EVERY time I read the Lancashire Evening Telegraph or listen to the news, I am appalled at all that is happening in this once-proud country of ours.

What have we got to be proud of today? Our moral standards are deplorable and respect for other people and their belongings is at the lowest ever. We shrug our shoulders and say it is a 'sign of the times.'

If this is so, then we are to blame - each and every one of us for allowing it to happen. The do-gooders are making life too comfortable in prison, thinking more about the villains than the victims.

The church doesn't have the guts to stand up for what's right and what's wrong. And what about the government? The faults there are too numerous to mention. I ask myself why do we let them get away with it?

So, come on, speak out and stand up for what's right and condemn what's wrong. It's the only way forward.

GLADYS ROBINSON, Edge End, Great Harwood.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.