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Darlington FC

I APPLAUD the management of Darlington Football Club for the recent news that it will include escalators in the design of the new stadium at Neasham Road.

This will be of great benefit to the older and more infirm fans, giving them the option of a better viewing position.

It shows that the club really cares about the fans.

I also noted that they are to change the badge and invited the club's supporters to contribute to the effort.

Using the chairman's own crest is not just a good idea, but also a fitting tribute, given that without him there would have been no club.

No true fan could or should begrudge him this little idiosyncrasy. - David Preston, Darlington.

ONE PARTY GOVERNMENT

WHY do we continually tolerate a system resulting in frustration and antagonism with our acceptance of one party domination in government both national and local?

During World War Two the weakest link system was activated. "Dump the dunce, weed out the worthless."

A coalition government was formed, all of the country pulling together; the end result being self-evident.

Here in this area in particular, the same one-party domination has prevailed throughout living memory. Dogmatic insistence on party loyalty often appearing to take precedence over conscience, thus creating a follow-my-leader attitude.

This foot-and-mouth crisis has once again brought home to us the inadequacy of the one-party system of administration. The Government has failed miserably to convince the great general public of its ability to control the situation.

The national interest is not being served as well as it ought to be.

Coalition cabinets, in both national and local government, are the way forward. The voice of all of the people, all of the time, should be heard and considered. That is the true meaning of democracy. - AW Dunn, Spennymoor.

METRICATION

AFTER some years now being on the metric system I was amazed, on going to purchase a book of stamps at my local post office, to find that they have done what Mrs Thatcher would never have done - a complete U turn.

Instead of receiving a book containing ten stamps I was given a book of 12. The good old times are back with us at last. - John Hood, Bishop Auckland.

JOB LOSSES

I AM most concerned about recent job losses in Spennymoor. What prospect is there for the younger generation, when our manufacturing jobs have been destroyed.

The recent loss of 450 quality jobs at Rothmans was a severe blow to local shops and pubs, many of which are fighting to survive the impact of recent job losses.

Government help is required to re-locate firms from the affluent South-East to this area. The Government should update the Barnett Formula, to take into account the loss of thousands of jobs in the North-East, ranging from mining, steelworks, shipbuilding to the current destruction of our manufacturing base. - Ben Ord, Liberal Democrat, Spennymoor.

PETER MULLEN

ONCE again Peter Mullen (Echo, Mar 27) attempts to ridicule the revised definition of a racist incident as one "which is perceived as racist by the victim or any other person".

This wasn't invented by Macpherson - it is a simplified version of an earlier police definition and is designed to ensure that allegations of racism are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.

The positive result is that victims of racist violence and abuse are less likely to put up with it and more willing to talk to the police. Peter Mullen is right on one point, political correctness is ridiculous and destructive, but the Macpherson Report has nothing to do with political correctness.

His suggestion that he could be accused of racism for offering someone a cup of tea is also ridiculous - offering a cup of tea is not an "incident" in police terms and anyone reporting such an event would be open to a charge of wasting police time.

He fears a "violent backlash". This could only come from racists who are frustrated that their behaviour will no longer be tolerated, so if there is such a backlash, let us lay the blame squarely where it belongs. - Pete Winstanley, Chester-le-Street.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

THERE is now a crisis in Conservative politics. So any soul-searching must start there.

By any evaluation, the Tory party was already politically impotent in 1997.

The death penalty will have to become Conservative policy again. With the police no longer able to cope with violent crime, a Tory party that favours the return of capital punishment will be seen as the saviour of Britain's gangland streets, especially by working-class voters.

Those who would defend capital punishment's abolition are the same guilty men who gave us our current burst of violence in the first place.

They urged and obtained the loosening of British morals in 1965 in order to push through their liberalist dreams. They predicted that more freedom would mean far less crime. They were wrong. - Andrew Lightfoot, Bridlington.

ZERO TOLERANCE

SINCE the suspension of Ray Mallon and the disappearance of his Zero Tolerance programme, we have seen a rapid escalation of crime in particular, the increase of attacks on paramedics, pensioners, fire and ambulance crews, coupled with assaults on people on public transport, arson and stone-throwing at trains, buses and cars.

This situation leaves me in no doubt that we are now approaching a state of anarchy and where it is probably now safer to walk at night in New York's Central Park than some areas of Cleveland.

It is now plainly obvious that the police are unable to cope with the problem, preferring their limited resources to be used in the more lucrative reduction of speeding offences. - Name and address supplied.