June 2nd, 2006

We are grateful to the Oak Leaf Leisure Complex staff, who worked their socks off, and our compliments to the chef and bar staff who were very friendly.

The town council sponsored the event, which always attracts a huge crowd to this 300-year-old North-East family sport.

The fastest dogs in the country competed on what is described as "the best track in the country" - a huge credit to the hard-working ground staff at the complex.

I'd like to thank Mary Dalton, the new Mayoress, for attending, making our weekend special indeed.

Thanks also go to Trevor Cousins, George and Maude Gray and Ian Gray, not forgetting the conscientious staff who are employed at the centre, including Paul who again worked tirelessly.

Special thanks to the chairman of recreation, Councillor Alan Courtney and wife Marjorie, who play a huge part in organising this event - the most popular in our calendar, which is a reflection on the lovely, down-to-earth people of Newton Aycliffe. - Chris Cornish, Event Organiser, Hinckley, Leicestershire.

GEORGE GALLOWAY

MORALLY speaking, it makes no difference whether you plant a bomb on a tube train and run away, or blow yourself up at the same time.

Suicide bombers who kill innocent people at random have an absurd fantasy that they will go to heaven. If I believed in an afterlife, I would say they were going straight to hell, along with George Bush and Tony Blair, who have killed more innocent civilians than al Qaida ever will.

George Galloway (Echo, May 27) argues that a suicide assassination of Tony Blair would be "morally equivalent" to Mr Blair's own war crimes. Fine - that means both are wrong.

But he contradicts himself by saying the assassination could be "morally justified", whereas he has consistently argued, rightly in my view, that the attack on Iraq was morally and legally indefensible.

He can't have it both ways. Many who are outraged by Mr Galloway's remarks would probably have applauded the assassination of Saddam or bin Laden, on the grounds that it could have saved thousands of lives. One could argue for the assassination of Mr Blair or Mr Bush on similar grounds, but the fact is all these monstrous men are replaceable, and it is unlikely that lives would be saved in the long run. - Pete Winstanley, Durham.

TOO LATE

AT LAST the spent forces of Messrs Bush and Blair apologise over their apparent mistakes leading to the Iraq War and its consequences to world peace.

Well, unfortunately, it's too late. Fortunately for Mr Bush, he cannot stand a third term so can retire a two-time winner.

As for Mr Blair, what next? He can hang around a while longer hoping something might turn up for him to claim as a winning legacy, or he might stay too long and be booted out of office like Margaret Thatcher.

Mr Blair promised and smiled a lot during his tenure, always seemed to look as if he meant what he said, was sincere, and was acting in the people's interests. Unfortunately, he was just not up to the job.

The Iraq War, the loss of control of illegal immigrants, the failure to protect British subjects against internal terrorists despite warnings, and the catastrophic running of the Home Office are what he will be remembered for. - Mark Anderson, Middleton St George.

PENSIONS

THE Government seems to think it can solve the problems of pensions by increasing the retirement age and putting more money in the pot, but the fact is that, as inflation goes up, the value of money goes down.

I joined the fire brigade in 1948 on pay of £5 1s per week for 24 hours on duty and 24 hours off duty. When a fireman retired we thought how lucky he was to retire with a pension of £3 a week.

Since then, the value of money has gone down and down due to inflation so money saved for pensions has lost value.

If inflation was turned to deflation then any money put away for pensions would increase in value and would solve the problem of poor pensions.

If everyone took a drop of 1p in the pound from their income then, in 50 years' time, the pension fund would be worth double.

Since retirement age is to be increased to 68 and many people die before that age, what happens to the four per cent of their wages they have contributed? - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill, Co. Durham.

HARD TO FIGURE

THE message of 5 for 4 was repeated on product bags and tickets all over our Tesco store. It was emblazoned across the ample bosoms of our favourite Tesco ladies as the latest marketing device designed to move more stock from the shelves at a greater rate.

A former Playtex salesman, even I was confused. I could only count two at a time and what could I do with five at my stage in life, anyway?

Bewildered, my wife Sylvia looked for the single item price on a 2kg bag of potatoes. Annoyed, she fumed as she tried to complete the extra shopping we were faced with for a visit from our grandchildren.

"Do they think we are feeding a gang of navvies?" she asked. "Who wants five bags of spuds when they can buy a sack, or five lettuces?"

The lettuces were looking tired. Maybe people could not make up their minds and just walked on past.

Sylvia was one of the first customers in when our Tesco opened 19 years ago - without complaint. You have got it wrong this time, Tesco. - George Appleby, Clifton, York.

GYM PRIORITIES

REMEMBER "education, education, education" - the now famous words of Prime Minister Tony Blair? Readers may be interested in three news items I came across recently.

Prison bosses have lavished almost £1m on a gym for convicts at Everthorpe, East Yorkshire (the latest treadmills, cross-trainers, weight training benches and cardiovascular step machine) all paid for by the taxpayer.

The National Audit Office has announced that Britain's 77,000 prisoners now enjoy better facilities than their local communities.

An Ofsted report last year said that a quarter of secondary schools cannot teach physical education properly because their facilities are in such poor condition.

Perhaps someone should tell Mr Blair this. - J Young, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough.

NO EXCUSES

I READ recently that legal aid to prisoners on parole has increased tenfold under the Human Rights Act, Tony Blair's "baby".

The new Home Secretary announces he has deferred the proposed plans for police mergers. In other words, the Home Office today is a shambles. Will it be any better next week? Dream on.

After nine years of New Labour I would imagine they have now run out of excuses. - M Stewart, Middlesbrough.