REGIONAL ASSEMBLY: YOUR correspondent, J Routledge (HAS, Dec 13), makes yet more nonsensical claims.

As a Liberal Democrat, I do not want to "see my country disappear" any more than he/she does. Regional assemblies are not a "requirement" of the EU.

The present indirectly-elected regional assemblies were established by our Government under the 1998 Regional Development Agencies Act to make those agencies locally accountable.

In the 2004 referendum the people of the North-East had two clear alternatives: either to bring in a new system of democratic regional and local government (unitary councils in Northumberland and Durham), or to leave things as they are. The overwhelming majority voted for the status quo - no change. That includes all the region's existing institutions, councils, quangos (over 100 of them), and the assembly.

J Routledge is perfectly entitled to campaign for the repeal of the 1998 Act and abolish our regional development agency One NorthEast and the Assembly - which represents all aspects of life in our region.

The way we do things in a democratic society is that we elect a government to make decisions on our behalf. If you don't like those decisions, you seek to change the government in an election or campaign to change the law. I do both.

When the present regional assemblies were originally set up in 1999, they were called Regional Chambers. If they were still called chambers, the "antis" would have no argument against them. - Coun Chris Foote-Wood, Assembly Vice Chair and LibDem Group Leader.

REGIONALISATION

RE the article by Robert Merrick (Echo, Dec 13) "Proposal to set up super city to run the region".

He reports that the New Local Government Network" (NLGN) - another government sponsored quango - states "only a powerful city region in Newcastle-Gateshead will allow the North-East to close the wealth gap with London". The piece goes on to talk about the city regions enjoying extra freedoms to borrow money, attract investment and even raise taxes, etc.

What I really want to home in on is the words that keep cropping up in the article like 'regions', 'city regions' 'English regions' and finally the 'city regions commissions'.

For anyone with eyes to see this is nothing to do with regional development and local government but more to do with this present Labour Government implementing what a Conservative government agreed to: namely the Maastricht Treaty with the EU by that other traitor John Major who agreed to setting up these regional bodies to carry out Brussels' bidding.

Wake up England, your politicians are betraying your trust and your country for their own selfish ends.

Let the North-East take the lead in throwing out not only the regionalisation of the North-East but also of England and the whole of the UK via the ballot box. - George Springer (UKIP).

SANTA'S SPECIAL

WHO are these pathetic people who are anti Santa? These folk must have had an awful childhood without games, hallowe'en masks, winter wonderland or Disney (those dwarfs would have scared them to death).

These people think they know what is best for the kids.

It's time these do-gooders minded their own business and let parents bring up their children with their own beliefs.

Childhood doesn't last long these days. They will soon have to face the education system after Santa has melted away with the imitation snow.

Merry Christmas children. - Irene Littlejohns, Tow Law.

PUBLIC INQUIRY

IT is no wonder that the Government will not open a pubic inquiry into the events on July 7 when many Londoners were killed by religious fundamentalist terrorists.

Instead, they are to create a "narrative" produced by a hand picked civil servant who will toe the Labour Party line.

The Government is running scared of the fact that Britain's extreme right political parties had been warning about the prospect of home grown religious terrorists for a number of years and they have now been proved correct.

A genuinely open inquiry would no doubt have added credibility to these right wing parties' warnings, and thus made them more popular for telling the truth.

This scenario obviously cannot be allowed to happen so this dictatorial Labour regime is keeping a clear hand in the proceedings and its eventual findings. The whole thing is a farce. - Mark Anderson, Middleton St George.

EU FLAG

SHAME on Wear Valley District Council for surrendering to the campaign of Neil Herron and Jim Tague to prevent the EU flag flying at the council offices (Echo, Dec 14).

Just as we live in England so we live in the EU - why shouldn't the flags of the two territorial entities fly side by side?

And Neil Herron has an almighty cheek in praising the council for not succumbing to "political pressure" to fly the EU flag.

How exactly does that differ from the pressure that he and his ragtag and bobtail army of Europhobes have applied to the council? He also claims that as a result of his action, Wear Valley's aspiration to become the best district council in England has taken "a massive leap forward".

Perhaps he could let us know how this whole narrow-minded and jingoistic episode has advanced that cause even one iota? - Robin Brooks, Barningham, North Yorkshire.

WARTIME MEMORIES

I SAW the picture of the plane (Echo Dec 10) and was rather intrigued by it.

I am 99 per cent sure that the picture is of a Hastings. What gives it away is the beginning of the RAF registration letters which begin TG6 - this denotes post Second World War. Also, the open crew door is inset in two larger freight doors, the hinges of which are under fairings.

The doors, when fully open, will take a Land Rover and possibly a small truck. - Jim Hamer, Darlington.