Letters

I WRITE with total disbelief at the way that public money is being spent in the pursuance of a conviction against Steve Thoburn, the market/shop owner from Sunderland who purveys his stock in pounds and ounces.

I find it interesting how I am able to enter one of the many fast food American eating establishments and purchase a quarter pounder with cheese and then nip next door and have myself a pint of ale.

Why doesn't local government take on the multi-million pound and multi-national companies in the local courts and get these companies to fall in line with the European directives.

The answer to that question is simple, let's pick on the small man who will not fight back.

Well, the council in question has made a massive mistake, this man is standing up for his rights and the very best of British luck to him.

Has France forgotten already the help the British gave in liberating their country by dropping 20,000 pound bombs on Germany? They didn't mind pounds and ounces then. - C Lagger, Middlesbrough.

MAD ABOUT BOYS

I AGREE with the boycott of the new pre-teen Mad About Boys magazine (Echo, Feb 7). The magazine title and the headings of the articles advertised on the cover, How to look delish for your first date and the invitation to "meet our lads and choose your number one" indicate the tone of the magazine.

Ruth Campbell in her column (Echo, Feb 9) gives her support to the magazine because "girls as young as nine do love to giggle together over boys". Yes, they may giggle in a harmless, innocent way, but should that be exploited? Should they be advised to "wear something sexy" and go on dates?

Girls as young as the target readership should be enjoying the company of boys and girls of their own age, not evaluating the sex appeal of boys who are much older and preparing for dates, with all that implies these days.

As Ruth Campbell says, banning the magazine isn't "going to restore an age of childhood innocence", but it's a small step in the right direction. Let our little girls enjoy their childhood. Let's not make them feel obliged to be mad about boys when they are still pre-teens. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

LABOUR MPs

I QUESTION the integrity of our Northern Labour Party Members of Parliament.

Their vote is for the majority wish of their constituents, and not their personal view, so they say. They voted to ban hunting with dogs and voted to reduce the age of consent for young male homosexuals? Unbelievable. - Ken Bowes, Shildon.

INDUSTRY

SO 6,000 are to lose their jobs at Corus, alias British Steel. This is one of the inevitable results of the lunacy of free trade.

Behind our problems lies a national disease of incompetence caused by our businesses being run by accountants, lawyers and economists.

In our great days as an industrial nation, our industry was run largely by engineers and some chemists. We are desperately short of engineers because our young people are too lazy to undertake the rigorous training required to become graduate engineers, and apprenticeships are largely extinct for the training of craftsmen and technicians.

A multiplicity of supermarket jobs and call centre jobs are no substitute for proper constructive wealth-creating work.

Who is going to generate the wealth in the future which the retail trades expect to mop up? - John Laurence, Sunderland.

STAR WARS

IF it had been the Russians or the Chinese who had developed Star Wars technology, the West would have seen this as a serious threat to world peace and stability.

But Jim Watkins (HAS, Feb 12) sees no problem, as the Americans have done it and they, of course, are the "goodies".

I think it is reasonable to describe this as arrogant, and it will certainly be perceived as such by other countries currently in possession of ICBMS, none of which have the slightest reason to launch an attack on the US.

National Missile Defence sounds harmless, but I regard it as an obscene waste of money and human ingenuity, which will do nothing to make the world a safer place. I prefer peace to war, and international co-operation to confrontation, and if that puts me on the far left, Mr Watkins, then I will accept that position with pride. - Pete Winstanley, Chester-le-Street.

ARTHUR SCARGILL

AS an ex-miner I only have to hear the name Arthur Scargill for my blood pressure to rise.

Our union was the strongest in the land when Joe Gormley was in charge, but Joe was a decent man who worked for the benefit of his members, not for self glory. Joe led us into a strike he knew we could win and indeed, we did win.

Then along came the new Leon Trotsky. He even had a new word for strike, from day one he warned Margaret Thatcher what to expect, he would shout from any roof top: "My members have given me a mandate for industrial action."

Consequently, Mrs Thatcher heeded his warnings and began stockpiling mountains of coal, enough coal to outlast any strike, or even industrial action.

Artless Arthur was out-manoeuvred from the start, but what could you expect from a man who could not win a raffle?

Thousands of us miners had to struggle on without any income, many people lost their homes, unable to pay their mortgage. But worse still, many marriages broke up because of the stress and heartache caused by poverty.

The only people to suffer during that strike were the miners, crafty Scargill is still going strong. - J Reed, Peterlee.