Hear All Sides

Control of the area is vested locally in a number of democratically-elected councils and unitary authorities and, nationally, by our elected Parliament.

I suspect, like myself, a great many people know very little, if anything, about the European Union Council of the Regions, of which Councillor Chris Foote-Wood is so enthusiastic (HAS, May 24).

So perhaps he would be good enough to tell us:

1. Exactly what the Council of the Regions is.

2. What it is for.

3. Who it is responsible for.

4. What its authority is

5. How it is funded.

6. What its legal standing is.

7. How he and the other two North-East representatives came to be members of it.

8. What benefits it brings to the people in this part of England.

Since we appear to have three local councillors sitting on this so-called "council" I think that we are entitled to be told exactly what they are up to and who they represent.

J Routledge, Witton Gilbert, Durham.

REGIONAL GOVERNMENT.

NORTHUMBERLAND, County Durham and North Yorkshire folk must be heartily sick of Chris Foote-Wood banging on about his reviled and rejected "North-East region" (HAS, May 17).

Liberal Democrat, Conservative and especially New Labour politicians rebuff English opinion. In turn, the people of England should rebuff them.

New Labour has betrayed its core support in the North of England. Worse still, it openly bellows "England is not a nation, just a collection of regions" and Welshman John Prescott has stated that the English "do not constitutionally exist".

Where England is concerned the Liberal Democrats merely parrot New Labour and David Cameron gives the impression he would dump the North of England if it ensured a few Tory MPs in Scotland.

If you love Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire and England and are desperate for change then change your vote and party to one that puts England first.

Think about this. If Chris Foote-ood gets his way with England carved up into gerrymandered regions, and then Wales and Scotland decide to go independent; where does that leave England? It leaves the English stateless, powerless and under the Euro-yoke.

Stephen Gash, English Democrats Party, Carlisle.

EUROPE.

EVERY member of the European Union has its own set of political problems that need to be dealt with nationally or regionally. Sometimes we may feel that the problems get in the way of the working of the EU.

Appreciation of the value of membership of the EU can decline at times, but problems need to be worked through without resorting to aggression.

We have had 51 years of peace in Europe as a direct result of the steps taken to establish and maintain the EU. This is the longest period of peace ever experienced by the continent, a fact that has been noted by neighbouring countries and other areas of the world and which has had a significant effect in improving human rights outside the EU.

Internally, the principle of having decisions made as near to those affected continues to be upheld, but decisions on issues such as pollution, aircraft safety and non-discrimination against disabled travellers need to be universal across the EU.

Most people say that they are European laws, ignoring the fact that they were agreed by our politicians and are therefore our laws. Perhaps if the work of MEPs got more publicity there would be a more positive attitude.

Bill Morehead, Darlington.

FARM PAYMENTS.

LIBERAL Democrats are concerned about the Government's shambolic handling of the Single Farm Payment Scheme. As a member of a North Yorkshire farming family, I have been hearing about the mess.

While the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly have navigated the maze of the new system, English farmers have endured Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) and the Rural Payments Agency playing the blame game.

Other EU countries have met the June 15 deadline despite choosing the complex scheme taken by Defra. Most have made payments within two months of the windows opening.

Yet so close to the proposed deadline for making payments, and nearly a year after the date was announced, Defra still cannot say when they will be made or if they will be full or partial payments.

Liberal Democrat rural affairs spokesman Roger Williams has written to the European Commissioner on Agriculture and Rural Affairs to ask for a compensation package. At present, farmers can be paid after the June 15 window but without any compensation for the hardship faced.

Farmers should not have to pay for Government incompetence and should be compensated for the late payments.

Jacquie Bell, Liberal Democrat, Belhaven, Dunbar, East Lothian.

EYE-OPENING BOOK.

THERE are few, if any, books I have read over the years that have disturbed me more than one called Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism and its Triumphs, edited by John Pilger.

In fact, I almost wish I had never read it, but then thought it would be best if I left this life a lot wiser than when I came into it.

It is a series of essays by some of the world's most respected journalists relating eyewitness accounts of events worldwide in which British and American governments were complicit in the deaths of millions of people, details of which were never reported to the public.

I did have some faith in Western democracies to report what they did in our name in a reasonably truthful manner, but reading this book has totally shattered my simple belief in politicians both here and in the US.

Don't take my word for it - go to your library and read this book. It will open your eyes.

Hugh Pender, Darlington.

BIN THEM.

PETER BARRON'S comments in his From The Editor's Chair column about people who send in inappropriate letters (Echo, May 29) reminded me of what Daily Mirror columnist Joe Haines had to say on the matter some years ago.

He told his readers that he received many such letters and described them as vile, ranting and barely literate and added that they belonged in the bin, which is where they go.

LD Wilson, Guisborough.

PREPARING FOR THE LITTLE GREEN MEN.

THERE have been many stories and claims that civilians have seen a UFO or have been abducted by aliens from another world. By the law of averages, surely some of these accounts could be true?

We have heard from the likes of police officers, doctors and even members of the cloth that they have seen a UFO, but most people who have also seen these intergalactic craft dare not mention a word, in case of ridicule.

While I may not believe in little green men from Mars, I do accept that there well could be alien beings elsewhere in the universe who could be visiting this planet in their spacecraft quite regularly.

If this is the case, then I wish that the Government would tell us. That way, I could prepare myself in case of an invasion with a frying pan and bin lid kept underneath my bed for protection.

Christopher Wardell, Darlington.