POST OFFICES

I AM glad the Government now sees post offices as a major policy area. Yet the newly-unveiled plans have weaknesses, even in outline.

Post offices should not be defended by subsidy. They should be made viable by receiving a fair, business rate for the government services they perform in such an exemplary way.

The plan to oblige the Post Office to keep rural branches open unless closure is "unavoidable" does not even make sense.

Unavoidable closure is taken to mean that the present postmaster is throwing in the towel, and a replacement postmaster cannot be found.

No post office is actually threatened with closure at all until that situation is reached, and that is the precise point when the obligation to stop closure will cease to apply.

Before the latest announcement, 83 per cent of rural postmasters believed that the Government understood the problems of the countryside badly, and only four per cent believe that it is doing a good job to protect post offices. I do not believe this will change much.

The Post Office is famous for delivering, the Government, less so. - John Haigh, North East Area Public Relations Officer, Countryside Alliance.

SINGLE CURRENCY

WHY are we all so afraid of changing our money to euros? Ever since decimalisation of sterling, my loyalties to the pound have devalued.

Waffling William Hague wants it all ways, berating Tony Blair for not doing enough in Europe, but at the same time playing on people's fears of change by wanting to keep the pound.

I am convinced that us changing to euros is inevitable, so why are we dragging our feet? - FM Atkinson, Shincliffe.

WE are currently being inundated with information extolling the virtues of accepting the euro as our currency.

OK, does it really matter what we call the money in our pockets provided its value remains the same? I don't really think so. The only worry is that it may have the same effect as decimalisation and lead to much higher prices.

The threat we face is not monetary, the more serious issue is the ever-increasing threat of creeping federalism and becoming a largely unwilling part of a future federal Europe.

The Germans have only recently, probably by accident, talked about more integration. Isn't this a step nearer to federalism.

Let us be in no doubt, this integration would undoubtedly and eventually destroy the British way of life as we know it.

Is it not time for this Government to give the electorate the true facts and not the facts distorted by political spin?

Could we have a simple referendum with a simple, unambiguous and truthful voting form, asking two simple direct questions? Are you in favour of accepting the euro as your future currency? Or, are you not in favour of accepting the euro as your future currency?

No fancy footwork by the Treasury to cloud the facts, or paint a rosy picture, just the truth as it is, assuming of course this Government knows the difference between truth and lies. - R Waite, Spennymoor.

COUNCIL SECRECY

YOUR leader (Echo, Jun 30) was no doubt well-intentioned in its call for all council decisions to made in public.

The example you gave, however, demonstrates just how wrong-headed and impractical the calls for total "openness" have been. The Northern Echo argues that every decision, down to the resurfacing of a road or the erection of a streetlight, should be heard in the open.

Darlington Borough Council spends upwards of £85m a year. It employs 4,500 staff, and its employees have to make decisions to spend revenue thousands of times each week, with no recourse to elected members.

Is The Northern Echo seriously arguing that before a care manager can sanction the purchase of a walking stick for a disabled person, for example, then the matter should be debated by a full committee?

If as you state, the siting of every street light and the digging of every hole in the road should be subject to the scrutiny of members and officers, then the now-defunct highways and transport committee would be in permanent session.

This would not, I suggest, be a sensible use of members' and senior officers' time.

The new democratic structure in Darlington means that the key decisions are taken in the open. The budget and all the plans, which determine the borough's priorities, are debated and approved by full council, where every member sits. Day-to-day issues which require thought or consultation can be referred by the cabinet for scrutiny, where the problem can be given more consideration.

The Government's clarification of the role of cabinet is helpful, but in the context of the system in place in Darlington, does not represent the "climb down" you suggest. - Councillor Nick Wallis, Haughton West Ward, Darlington Borough Council.

TRADE UNIONS

H OUTHWAITE (HAS, June 29) asks what use are trade unions except as cash collectors for the Labour Party?

Answer: the trade unions are the only weapon a working man has against unscrupulous employers and government regimes like the Tory Party which wants to abolish trade unions.

It was the unions that campaigned for the minimum wage against the mega-rich Tories who wanted people to work for £1.50 to £2-an-hour. It was the unions that organised demonstrations against the evil poll tax and also marched in thousands against the 17 per cent VAT on fuel.

Both these cruel taxes were later abandoned. Every week union solicitors are winning accident compensation claims for their workers.

I have taken a good look at trade unions and my interests have always been well looked after and I never feel I am just being used. - JL Thompson, Crook.