WHAT I remember Margaret Thatcher for is her claim that "there is no such thing as society".

Every edition of The Northern Echo carries stories of crime, cynicism and selfishness perpetrated by people who seem to have taken these words as a motto.

On the other hand, there are examples of kindness, volunteering and good citizenship, but these are down to people who, by their actions, emphatically reject the notion that "there is no such thing as society".

Paddy Burton, Sunniside, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham.