24/02/06

The crisis had both short and long term effects on business as indicated in your reports and it is true that a lot of this was caused by 'Government bungling'.

At the outset of the crisis, the Federation of Small Businesses realised the impact this epidemic would have on the rural economy, not just farmers, and set up a disaster fund for members. The sum of £500,000, a large part of our funds at that time, was made available to help small businesses. These loans were given out interest free with an open-ended time and method of repayment.

The reality is some of these loans are still outstanding - small businesses were so hard hit that they are still suffering.

As an organisation we were there at the outset to help businesses and I trust, through the report by Newcastle University, at the next crisis, the Government will realise the needs of small business continuity and be alert to all business needs. - Colin Stratton, North-East Regional Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses.

NICK GRIFFIN

STIRLING Lowery wrongly claims (HAS, Feb 10) that BNP leader Nick Griffin was "acquitted of all charges" brought against him.

The jury hearing the case cleared Nick Griffin of two race hate charges but could not reach a verdict on two similar charges.

The twelve jurors just couldn't agree whether or not Nick Griffin's speeches incited racial hatred to the extent they broke the law.

I don't know what a retrial will find, but Griffin's record is one no mainstream politician would share.

The BNP claim they are patriotic rather than extremists but what patriot would talk of showing fellow British people "the door" because of the colour of their skin or would call our country a "hell-hole"? - Paul Leake, Durham.

COALFIELDS

RE Barry Chambers letter about coalfields (HAS, Feb 16).

The great northern coalfield was decimated by the Labour government during the 1960s/70s.

Equally, so was Wales and other strong mining areas during the same period. Again, it's the Labour Government now who has its fingers in the miners' pension money.

And why, if the Labour Government are so supportive of its big voters, has the NUM had to fight so hard to get the compensation money?

I have first-hand experience of family members who have suffered much hardship and are now in poor health. They went through the strikes of the 70s and the 84/85 strike, yet have had no compensation, and virtually no help from the NUM.

The illusion that the Tories are bad and the Labour Party is good for the working class is a pure myth. - John Tague, Bishop Auckland.

HUNTING LAWS

WE'VE seen the collapse of pretence that some hunts are legally hunting. Since the ban, hunters have changed from being secretive to blatant. This is due to a lack of police response.

Simon Hart of the Countryside Alliance recently admitted that hunts are regularly illegally hunting. The media report the same and challenges to the law are open and organised. Landowners have to decide whether to allow hunts on their land. If so, they're allowing an illegal activity.

The Forestry Commission, Government, the Church, National Trust and Crown Estates should urgently review hunts' licences and only allow hunts who use artificial scents and hounds trained to follow such a scent on an agreed line.

Landowners should refuse permission to hunt if a wild mammal has been killed during the hunt by people or animals associated with the hunt.

Hunters should be charged with wasting police time as they're engaged in defying the law.

The police must now treat hunting as a public order issue and bring cases to court. No-one can believe their false claims that they're hunting within the guidelines.

Write to the police, your MP and the Home Office to ensure the law is enforced and police resources are allocated to deal with organised bloodsports. - J Brownlow, Durham.

UNCLE HARRY

FIRST, may I congratulate you on the smaller Saturday newspaper. It is so much easier to handle, especially for older people.

I was interest to read that The Northern Echo has been in print since 1870. Not only was this the year of Charles Dickens' death, but also the year my great grand uncle Harry Clasper died.

Harry was a boat builder and world champion rower, taking the title from the Thames boatmen for the first time.

He was born on the banks of the Tyne at Derwenthaugh and rowed on almost every river in the country. He and his son built boats from Brown's boathouse in Durham.

On July 12, 1870 he died and 130,000 people lined the banks of the Tyne as his body was carried by barge to Whickham churchyard where a monument to his memory still stands today.

The year 1870 has therefore, at least, three memorable events. - M Howatt, Witton Gilbert.

DEMOCRACY

IN the years since Tony Blair became Prime Minister, we have seen the biggest erosion of our democracy in a century.

Even the Tories have recognised that the slide towards an elected dictatorship has gone too far and asked Ken Clarke to look into it. Now Blair is set to cancel local government elections to suit his political agenda.

This is after already decimating local democracy by insisting that councils are run by a "cabinet", leaving most elected councillors outside of the decision-making process.

How much longer do we have to put up with fake public consultations and parliamentary debates, when the Government has clearly decided what it wants to do well in advance of the announcement?

Whether it be this decision to reduce local government 18 months before the White Paper is due, or the decision to build dozens of new Chernobyls before any public debate, or the decision to go to war in Iraq on the basis of lies, Tony Blair seems to care not a jot for the concept of democracy.

All this from a government voted in by just one fifth of the electorate. How much longer before Blair bans elections altogether and declares himself "President for Life"?

For the first time since the great 19th century Reform Act, this does not seem so far fetched. The time for a new Reform Act to bring power back to the people is now, before it is too late. - Leslie Rowe, Richmond Green Party.

YELLOW PERIL

DOES anybody know why Darlington Borough Council is spending so much money on yellow paint for roads and introducing bus lanes when both it and the police appear to have neither the staff or, more to the point, the inclination to enforce them?

Pavement cycling is a particular bugbear for OAPs. - JA Telford, Darlington.