Letters

GORDON Morrison (HAS, Feb 22) knows, of course, that not only the Russians but also the Americans, French, British and Chinese have hundreds of nuclear missiles pointing at each other, none having the slightest reason to launch an attack.

The point I was trying to make (HAS, Feb 15) was that if the Chinese, say, had developed a missile defence system first, US scientists would have worked quickly to restore the balance, perhaps by producing "stealth" missiles and their own space-based weapons. This is exactly what the Russians and Chinese will do now.

And if Saddam Hussein were foolish enough to authorise an attack on the US with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, the likely means of delivery would be a suitcase. He could not develop an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile undetected. - Pete Winstanley, Chester-le-Street.

PENSIONERS

BUDGETARY decisions are currently being made by local councils, which could have an immediate impact on the lives of pensioners.

At stake is the quality of life for many older people who depend on local services and indeed, for the more vulnerable, this can mean life and death.

What questions should be asked of your civic leaders?

For a start, has the social services budget been cut, which would effectively reduce the quality of social care and could result in closures of residential care homes?

What about the extra cash made available to local councils to improve their concessionary fares for pensioners, or has the money been diverted elsewhere? And if travel by bus has or is about to become free, then what is your council doing to improve the service?

What about community and home security schemes; clean and safe pavements (there is a pressing need to improve street lighting); benefits take-up campaigns and traffic management schemes (older people are more frequently the victims of pedestrian deaths)?

To safeguard and to ensure the best services for pensioners, ask the chief executive of your local council for a breakdown of where your council taxes are going.

Let us hear the voice of pensioners loud and clear. - Dr Alan Burnett, Help The Aged, London.

BADGERS

THE Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) has over the last 30 years culled tens of thousands of badgers.

Now they want to cull thousands more. Why?

Because they have been unable to solve how TB spreads in cattle and so need to take it out on innocent, beautiful animals which they claim might be carriers, a theory that had no factual basis in 1970 and has none now.

Badgers are fascinating creatures who have never harmed anyone. More than can be said for MAFF which, as the originator and vigorous long-term promoter of intensive land and animal use, is a root cause of our present health and environment crisis. - Tony Kelly, Crook.

ELECTIONS

WITH a General Election looming, there is another chance for the party faithful to demand our names and voting numbers before we enter the polling station.

At previous elections, I have refused to provide this and their attitude has varied, but is usually hostile. As a voter, I resent this.

As a ratepayer, I object to the local authority providing shelter, tables and chairs, toilets and, at some venues, refreshments.

I submit that these facilities be costed at commercial values and charged to the candidates' electoral expenses. - Richard Hornsby, Northallerton.

CONSERVATIVES

JUST what is wrong with the Conservative Party, way behind in the opinion polls and the bookmakers offering four to one against them winning the election?

The problem is a fellow called William Hague and the people he has surrounded himself with.

If the Conservatives lose the next election, where will the candidates come from who will defeat them? A mixed bag of 74 from Scotland plus those from Wales, so Mr Hague's only hope is to rely on the English vote. His policies on English matters fly in the face of a large section of English opinion. Between 22 and 40 per cent would like to withdraw from Europe and there are those who want an English-only Parliament.

Mr Hague has ruled out these options. Instead, he wants to be in Europe but not ruled by Europe and, by ignoring a large section of English opinion, is casting aside what could be a Conservative victory.

Hovering over the Conservative Party like vultures will be that bunch of political opportunists, the UK Independence Party, picking up votes that should go to Conservative candidates but are being freely offered to them by William Hague's policies. - H Outhwaite, Darlington.

ARMED FORCES

IT is a fact that females have more stamina in general and have a higher stress level than males, including a strong will against adversity.

They can cope with the unpleasant things in life much better than their male counterparts, but I think that a true front line situation, head to head, against a determined enemy where the most brutish behaviour is called for in order to survive, a behaviour bordering on insanity, is no place for any female.

It is enough that female military nurses cope with the mutilation of battle without them having to witness how it came about. - GH Grieveson, Richmond.

EATING OWT

I AGREE with Jim Ruck's letter (HAS, Feb 21). Eating Owt has become a lot of waffle, not the edible kind but just a succession of irrelevant but faintly-amusing comments.

I agree Mike Amos is an amusing writer, but an article on eating houses is hardly the place to practise his talent at such length. To take up 18 column inches (Echo, Feb 21), with beside-the-point chit-chat, including only three or four brief comments on the meal in question, is carrying journalistic licence much too far.

Some comments on the speed of service, the courtesy of the staff, the warmth of the plates, the wine list and even the cleanliness of the toilets, would be much more informative and could, with a little thought, be made just as amusing as the digressive verbiage currently served up. - Syd Laycock, Darlington.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

THE Government appears to be determined to privatise our National Air Traffic Control Service (NATS), even though recent events in the rail industry have focused attention on the inadvisability of allowing profit-making companies take control of essential public transport infrastructure.

Over 95 per cent of air services departing from Newcastle and Teesside airports are controlled by air traffic controllers based at the Manchester Area Control Centre, one of three such centres covering the whole country. However, the air services provided over the North-East are unique because the region does not have the protective air control lanes enjoyed by much of the rest of the country.

Indeed, the North-East has some of the most intense military traffic, through which passenger services must be threaded by a specialist radar service.

The Government has said that safety must come first, yet it will not deny that these services are under threat.

Air traffic controllers know that for all aircraft, airlines, pilots and passengers there will be a demonstrable decrease in safety. - Iain Findley, Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists.

JUSTICE SYSTEM

I THINK Jack Straw's heavy-handed shake-up of the justice system is likely to cause as many problems as it solves.

Take, for example, defence lawyers having to hand over all their evidence to the prosecution. There have been miscarriages of justice in the past because of the prosecution withholding evidence from the defence. So it has to work both ways.

As for the jury being given details of previous convictions, I think that this point should be examined very carefully. The jury may be swayed, not on the evidence, but on the accused's track record. - S Connor, Darlington.

DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS

THERE is something seriously wrong with democracy in the United Kingdom. It seems that voters no longer have the power to control our government or even decide who governs us - is it our Westminster Parliament or the European Union?

At the coming General Election, a very straightforward, democratic document called the South Molton Declaration will be presented to all candidates of the main parliamentary parties for their signature.

The declaration does no more than confirm all the democratic rights of our people under the 800-year British constitution. The three major political parties in Britain have repeatedly said that all our historical democratic rights still exist. The South Molton Declaration requires that they put a Bill before Parliament which says just that. If they are right then nothing will happen but if they have lied to us, all the rights lost will be restored by the South Molton Bill.

The commitment in the declaration is self-evident - those who stand for our nation's parliament should support the constitutional and democratic rights of our nation. Few will vote for a candidate who does not sign. We urge all voters to demand that their own party candidate sign the South Molton Declaration, otherwise you will not vote for them. - Rodney Atkinson, Newcastle.