BUDGET BLUES: I WAS disappointed to see the Chancellor did hardly anything for the low paid in the Budget.

The personal allowance for income tax should be £10,000 not just over £5,000.

The Chancellor just raised it a few hundred pounds. His whole working families tax credit scheme is unnecessary.

By raising the amount people are allowed to have in savings when on income support and raising the amount people are allowed to earn before it affects their income support, people could stay on benefit and work.

There would be no need for the new cumbersome system he has developed for working families tax credit.

People are only allowed savings of £3,000 before benefits are hit. This amount hasn't gone up in over 25 years.

People on income support should be allowed to earn more before their benefits are hit. - Nigel Boddy, Darlington.

LOANS ROW

All this talk about the amount of money that is required by political parties to gain power and run the country as they see fit shows what a rewarding position it puts you in if you win.

Seeking donations/loans from people who are known to have the necessary funds and who also harbour ambitions to be part of the governing sect without having to submit themselves to the requirement of telling the people what they actually stand for, has increased greatly under New Labour.

These days, if a student wishes to be educated to degree level he/she has to be able to finance their education either by family support or by taking out a commercial loan from one of the many banks or money lending companies that fill today's high street. Why can't political parties be as open about their finances as students have to be about theirs?

This idea of the taxpayer subsidising political parties should be a non-starter. Let all the parties borrow the money they require from wherever they can but anyone lending money should know that it bars them from future grace and favour appointments to gain access to politics through the back door. - Peter Dolan, Newton Aycliffe.

SHOT AT DAWN CAMPAIGN

THANK you, The Northern Echo, for your excellent article and tremendous support concerning the Shot At Dawn campaigners who have worked tirelessly for many years to clear the names of the young soldiers who were murdered by their own men on orders from their barbaric officers and generals.

These are some of the greatest crimes committed by the British Army.

Young men, terrified and shell-shocked in horrific conditions, were shot and killed. Their deaths were wrongly used as deterrents to stop other soldiers from running away during the First World War.

Sergeant Bill Stone from Crook was protecting his officer from the approaching enemy and used his rifle to block the way. He was shot as a coward, leaving his wife and child penniless.

I am cautiously optimistic to learn from the article that a pardon is being considered at last after all these years.

Prime Minister John Major said when asked to help: "You can't alter history." How disgraceful.

Now, soldiers in similar circumstances would have therapy and counselling, and rightly so. In the First World War all they received was a bullet.

I trust and pray that pardons will be given soon. Then the families of those young men, generations after those atrocities were committed, can finally hold their heads high and be released from that unwarranted shame and be proud that their boys went to such a dreadful war.

I hope that those who have deliberately blocked that vital pardon for all those years bow their heads in guilt and shame.

Once again, thanks to the Echo team for your help and support. - Mary Armstrong, Crook.

ANIMAL TESTING

THE latest news concerning the six people who became seriously ill while acting as guinea pigs for a drugs experiment that has gone seriously wrong must question how many animals have died a horrible death testing drugs over many years.

It only proves that animal testing is a waste of time because the animal and its genetics do not justify their slaughter in such a manner.

The animal would have no choice in the matter and would certainly not be paid - quite well it seems.

Then there is the business of Cheltenham and the fact that nine horses - in what must be a week of shame - have been killed. All to satisfy human behaviour and a total disregard for the animal.

Who are we trying to convince when we call ourselves civilised? Or the chosen ones of God? - John Young, Crook.

POLISH WORKERS

SOME 205,000 Poles have demonstrated how easy it is to find work in this country.

Is it not time, then, that we scrapped benefits for the unemployed? It is true that many of them live far from where the jobs are, but not as far as these Polish workers have travelled.

If the wages on offer are too demeaningly low for our own people to accept, then we shouldn't be letting employers pay the Poles that little. If we must support the unemployed and put a roof over their heads, then we should at least bear in mind that there is presumably a lot of cheap accommodation left unoccupied in Poland. - John Riseley, Harrogate.

COUNCIL TAX

PEOPLE will now have received their latest council tax bill and, as far as Sedgefield Borough Council is concerned, the proposed increase of three per cent appears modest.

However, they should not forget that the council tax levels in Sedgefield are among the highest in the country.

Council rents and other charges are still increasing, some by more than the rate of inflation, and the Government grant to Sedgefield for the coming financial year was a substantial increase on the previous year. So, all in all, perhaps not the prudent housekeeping the initial percentage might indicate.

I have had personal experience of the attitude of the council officers and members towards taxpayers' money, as some time ago I pointed out that the number of councillors were, in my opinion, over-claiming mileage, expenses and I expected the facts to be checked and, if I was right, necessary changes to be made.

No action has yet been taken and when I raised this at the last council meeting my point of order was not dealt with and I have subsequently been asked to apologise and retract the statement or I will be reported to the Standards Board.

Now I accept that the amounts involved are not huge, but I think that the way that this has been handled shows at best the lack of attention to detail in dealing with the council's finances.

I propose to keep on pushing on this matter until I have a answer why this situation is being allowed to continue and will let you know the outcome. - Councillor Bill Blenkinsopp, Aycliffe Village.