18/02/06

Although I did not necessarily agree with the timing of the war in Iraq, or the fact that there was no UN involvement, I have always felt that it was a job that sooner or later someone would have to do.

My son Ben certainly did not have any strong feelings on the rights or wrongs of the war. He was a soldier, he went where his country sent him. His main concern was that if a situation arose, would he freeze or would he "do the right thing".

We know that on that hot June day in Al Majar Al-Kabir, Ben and his comrades all "did the right thing". Faced with impossible odds, they displayed a courage few of us will ever aspire to show.

No British government will withdraw all of our troops from Iraq until such time as the Iraqi security forces are able to maintain a reasonable degree of law and order without assistance.

Until that time, rather than undermining the morale of our forces in Iraq, surely we should be supporting them.

Our armed forces are among the most respected in the world, a reputation they have justly earned.

In Iraq they are doing a difficult job well. These people who are prepared to put themselves in harm's way on our behalf deserve our thanks and eternal gratitude.

JA Hyde, Northallerton.

TAXI RIDE: I RECENTLY returned from a day trip to London and, arriving back home in Darlington, I got a cab from the train station.

Thank the Lord that I am not a tourist in this town. I asked the taxi driver to take me to my house, whereupon the reply that followed in an eastern European accent was: "Where is that?"

After spending the following several minutes giving directions to the driver to my home, he told me that he was from the Czech Republic and had been recruited from his homeland to work as a cabbie in Darlington.

I know three taxi drivers who are unemployed and they could have been recruited to work as taxi drivers, not a group of people from the other side of Europe, who have no local knowledge.

I am just pleased that, for this journey, I only required a lift home, because if I needed to travel to Durham Tees Valley Airport then I would have been slightly bemused if the cabbie had driven me up the A1 in the direction of Durham.

Christopher Wardell, Darlington.

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

HOW right Peter Mullen is about the present Archbishop of Canterbury (Echo, Feb 14). From the very beginning this man, who is supposed to be our guide in the teachings of the Church of England, has followed the road of appeasement and political correctness.

One wonders if he has ever understood the Bible as I don't recall our saviour being as mealy mouthed about the beliefs he wished us to follow - beliefs he willingly died for.

And, as Aled Jones asked (HAS, Feb 15) does this craven apologising include the Catholic Church. I would guess not as their leaders encourage their followers to be as proud of their beliefs as any other religion.

Also, which slaves does the Archbishop apologise for? Just over 100 years ago in this country, many servants and workers were treated as little better than slaves in many industries and large households. Does our PC Archbishop only recognise the injustice if it is black skinned?

No wonder the Church of England is bewildering and alienating its followers when the Archbishop, along with the Synod, spend more time pandering to trends, altering beloved texts and, at the same time, bowing their heads in shame at the Church's past.

I think gentlemen, you are in the wrong trade, because I do not and will not apologise for my beliefs.

Shelagh Harnby, Stockton.

HIGH STREETS

IT'S good to see that MPs have finally recognised that our high streets are in danger of losing all the small shops and the life they bring to communities.

What a pity it's taken them so long to speak out. Regrettably, supermarkets now have such a stranglehold in many areas.

There is, however, one very simple thing that councils could do to help the high street. Stop charging for car parking, and do what they can to make as many car parking spaces available as near to high streets as possible.

The small loss of revenue overall, once the cost of imposing and policing the charges is removed, could be easily compensated by a very small increase in business rates.

If any of my local councillors want to see the truth of what I've just said, just let them spend a Saturday morning in Northallerton. Free parking, easily accessible and the place is heaving. Great and apparently thriving local shops - what better demonstration could there be?

Derek Thornton, Stanley Crook.

WELL DONE

RECENTLY in Stockton there has, and still is, a great deal of new build going on and this should be welcomed with open arms.

This is akin to the 1960s when Thornaby and Billingham, plus outlying areas of Stockton, saw good investment in new housing estates.

What I would like to say is a big thank you to those people over in Thornaby who I think are responsible for the sudden flourish and interest in our estates and in halting the decline.

