeed.

In any of our cities, towns or villages there are areas of deprivation, but, as Mrs Kett's campaign has emphasised, the matter is becoming more serious. Derelict properties are no longer left boarded up, they are vandalised. The bored, restless, usually drug-riddled people who feel driven to smashing and wrecking everything in sight are turning whole areas into ghettos that look like war zones. No wonder the elderly are scared to walk the streets there.

Restoring the pride of a community and a sense of belonging is the only way to rebuild the shattered estates. Encourage the youngsters to use the facilities provided for them. Make sure those facilities are there. Get the children acting in a positive, constructive way, rather than negatively.

Mrs Kett is setting a fine example for other communities to follow. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

ROY HATTERSLEY

I FIND it laughable that Roy Hattersley has considered leaving the Labour Party because he is so disillusioned with its present leader.

Disillusioned with a leader who has won two elections, both with record-breaking majorities?

Lord Hattersley writes that, one by one, all the old Labour policies have been rejected by the Prime Minister, but surely that is a plus not a minus. Is that not exactly why New Labour has been elected because Tony Blair has jettisoned all the philosophies of the old Labour Party?

Under the leadership of people such as Roy Hattersley, Labour was unelectable and quite innocuous. It was even unable to oust Margaret Thatcher, the most unpopular Prime Minister in history who was eventually evicted by her own people.

Yet his Lordship has the effrontery to criticise Tony Blair, the most dynamic young leader Labour has ever had. Perhaps a touch of envy?

When a fresh-faced young barrister applied for the vacant seat in Sedgefield constituency, those wise old socialists from Trimdon immediately spotted a winner. They had found a gem and they knew it.

That young man has rewarded their faith in him by becoming Prime Minister. - J Scott, Easington, Peterlee.

Spennymoor

I WOULD like to thank Durham County Council for erecting an extension to the Kirkdale Road safety barrier and erecting adverse road camber signs at Carr Lane, Spennymoor.

Local residents have campaigned for the extension of the barrier after a series of accidents and are grateful for the work carried out, although one resident pointed out that pedestrians using the footpath will not be protected by the barrier. I have passed these concerns on to the council.

I have asked for the adverse road camber to be corrected. The council will not consider this option until a decision is made on the private housing development at Whitworth Park, Spennymoor. - Councillor Ben Ord, Spennymoor Liberal Democrats.

PENSIONERS

HOW wise of the Prime Minister to delay announcing that he would be taking the full amount of his salary until after the General Election results, but surely the decision to do so must have been taken before the election.

He will now join the fast-growing rich, such as the resigning chief executive of Railtrack who has now been given a fortune and a large pension, after overseeing a company which has been responsible for many deaths and rail crashes.

Well, the 75p increase in the old age pension is now history, as they have received a £5 a week package which will help pay for inflation, but not be a percentage of the average wage.

If and when these rich men and women need to go into hospital, their income will be secured. They can, and many rich people do, stay in NHS hospitals for a considerable time, but beware if you are an old age pensioner, then it is financially wise not to have an illness that might last over six weeks to cure in a hospital. If you do, then you may find that your pension will have deducted from it between £20 and £30.

One wonders why people with a guaranteed income suffer no money loss when ill, but those on the breadline find that they may not be able to afford bread if they are ill for over six weeks. If they have to pay, why are those who are financially better off by far not charged the same amount? - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

SOCIALISM

WITH regard to Hugh Pender's (HAS, June 22) recent remarks about shared prosperity and wealth, can I ask if it is the same shared prosperity theory used by Darlington when it cut itself free from the rest of County Durham and decided to run its own affairs and not "supplement" the poorer parts of the county?

You will obviously be in the process of uprooting and moving further north in protest at your local authority's decision and will gladly spend your disposable income in Bishop Auckland, Spennymoor, Crook, Willington or any number of other ex-mining communities who will benefit.

I think not. Another "I'm all right Jack" silver-spooned Socialist who doesn't practice what he preaches but thinks they can force their opinion on everyone else without a murmur in reply.

If you like Socialism that much, get yourself off to China, North Korea or any one of the Soviet satellite states and see how long you last when spouting off about share prosperity and equal rights. - Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland.