THE newly-appointed government minister for the North-West, Phil Woolas, wasted no time in his interview with the local press heaping praises on Liverpool as if it was the centre of the universe and pledged his body and soul for the good of the city, and, according to the report, the man is a bit of a tough nut.

It is the same tough nut who, only a few weeks ago, was publicly and thoroughly out-boxed by a woman, the feisty Joanna Lumley, over the Gurkha veterans’ rights to become British citizens. And before he had time to recover from the embarrassment, he was made to fill the shoes of another woman, after their owner, the former minister, Beverley Hughes, walked out of Gordon Brown’s Cabinet.

While Mr Woolas and his opposite number from the Tories, Chris Grayling, have promised, and expect us to believe, that they would move heaven and earth for Liverpool, they have also declared openly that they are both staunch supporters of Manchester United.

Even without the current public’s distrust of politicians, Liverpudlians, who are fervent devotees to their football teams, would sooner believe that a lecture was to be given at the Arena next week on the virtues of western democracy by Osama bin Laden.

Rennie Ku, L8

Home to roost

LIKE many “are-we-public-are-we- private-sector?” entities, Liverpool Chamber appears to have been undone by a business model predicated on feeding at the trough of the Objective One (O1) and other publicly-funded schemes.

Unfortunately for it and its employees, a halt has been called and the chickens have come home to roost. This growth strategy was flawed from the outset and everyone with any sense knew it couldn’t last.

Sadly, the Chamber appeared to have lost its way a number of years ago. This firm was one who forewarned of the folly of embarking on publicly-funded programmes to expand its empire. To be fair to the current management, this strategy was under way long before it took the helm, and it has tried of late to re-position itself. Many of us wish it had stuck to its original objective of lobbying/supporting SMEs and not be seduced by the lure of O1 money We, like many, became disillusioned with the focus of Liverpool Chamber members who appear to have been relegated to mere subscription fodder in its drive to become a local monolith.

If it’s to remain relevant as a mutual organisation, it needs to fully re-engage with its original constituency, understand its members’ needs, and go back to just good old boring lobbying and member support. This will mean a significantly down-sized organisation, fit for purpose, rather than a bloated old style quango that has lost sight of its raison d’etre.

Peter Alcock, via email

Little has changed

“DEATH to the dictator!” protesters chanted in Tehran on Saturday. The same cry was heard 30 years ago, only for one form of absolutism to yield to another.

The enthusiasm among the Iranian masses for opposing the Shah was so infectious that few bothered to consider the implications of Ayatollah Khomeini’s fundamentalism. He marginalised his secular allies and began to radicalise the revolution, culminating in November, 1979, when clerical students took over the American embassy.

Khomeini was unapologetic about this unprecedented power grab, which gave the Supreme Leader authority far beyond any of the Shah’s wildest dreams.

Thirty years after Khomeini stole the revolution, it appears that little has changed. His appointed successor, Ayatollah Khamenei, used his Friday sermon to warn of “bloodshed and chaos” if protests persisted.

Let us hope Iran’s pro-democracy genie will not be put back in its bottle, like in 1999.

Lee P Ruddin, Moreton

Beating addiction

I HAVE just written to the new Secretary of State for health, Andy Burnham MP, demanding a total ban on cigarette vending machines

We don't allow alcohol, fireworks, knives or other age-restricted products to be sold from vending machines, because we know a face-to-face transaction is the best way to make sure they don’t end up in the wrong hands.

Cigarettes should be no different. We need to tackle this anomaly which allows children an easy way get hold of cigarettes and damage their health.

The Health Bill, currently going through Parliament, includes further restrictions on cigarette vending machines but stops short of a full ban

I urge you to support this campaign and visit www.bhf.org.uk/outoforder, where you can let the Government know they must prevent children picking up an addiction that threatens their future health.

David Hinder, L19

Care, not censorship

TONY ALLEN (Daily Post Letters, June 19) says that the proposal to give films with smoking in them an 18 certificate is “censorship of the absolute worst kind”.

In what way is this censorship? The film-makers would still get to include smoking in any film they make.

It is just that there is a clearly-established link between under-18s seeing smoking on the screen and starting to smoke, with all the health consequences that brings.

If the industry-funded British Board of Film Classification won't respond to compelling evidence of this health hazard – let alone the long years in which tobacco and film companies have actively collaborated to sell smoking – then why should we not act to protect young people?

We are not trying to censor what the film-makers want to produce, but simply trying to ensure that young people are safeguarded from starting an addiction which Mr Allen himself says is “horrifically bad for your health”.

Eilidh McCluskie, D-MYST Programme Manager