YET again Labour shows hypocrisy and imbalance in its foreign policy. The execution of convicted heroin smuggler Akmal Shaikh, irrespective of its legal, ethical or moral rights or wrongs, dragged out utterances from Gordon Brown and a minor understudy, Ivan Lewis, condemning China.

How dare they. This Government has dodged every difficult problem in relation to the control and trafficking of illegal drugs. It is more probably Mr Brown’s embarrassment that spurned his outburst, not compassion.

Why is it that Labour attacks China, yet has done nothing about the extradition of British computer hacker Gary McKinnon to the US? In fact, Home Secretary Alan Johnson stated recently we were unable to do anything in respect of Mr McKinnon. So why meddle in China’s affairs?

To hear this Government talk of the lack of human rights is unbelievable as it has done more to erode the rights of the citizen than any other in living memory.

Its record on foreign affairs was not concocted on the playing fields of Eton, but in Bedlam. It talks of the necessity to fight in Afghanistan yet it’s obvious the UK is at more risk from students of British universities and the Yemen.

Colin T Mortimer, Pity Me, Durham.

IT was very sad to hear about the execution of Briton Akmal Shaikh for heroin smuggling in China. However, this country of ours was well and truly out of order trying to get the Chinese authorities to change their law just for our benefit. When you enter a foreign country, its laws are loud and clear and rightly so.

In Bangkok and Malaysia, there are signs at their airports which state quite clearly that drug-trafficking is a hanging offence, so you are responsible for checking your own luggage.

In Muslim and Islamic countries, stealing merits your hand or both being chopped off, and rape brings castration or being stoned to death. Even the US puts murderers on death-row.

Every country has its own laws, so Britain should be made to apologise to the Chinese government for something that had nothing to do with us, and which happened in their country.

This country of ours offers no deterrent to crime whatsoever, so we should keep our mouths shut and feel totally ashamed.

Brian Corrigan, Tow Law, Co Durham.

THE British Government is now trying to tell China how to handle its own affairs, saying they were wrong in executing British citizen Akmal Shaikh.

Pity it wasn’t too bothered about human rights when it went cap in hand to China for their trade and money a few months ago.

And why shouldn’t China have the death penalty for drugs smuggling? Ask most folk in this country and they’ll tell you that we should have it, too.

Remember what happened to the Chinese minister for buildings when all the schools collapsed? He was executed for corruption. Just think of the outcome, if the death penalty was in force here, when all those MPs were caught fiddling their expenses, or when bankers were robbing us blind in the guise of bonuses.

The executioner would be one of the few people in this country with a safe and full-time job.

Lawrence A McGowan, Sherburn Village, Durham.