LETTERS

THE son of Ronnie Biggs, the train robber, is reported to have said that he is disgusted at the treatment his father is receiving since he came back to this country from his 35-year holiday in South America. Did he expect two rooms at Buckingham Palace? - A Storey, Horden.

SINGLE CURRENCY

PEOPLE like WH Cameron who remember when five shillings (25p) was called a dollar in this country (HAS, May 31) should remember more.

That was when £1 was worth four dollars. Now it's worth 1.4 dollars.

The long-term decline of the British economy this illustrates is precisely why many believe that joining the euro is in the best interests of this country and its people. - Robin Ashby, Newcastle.

IAN BRADY

IF Moors Murderer Ian Brady wants to starve himself to death he should be allowed to do so.

Brady should have died years ago. He should have been hanged. Taxpayers' money should not be wasted feeding and housing people like this. - TE Crook, Bishop Auckland.

GENERAL ELECTION

I WOULD like to thank readers of The Northern Echo in Darlington who voted on Thursday and, obviously, I would particularly like to thank those who voted for me.

Also, I have a question (and maybe a challenge) for those people who didn't vote.

If you chose not to vote because you think the policies of the major parties are wrong or irrelevant, or if you chose not to vote because you think all of us would-be politicians are just in it for ourselves then:

1. Why not join one of the parties and CHANGE our policies?

2. Why not become an (honest) politician yourself?

I have found that all LibDem national policy is discussed and agreed by ordinary members at our national conferences. These policy proposals are put forward by any member of the party, there are no "smoke-filled rooms" or "beer and sandwiches" (or "champagne and smoked salmon") with groups having vested interests!

I have also found that most politicians I have met are not Victor Meldrew characters who just grumble about life. They are honest, genuine, caring people who want to try to improve life for us all. - Robert Adamson, Darlington Liberal Democrats.

PARLIAMENTARY REFORM

HARRY Mead (Echo, June 6) is concerned about the privileges given to those who spend their twilight years in the House of Lords. While I do agree there should be a debating chamber with substance, I can't see the point, as Harry points out, of letting people who have decided to call it a day in one chamber be considered for the other.

Because a person has been a politician for many years, it does not mean their thinking and wisdom has improved. In many cases, it has only soured with age and their vision dimmed with time.

It is time to give young people a more active role in debating their wishes and needs, and we should consider an active role for debating chambers from one end of the country to the other.

We should encourage all communities, villages, towns and cities, to have debates on all the issues that affect our daily lives and the idea of the House of Lords put where it belongs, in the history books. - John Young, Crook.

PETER MULLEN

FOR a man of the cloth, Peter Mullen (Echo, June 5) showed very little Christianity towards a fellow Christian (Tony Blair) and to compare anything that happens in Britain at the present time to Nazism in the 1930s seems to show that he (Peter Mullen) is beginning to lose his grip on reality.

I know I can choose whichever column I wish to read in your newspaper, but I can see little relevance in the man of the church who lives and works in London surrounded by journalists, let alone someone who seems to regard Prime Minister's Questions as a debate in the House of Commons, to the people of the North-East.

Maybe he should spend more of his time watching Big Brother. After all this is supposed to be reality TV. - AD Smith, Crook.

IMMIGRATION

HOW many more economic migrants can British society assimilate? It is totally unbelievable that a country like Britain can be so stupid and irresponsible.

It's tragic to think that our Government feels the need to admit huge numbers of economic migrants, when more than a million native Britons are rotting on the dole.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's dignity and calm among the anti-immigrant flak should be a lesson to young subversives. He's certainly creating massive problems for the future. - Andrew Lightfoot, Bridlington.

FOOTBALL STADIUM

I WONDER if you would mind my suggesting a name for the new Darlington football stadium?

My suggestion is for it to be named after Darlington's best-known football fan who has recently died of cancer.

His name is Gordon Soulsby, of Skerne Park. All the years I have known him as a taxi driver for Station Taxis he's never missed a match.

Everyone I'm sure will have known Gordon and regarded him as one of the nicest human beings around.

Would you therefore put forward his name and this proposal to George Reynolds and see what he thinks. - JW Harbour, Darlington.