PAY DIFFERENCES: THE pay gap between workers in the public sector and private industry has widened, but not in the way many readers of The Northern Echo will realise.

Revised figures from the Office for National Statistics show that gross pay for those working in the public sector increased by 4.2 per cent in the past year compared with 2.2 per cent for those employed by private firms.

Mean hourly pay in the public sector averaged £12.67, while that in the private sector averaged £11.75.

The pay gap has widened in favour of the public sector worker by almost £1 an hour.

The British worker is now clamouring to become a civil servant with shorter hours, earlier retirement and a handsome pension. The latest statistics show that the increase in people taking public sector jobs is almost four times as much as the growth in private sector jobs.

By the end of next year, six million people, more than one in five of the workforce, will be working for UK plc.

Who can blame them? - N Kellett, Crook.

VOTING RECORD

ACCORDING to TheyWorkforYou.com, the voting record since 2001 of Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham, is:

Very strongly for the reduction of Parliamentary scrutiny;

Very strongly for introducing ID cards;

Very strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws;

Very strongly for the Iraq war.

Is this a man who should be representing us? His voting record is anti-democracy, anti-liberty and anti-privacy.

Why does Mr Jones vote in this way? Answer: he has one of the safest constituencies in the country, and is immune from potentially losing his seat. It is in his interest to do his boss's bidding, and not to represent his constituents' interests. While Mr Jones is safe, he will never listen to his constituents unless it suits his political ambitions.

According to the same website, Mr Jones' annual expenses since 2001 have varied from £106,996 to £128,459 (258th to 32nd out of 659 MPs).

The ultimate irony is the Labour voters of North Durham have voted in a man who very strongly supports the most right-wing Government since the Duke of Wellington's. - Clive Thompson, Edmondsley.

PRAYERS ANSWERED

THE Northern Echo (Mar 27) detailed the recovery of 16-year-old Kimberley Dixon (now 17), who suffered horrific injuries after falling nearly 40ft from an attic window.

She was not expected to survive the night, far less walk, talk and even dance again, as the Echo reported. This is indeed a miracle.

On the evening that she fell, a prayer group at her church, Elim Church, in Bowman Street, Darlington, was meeting and they prayed through the night for her. Subsequently, most of the churches in Darlington, and even across the country, as well as abroad, have been praying for her healing ever since.

So the good news is that God still hears and answers prayers of those who believe and still works miracles. What a pity The Northern Echo missed the opportunity to report this best bit of the good news. - L Hale, Darlington.

PARTY LOANS

I THOUGHT the letter from Tom Blenkinsop, of Marton, Middlesbrough, (HAS, Mar 24) rather childish in a way. He expects us to think that just because other political parties have borrowed large sums of money to swell their coffers, it is acceptable for the Labour Party to do the same.

It is not acceptable - two wrongs do not make a right. If this was all above board and perfectly acceptable, why was it not made public? It turns out even people who should have been informed were not.

We often hear claims of "open and transparent" from this Labour Government - as transparent as the wartime blackout in my opinion. I wonder, is Mr Blenkinsop a member of Middlesbrough Labour Party? - Ann Oliver, Middlesbrough.

THIS sounds like another Labour Party fairy story. Lord Levy borrows nearly £14m for Tony Blair to fund the General Election campaign.

The Party treasurer is not told and does not ask where the money for the campaign is coming from. A year later, he has still not been told that he will have to find £14m to repay the loans.

It all sounds rather chaotic. Why am I concerned that this is the party running the country? - Brian Fiske, Press Officer, Darlington Liberal Democrats.

COUNCIL ALLOWANCES

CAN I offer the following in answer to the question from Barbara Dunne, of Middlesbrough, about the political affiliation of councillors who chair council meetings (HAS, Mar 21)?

In Middlesbrough Council, as here in Stockton, the Labour Party chooses who is to be the chair of all scrutiny panels (which attract the high extra allowances). They have the right to do this simply because they have the most councillors. If the Conservative Party had the most councillors, then they would choose the chairs, etc.

A phone call or look at the council webpage will show that in Middlesbrough all the chairs are Labour councillors.

I, for one, think the system is far from democratic and I agree with the previous writer that if they volunteer for a position on the council then any extra responsibility should not be expected to be paid for.

They could, of course, always donate the money to a charity and simply claim the basic allowance and any expenses incurred.

That would mean a great saving for the town and the money could be spent where it is badly needed. - Robert Lacey, Stockton.

SEAL CULL

THE pointless cull of seal cubs will take place in Canada as it does each year when thousands of cubs are battered to death by having their heads smashed. Is it really necessary?

Surely, if the numbers of seals have to be reduced to save their fishing industry, it can be done more humanely?

Why not curb the breeding ability of the male cubs, leaving only a small number to reproduce? - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

NHS CUTS

SO the NHS is going to cut back on nurses on acute wards. When is the NHS and the Health Secretary going to wake up?

We all know who is to blame: the overpaid hospital managers who are bleeding the system dry.

The Health Secretary should take a long, hard look at what is going on and change the system to save the jobs of these people. - Stephen Beaton, Darlington.

COUNCIL TAX

WHEN you buy or move house you always check you can afford to do so. So, with our move in 1999, came Band F council tax of £743.42 which became part of our budget. We did not expect in such a short time to be paying Band F at £1,730.75. OK, house prices have gone up, but unless you sell the property it is only on paper. - Kay Obinu, Darlington.

SUMMED UP

PETER Mullen's anti-pacifist diatribe (Echo, Mar 28) sums up the man perfectly: he professes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, yet he justified the killing of innocent men, women and children (as in the two wars against the people of Iraq in 1991 and 2003). He and his like have been justifying war for centuries. He should know better as a Christian priest. - (Rev) John Stephenson, East Herrington.