Hear All Sides

I READ with interest the claim from George Reynolds about his houses not being insured "because an insurer would shout arson" (Echo, Jan 10).

Despite many people's opinions, insurance companies' primary obligations are to pay claims. If Mr Reynolds declares all his unspent convictions (if any) and does not hide any material fact there is no way that an insurance company can refuse to pay a claim unless it can prove fraud. The very fact that Mr Reynolds would have declared his past misdemeanours would have been taken into account when the policy was set up. Cover restrictions might be imposed depending on the convictions or previous claim record, but it is unlikely that no cover would be provided.

In fact, Mr Reynolds is more likely to have a claim paid if he declares convictions of any magnitude and all material facts, than a parent who insures his son's car and does not declare that his son is the main user. - JB Portwood (insurance broker), Bishop Auckland.

MOBILE PHONES

I have to confess that I'm greatly puzzled by Tony Blair's Great Mobile Phone Theft Blitz. Of all of the items that are stolen each year, mobile phones probably represent the least inconvenience and easiest replacement.

Whilst any theft is nasty, the network operator can remotely disable a mobile phone in minutes, making it useless to the thief. Most contracts carry some form of insurance, with next day or even same day replacement by courier. Compare that to car or house insurance, for example. Of course, whilst you don't have a phone you're not making calls, so there's a healthy motive to get you back on the air.

It could even be said that there are benefits to having your mobile phone stolen. Batteries need regular replacement if they are to retain capacity, cases become scratched, displays become dull and the new facilities of more recent models can be great fun to tackle on a long, boring train journey. So where is the downside, I ask you?

The mobile phone manufacturers get more business. The couriers get more business. The user gets a new toy. Best of all, however, is the fact that each one stolen represents one less idiot shouting into his phone on public transport, in the street or in a restaurant - for 24 hours at any rate.

If the Prime Minister wants to do something positive about mobile phones, he should put his money into a national advertising campaign to educate people to the fact that modern mobile phones have a little device called an automatic gain control built into them which means that the louder people shout, the quieter it gets. Normal speech alone is quite sufficient and would represent no more bother to the rest of the world than a conversation conducted at normal sound levels.

Now that would be a campaign worth spending some money on and would probably reduce the nation's average blood pressure more than any new drug. Likelihood of happening? Nil. - A Ruff, Ellingham, Northumberland

CHRISTMAS TREE

AT CHRISTMAS the villagers of West Auckland received through their doors a flyer, West Auckland Focus, from Local Liberal Democrat Councillor John Ferguson. He included a paragraph on the village Christmas tree and praised the people who organise and erect it every year, including myself. I would be grateful if you could print the following letter in Hear All Sides, so that the balance is drawn and everyone accepts that what is done year after year is for the village, by the villagers and is not politically biased and certainly not a Liberal Democrat initiative. In fact, the biggest contributors to the tree are two labour councillors who have always asked to remain anonymous and have never wanted to claim any glory for their contributions over the last four years.

"This Christmas, West Auckland was again happy to have the Christmas tree erected in the centre of the village which continued the tradition started by the now non-operational Residents' Association. The organising, the selection, the payment for the tree, the erection and the lighting is done voluntarily by three local councillors and villagers who do not wish to be singled out, indeed some ask to remain anonymous. It will be erected for as many years as the residual monies from the Residents' Association last. This year it is pleasing to report that no damage to the lights was found, hence the costs for next year will be minimal or perhaps could be used to light other parts of the village, as is done in other places." - L Rielly, West Auckland.

EUROPE

THE fundamentals of Britain's place outside the euro are clear; currency volatility and jobs being put at risk.

The fact that the euro rose when the US economy started to slow down showed that its weakness was to do with events in the US, not in the euro-zone. Anti-Europeans who tried to say that a weak euro meant a bad Europe have been forced to eat their words.

In the year 2000, 41,262 jobs were lost in this country as a direct result of sterling's volatility. If Britain rules out membership of the single currency, as anti-Europeans wish, this will continue to rise.

We have already seen the costs to inward investment into Britain because of our present exclusion, our share is currently decreasing. Indeed, while that coming into euro-zone countries between 1999 and 2000 increased by 18 per cent, inward investment to non-euro-zone countries fell by 11 per cent.

Surveys of businesses based in this country have consistently shown that they want to keep their options open on the single currency. Anti-Europeans' assertion otherwise is misrepresenting the facts. They say that the rising euro would be bad for the euro-zone economy. As the anti-Europeans have yet to come up with an answer for the problems posed by job losses due to currency volatility in this country, I suggest they focus their attention on that problem affecting over 41,000 people last year. - Nick Milligan, Regional Organiser, European Movement in the North-East.