A small group of like-minded people got together and created such a to do that the whole political arena in this area had to re-evaluate itself, to the good of the area, I must say.

Though I have no connection with them, I think they deserve a mention and a little praise.

These people had the guts to help turn around this area's decline. Would the investment have been so readily available without their fight for better housing in Thornaby? I think not.

Stuart Davis, Stockton.

NORTH WATER

WE hear that Northumbrian Water has to pay the Environment Agency for the amount of water in the reservoirs.

We are fortunate that our supplies are plentiful in the North-East. However, our friends down South are not in the same situation.

There is no North/South divide mention. Nor is there any bragging about property prices.

There is a saying: united we stand, divided we fall. Let us keep our water and stand against giving them it.

It will be cheaper for us Northerners. Be divided and you will pay for the water, why should you?

Peter Cark, Sherburn Hill.

SHINING EXAMPLE

I LOVE buying The Northern Echo on Saturdays because it is small and easier to read.

When will I be able to buy the same version during the week?

I usually get the Sun newspaper.

D Moore, Newton Aycliffe.

HUNTING ACT

IT is a year now since the implementation of the Hunting Act 2004 and an appropriate time to take stock. Backed by opinion polls showing an overwhelming majority in favour of an end to the gratuitous cruelty of traditional hare coursing, stag hunting and foxhunting, Parliament responded to public opinion and banned hunting.

A year on and it has become increasingly clear that the black propaganda of the hunting lobby warning of a collapse of the rural economy and the slaughter of hounds and horses was scaremongering.

They claimed 35,000 jobs would be destroyed. I doubt a single job has been lost.

Many hunts have accepted that they must abide by the law and have switched to drag and trail hunting.

This has meant that many, many people who love seeing horses and riders in action, but were repelled by the bloody aspect of the sport, now feel that they can support hunts that stay within the law, and are turning out to see cruelty-free hunting.

Unfortunately, there are those who believe they are above the law. There are credible repo rts that some hunts are behaving illegally.

The League Against Cruel Sports has passed on to the police dossiers on those extremists who are quite prepared to commit criminal acts. I have no doubt that firm action against them will ensure that others realise the sense of abiding by the law.

Douglas Batchelor, Chief Executive, League Against Cruel Sports.

FOOTBALL WALL I AM not surprised that some Darlington fans are annoyed that the Football Wall which boasts their names at Feethams is to be knocked down.

These fans were told by the club that the wall would be at the ground for years to come, and was not to be demolished along with the old stadium eight years later (Echo, Feb 16).

Brian Johnson, chairman of the Trust which owns Feethams, stated that the fans can come and collect their bricks if they wish to.

How stupid. Once the wall is knocked down, there will be hardly any bricks worth keeping. Maybe the trust would like to pay for the re-erection of the wall at the club's new stadium, with money received from the sale of the ground?

Surely, this is the least that they can do after all the revenue and publicity that the club has brought to Feethams over the years.

Christopher Wardell, Darlington.

FELINE FRIENDS

CATS have taken over from dogs as Britain's most popular pets. They take less looking after, so people say. It is presumed the cat will look after itself outdoors but they have to toilet somewhere, preferring a patch which is easy to dig and cover.

Unfortunately, well kept gardens are preferred by cats. They like to leave things tidy.

There are solutions, if only people (owners and gardeners) would take the trouble to implement them. Let us not forget a living animal should be treated with respect and care.

There are a number of plants which cats avoid, which will keep them off the garden, and a specially designed electric water spray to startle unsuspecting moggies is available to buy.

Many owners will not have a litter tray in the house so what is a pet to do?

Even a hooded tray (to keep the rain out) can be left outside the back door. Ideally, a cat flap should be considered and a litter tray left out to save offending the neighbours.

My concern really is our garden birds. If cats are allowed out at night they are able to pick roosting birds from their perches.

Anyway, they can only stand so much persecution, so perhaps limited access to the outside world for cats should be considered.

M Embling, Crook.