03/01/06

I hope that no gay men or lesbians think that I am one of the "majority" she speaks of.

I consider myself able to think for myself and am perfectly sure that independently of the media I am able to "let" everybody do whatever they like in the comfort of their own home. They may even display affection on the street if they so wish, without my (or her ) approval or comment. The fact that Susan Willis is allowed to have her ignorance immortalised in black and white shows the media also allows the bigoted viewpoint space. She is not the majority; she is just the more vocal.

Anybody displaying love and happiness in this war-torn, hate-filled world should be celebrated - not vilified. - Kim Michelle, Darlington.

SUSAN Willis is entitled to her opinion regarding homosexuals, but she has no right to say that most people regard it as abnormal and unnatural.

It's almost 2006 and "most" people's views have changed. What does Ms Willis think should be done to homosexual couples, perhaps burnt at the stake?

I applaud any couple who want to make a legal commitment to show their love to the world. And, Ms Willis, let's call a spade a spade: you are a bigot, and I really didn't believe people could write such tosh. - J Stasiak, Darlington.

STUDENT FEES

YOUR Boxing Day front page about medical student Laura Humphries "busking to survive" was quite staggering.

Do you really expect the majority of your readers to feel sympathy for the student busking "to make ends meet" and unable to "afford a decent meal"?

Do you expect us to believe that someone who had been sent to private school would be left in such hardship by her family?

Students have always taken jobs in their vacations to boost their finances. And let's not forget that when this student does start work as a doctor, she will be an above average earner for the rest of her life. The debts incurred are also interest free and repaid gradually from this salary.

I would have thought that there are far more worthy cases for sympathy on our city streets than this rather privileged individual. Some unfortunate, homeless people are literally trying to survive on the streets.

Ms Humphries' plea that she was "trying to survive!" was crass and misleading. Try convincing those with family commitments existing on a minimum wage, without her privileged education and without her future prospects of a secure and well-paid career.

Your roots in the North-East should give your paper a more realistic sense of priorities. - KM Kirkbright, Marske-by-the-Sea.

CREDIT CARDS

THOSE of us who used credit cards to pay for Christmas (which probably means virtually all of us) should watch out for the trap the credit card companies lay for the unwary.

As well as charging 19 per cent interest on unpaid balances (four times the base interest rate), they also slip in a £25 surcharge if you're late getting in a payment.

On a balance of £800 that's equivalent to more than doubling the rate of interest.

There used to be a word for this - usury. Since that's fallen into disuse, the modern equivalent is rip off. - Robin Ashby, Newcastle.

GREEN POWER

I WAS interested in Tim Glanvill's letter regarding wind power (HAS, Dec 28). It is true that wind power would be a sensible way of producing electricity just as long as the wind is blowing, and they do need a certain amount of wind to get the turbine blades moving.

However, no wind, no power.

Nobody seems to mention the use of hydroelectric power. Norway and Sweden make very good use of the water and snow that falls on their western coastal regions. Why can't Britain do the same?

Hydro power is perhaps the most environmentally-friendly way of producing power, and as water is always available in this country it is a sure way of getting "cheap" electricity all of the time.

The time will come when Britain will run out of fossil fuels, and hydro schemes take time to put into operation, so this Government should start now. - George Robinson, Darlington.

POLICE REFORM

CHIEF constables in England and Wales say they will have to seek more powers if they are to enforce the hunting ban.

If Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, gets his way chief constables, who are in danger of being reduced from 42 to 12, could soon become an endangered species. Therefore, would they perhaps be better off seeking protection from New Labour? - Peter Troy, Sedgefield.

'JOY-RIDING'

A CAR is wrapped round a tree, its driver and three other teenage occupants are dead inside. The car has been stolen - yet the media insists on calling this "joy-riding".

The media should stop using euphemisms when it reports serious criminal acts.

How can a defenceless member of a family killed in cold blood be described by some sections of the press as an "honour killing"?

We then have the latest ludicrous media phrase "happy slapping", invented to describe unprovoked gang assaults on unsuspecting victims. This downgrading of grievous bodily harm can only serve to encourage the culprits to wreak more alarming attacks on their innocent prey. And the word "mugging" simply makes light of this vicious crime. The words "robbery with violence" should be used instead. - Pat Walker, Acklam, Middlesbrough.

CALL CENTRES

INSTEAD of Jacquie Bell (Echo, Dec 19) decrying call centres maybe she should try working in one for a day or two.

Having worked in one I can assure her that the employees are disgusted by the way they are treated. 'Cheap labour, idiots, kids' are labels that all spring to mind, through personal experience and recorded observations.

Imagine, in one's 40s, being tasked to make and colour paper aeroplanes for five days. I was.

It also goes beyond imagination that people can't sort out their personal lives without having to make calls at 10.59pm on a Sunday to pay a credit card account, without the awareness that staff need to get home to their families.

One is required to wear 'office attire' when there are no visitors. The list goes on. Yes, this is the North-East, treated like dirt. Bring back the Jarrow Marchers. - Name and address supplied.

MURDER GRADES

THE Government is supporting measures to introduce American style murder gradings according to severity and intent.

While it is doing so, then it must also implement the American penalties meted out to those who commit these murders: if you murder a policeman as was done in Bradford lately, then you should hang. If a fundamentalist home grown religious terrorist blows up the London Underground, then they should hang. If you kill or maim a child, then you should hang.

After these crimes should come all the other categories of murder with life meaning life, and so on. - Mark Anderson, Middleton St George.