Letters

THE power of the Prime Minister is great, is growing and needs to be curtailed.

The power to create peers to fill the new House of Lords is an abuse of power, as the composition of the Lords is completely undemocratic.

The Wakeham Report favours only 65 out of 550 members being elected by the public. If the lower chamber is elected, so should the upper house.

There are too many peers doing important jobs who do not face the voter.

Such people should have faced the electorate and been approved. The Commons should be able to veto appointments that it does not agree with. - Michael Lathan, Sunderland.

HEALTH SERVICE

WE often hear complaints from people about the treatment they received while in hospital.

I have been in Dryburn Hospital recently. While I was in there I received excellent care from the doctors and nursing staff. Also, the meals served by the domestic staff were of the highest quality.

We read in the papers about the poor wages nursing staff are paid. Judging by the amount of work carried out by male and female nurses, I would say they were grossly underpaid.

And when we read and hear about the thousands of pounds per week paid to footballers, television stars etc, it must be a bitter pill for nursing staff to swallow, when you consider the very important and essential work they do. - F Quinn, Howden-le-Wear.

SINGLE CURRENCY

MOST of your correspondents debating the euro tend to be in either the political or business arena.

It would appear little true information is passed on to Joe Public.

By the time Tony Blair and his spin doctors are finished, the man in the street will be more confused than ever.

What is needed is proper information. Only then will people be able to see the benefit or disaster joining the euro will be. Then the promised referendum will be fair and not a complete farce. - G Douthwaite, Bishop Auckland.

I AGREE with John Elliott (HAS, June 28) that the euro debate should not focus on short- term currency fluctuations.

For me, the most convincing argument for euro membership is that currency fluctuation in itself will become a thing of the past for most of our traders.

Sixty per cent of UK exports go to EU countries and this figure is rising. That will mean lower transaction costs, more price transparency and a lot more stability to plan and invest in future growth.

This is already apparent in the euro-zone countries and can only become more obvious when the euro notes and coins come into circulation in 2002.

I am perplexed by John Elliott's claim that joining the euro would hurt inward investment. Investors invest in our region as a cornerstone of their European operations. The fact that companies such as Toyota, Nissan and GM have all expressed their hope for UK entry should confirm that joining the euro will help attract and keep inward investment. - Dr Barbara O'Toole, Labour MEP, North East of England.

CHURCH REFORM

THANK you Peter Mullen (Echo, June 27) for accurately summing up the travesty that the Church of England is now offering in the name of Liturgy.

It makes one wonder if the Liturgical Commission has set out to cause the demise of England's established Church.

Having been brought up on the Book of Common Prayer, I have watched the rapid decline of much that was good in Anglicanism. Change for change's sake, appears to be the main objective of the General Synod, so much so that there are those who would say that it was the creation of synodical government which has caused the Church's downfall.

For those who agree, may I offer an alternative, which I am very happy to have chosen. There is an Orthodox Church in Britain (with branches in Darlington and York) which uses the St James Liturgy, one of the oldest liturgies in the world. Its language and style is as beautiful as the Book of Common Prayer ever was and, more important still, we are allowed to believe what Christians have always believed. - Helen L Brown, Ripon.

TRADE UNIONS

YOUR correspondent H Outhwaite's pitifully narrow view of the usefulness of trade unions and his barely-veiled contempt for the intellect and integrity of trade union members (HAS, June 29) makes me grateful that he wasn't an officer in the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

In the past few weeks alone the Darlington branch of the CWU, representing 1,000 workers in Royal Mail, BT, Post Office Counters and a host of related industries, covering an area from Leyburn to Crook, has secured a host of benefits and awards for our members and their families.

Our membership is increasing as employees see that we offer a range of social and domestic services as well as representation in industrial relations matters.

Additionally, the CWU, by working in partnership with the employers, actively influences business direction and strategy decision-making processes to the mutual benefit of the companies, our members and our customers.

I would suggest, therefore, that in the contemporary world of work there is clear evidence that the CWU, along with other modern trade unions, is playing a very useful role indeed. - Phil Graham, Branch Secretary, Communication Workers Union, Darlington.

PENSIONS

IF the Government can write off the debts to impoverished countries, why can't it lend the OAPs a couple of thousand pounds and then in a few years' time wipe off the debts? - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

PAY AWARDS

TEACHERS have to accept performance related pay schemes. How about the same for footballers? - Ann E Carr, Darlington.