TEENAGE GANGS: MPs have recently been debating the shocking state of affairs caused by gangs of teenagers who lure emergency services to places, where they then physically attack crews and ambulances and fire engines are damaged.

Newspapers are full of the most horrendous reports of assaults and murders, matched only in number by the pleas of people who want to see action taken against these vile people. What does the Government do?

In the case of the teenagers, it appeals to parents to keep their offspring off the streets.

Has it not occurred to them that they are appealing to the very people who already do not care what their children are doing?

Why does the Government pursue this pointless approach? The answer is: it costs nothing. If society is serious about combating this problem, then it needs to accept that it has to pay up or shut up.

This country needs a massive increase in the number of police officers to patrol our streets and clear this plague. If people value their peace of mind, they are going to have to pay for it.

Sadly, governments will not risk their popularity by asking for more money so this hell is with us for the foreseeable future. - D Brearley, Middlesbrough.

NO CONVICTIONS

THOMAS Conlon (HAS, Mar 9) says that those held at Guantanamo are "some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world" and compares them to convicted criminals.

The point is that not one of them has been convicted of anything.

He says they are not suffering. How would he like to be locked up for years without access to friends, family or legal representation, and without any promise that he will ever be released or brought to trial?

To be aggressively interrogated again and again, and then, if he refused to admit to any wrong-doing, to be put in an isolation cell for months, deprived of sleep for days on end, spending hours shackled by the wrists and ankles to the floor in a painful crouching position?

The Red Cross and the UN have described such methods as "tantamount to torture". Astonishingly, Mr Conlon thinks they are "humanitarian". Even so, he must surely see that such abuses can only encourage terrorism, as they provoke tremendous anger and resentment, ensuring an inexhaustible supply of jihadis. - Pete Winstanley, Durham.

STAMPS PLEA

I AM writing to you on behalf of the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) in hope that you can help raise funds for blind and partially sighted people throughout the UK, by printing our appeal for used and new postage stamps.

The RNIB is the UK's leading charity offering information, support and advice to over two million people with sight problems. Our pioneering work helps anyone with a sight problem, not just with Braille, talking books and computer training, but with imaginative and practical solutions.

We fight for equal rights for people with sight problems. We fund pioneering research into preventing and treating eye disease.

Money raised by collecting stamps helps support RNIB Sunshine House School, Northwood. This is a non-maintained special school for children who are blind or partially sighted with multiple disabilities.

We cannot reach our target unless we get more supporters from the UK and overseas. We raise about £1.50 a kilo for UK stamps and approximately £10 a kilo for foreign stamps. A kilo (2.2lbs) is about half a carrier bag full.

Stamps without correspondence can be sent to: RNIB, PO Box 6198, Leighton Buzzard, England, LU7 9XT. Requests for posters, donations, and other correspondence, must be sent to Mrs Terri Bush, 20 Bowers Road, Benfleet, Essex, SS7 5PZ.

For every £1 we raise, RNIB spends 84p directly helping blind and partially sighted people, 14p on raising more vital funds and 2p on administration. - Terri Bush (Mrs), Volunteer Events Co-ordinator.

BEHAVIOUR AWARDS

GAVIN Havery's report (Echo, Mar 9) of the proposal to reward youngsters for behaving as they should is a fair measure of the decline in our moral and behavioural standards over the last generation or two.

Some of us can remember when civilised conduct was the norm and hooliganism was punished.

Now that punishment has become a dirty word, today's rising generation is the first to expect payment merely for behaving like decent human beings. - Bob Jarratt, Richmond.

COUNCIL TAX

PERHAPS I can throw some light on the reasons for the ever upwards rise in council tax.

Look in the Echo jobs page and see how many productive jobs are advertised and how many are non productive, money costing, local government posts. The largest employer in the Stockton area is, I believe, Stockton Borough Council and each new job will cost the council tax payers the annual product of probably 200 or more houses.

The wage bill and pensions provision rise each year and the whole pension provision for each local employee is paid by the council tax payer. In the private sector, the employee and employer's contribution are all paid by companies and their employees who make, or try to make, a profit.

The council will tell us that it shows year on year efficiency savings and meets or beats targets, but who sets the targets? If they can be reached each year, then they are not set high enough. If there is to be an efficiency saving, why not let the voters decide what they want to pay for, not be told by local and central government. Governments and councils don't make money, they just spend ours. - Dennis Clark, Billingham.

FREE SPEECH

I AGREE that Ken Livingstone's remarks were offensive but we had the opportunity to read them in the media and ridicule him accordingly (Echo Comment, Mar 1).

It may all be water off a duck's back for Ken but, in the British way, the wider public were made aware of the comments and reacted within the spirit of freedom of speech.

A few months back, the Echo covered a story I was involved in, namely my preference for the English flag to fly ahead of the EU flag at Wear Valley District Council (WVDC).

Subsequently, I requested the secretary's notes from the WVDC meeting that had discussed the issue, and was amazed by a comment made by a prominent councillor, referring to "two individuals trying to make a name by promoting prejudice and ignorance".

I sought clarification of the comments but, as the Echo recently highlighted, councils and perhaps councillors can be perceived to have distanced themselves from the public.

I have no wish to pursue this individual, but I request, in the true spirit of British freedom of speech, that he clarifies his remarks and allows the public to judge. I trust an apology to the English nation will be forthcoming. - Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland.

SUNDERLAND FC

MICK McCarthy's failure at Sunderland led to him paying the ultimate price, according to your editorial (Echo, Mar 7).

I was not aware they had shot him. - J Dixon, Darlington.