Hear All Sides

TONY BLAIR

HUGH Pender (HAS, June 12) is, as usual, gloating over Phoney Tony and his puppeteer Government.

Getting one in four votes is not a very good victory. I can assure him that the Tory Party will come good again without any guidance of his pro-euro advice.

I can tell him this: it will be this nation's biggest mistake if we do get a referendum on the pound and on Europe.

You can see that in Germany they are heading for economic trouble, which I forecast will happen very shortly, and then the bubble will burst. Then, your pro-euro loonies will realise just what you are letting all that's left of the sensible people into.

You see that Mr Paul Getty has given the Tory Party £5m not to lose the British way of life and I think it is tragic that thousands of our people fought a war for freedom to see people want to give it away.

And I can tell Hugh Pender that our friends are in America, not Europe. Had it not been for them and their help, we would have been the slaves of Germany now.

Don't worry about the Tory Party, we will be back. We only hope that your Phoney Tony hangs on for five years and is not daft enough to sink us into Europe. Then it will be a rescue job for us to put right. - F Wealands, Darlington.

POSTAL SERVICES

I HAVE just received my copy of the Town Crier, delivered for the, first time by the postman. This is on top of delivering fliers for various firms and, recently, election material to every home.

Surely, they have a hard enough time delivering the post to us all, in all kinds of weather, without being turned into glorified paper boys and girls.

I only hope they are being paid a lot extra for doing this additional work. - G Howe, Darlington.

SURESTART

I WAS present at the last Deanbank Residents' Association meeting in Ferryhill.

Surestart officials vociferously promoted their heavily Government-financed scheme for families.

Surestart is an American "educare" import. But, despite the enthusiasm of its promoters, there is little evidence that it delivers its promised advantages.

Early educational gains its children acquire have proved to evaporate quickly, and there is actually an increase in the aggressive and anti-social behaviour it seeks to dispel.

The UK version promises to deal with social problems such as teenage pregnancy, but there is no evidence that it can. It has no spiritual or moral provision which also leave it vulnerable to legal challenge, for neglecting this statutory requirement.

The real agenda behind Surestart is to coax mothers of very young children out to work, to assist depleted manpower caused by falls in population growth, while abandoning their children to daycare. Massive evidence proved that children's surest start is provided by responsible parents, at home. The most sophisticated "educare" provision cannot replicate this.

The Government should stop tinkering with families and concentrate on bringing them the real prospects and opportunities which they deserve and leave parenting to parents. - Pat Cartwright, Ferryhill.

ROAD SAFETY

I'VE just looked out of my own front window, where I've lived for 41 years, and I feel I have been put in prison.

My crime? I live on the main road where the authorities have decided to put iron railings the full length of the pavement.

The reason, they say, is the protection of the public, who will be using the new crossing they are putting in.

I don't know of any other area where they extend so far. We know the traffic is heavier - we have watched it increase over the years - but has anyone checked how many fatal accidents there have been in this area? I can only think of two in 40 years.

My own husband was knocked down and injured crossing the road. I never blamed the driver for the accident. Anyone crossing this kind of road needs to be extra careful, which most people are.

Surely the general public is responsible for its own safety. I don't expect anyone to worry about whether I am safe crossing the road, and I am 82 years of age. - E Turner, Darlington.

BEARPARK CARNIVAL

READING about our carnival coming back at Bearpark (Echo, June 6) brought back happy memories.

I was married on July 13, 1935, Ushaw Moor Carnival Day. It was a red hot day. Coming from church, our wedding car got hemmed in among the carnival cars. The people cheering must have thought we were the King and Queen of the carnival.

There were lots of shows and roundabouts in a field. My husband won two ugly pot dogs. They have stood on our bedroom mantlepiece all these years.

My husband used to say those dogs have stood there all these years, doing nothing while I've been going to work. They are just common dogs, but I wouldn't part with them. One day I'll leave them to my eldest daughter. - Gladys Tidbury, Pity Me, Durham.

WILD BOAR

I AM delighted to learn that the wild boar have either escaped or been set free in the North - as they have been some years ago in the South-East.

But I fear some irrational fool will be meddling. These animals should be indigenous. They should have every right to co-exist. Even though they can be highly unpredictable, as with most animals, when left undisturbed they are harmless to humankind.

These inadvertent re-introductions, unlike escaped and freed mink, aren't an ecological disaster.

As the numbers of wild boar increase and they disperse, the environment, notably the oak forests, should rejuvenate as a result of their rummaging through the leaf litter searching out acorns. It is wild boar, not sheep as they devour saplings, that should be roaming the countryside, as they should assist in the expansion of our, all too few, remnants of forests. - AP Kirk, Middlesbrough.