Best Mate has been nowhere near his best and, if he runs like that again, there are several with chances, like us and [Pipe's] Celestial Gold."It could be, once again, time for cider house rule. The House of Lords should be given the particular duty of protecting human rights, and its powers should be increased to include not just the right, but the requirement, to overturn legislation approved by the House of Commons which diminishes those rights in any way.JEREMY YOUNG Tellisford, Somerset Global challenge Sir: Michael McCarthy's climate change article (7 March) aptly demonstrates the impotence of a correspondent who can only report. There are hard decisions ahead, and the person we need must have clear vision, the determination and tenacity to see it through, and the depth of character to be unpopular.Where is this person? Where are the radical "greens" of 10 or 20 years ago? No wonder McCarthy is pessimistic about the future.TOM BARKER Chester Culture of complaint Sir: I am a young teenager and I've been following the debate about the NHS. The evidence for climate change is irrefutable now and what we need, immediately, is a leader with the vision and determination of a war leader, a Churchill, because this is a war.Do not, however, look to Blair; anyone could invade a practically defenceless regime, utilising a huge army and state-of-the-art technology Don't even glance at Howard, or Kennedy either. The peers have been able to stand up to the executive because they hold their seats for life and do not depend upon the party machines and the whips for their prospects.Since our "democratically elected" rulers now have such a disdain for our ancient civil liberties and the rule of law, we must look to non-elected bodies to protect us from the current assault upon our freedoms. I hope that this latest sickening episode has exposed the truth of this organisation and its leaders.JOHN BRADSHAW Southam, Warwickshire Look to the Lords Sir: The defeat of parts of the Government's Anti-terrorism Bill in the House of Lords shows clearly how essential it is that any reform of the Lords does not turn it into an elected chamber, and also retains the Law Lords as full members able to vote on all legislative proposals.Recent governments have eroded our civil liberties, and one of the few effective sources of resistance has been found in their lordships' house. To credit Bush with it because of his disgraceful behaviour, including the murder of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, is nothing less than criminal.

For shame!EILEEN FAY Kingston, New York, USA IRA warlords Sir: Even the silver-tongued Gerry Adams can't expect to get away with the ridiculously offensive explanation he offered you for the murder of Robert McCartney. That now seems to be coming to pass and the courage and moral certitude of the US should be applauded.And of course the war is not the only factor. It is coupled with behind-the-scenes intense diplomatic pressure and the realisation by these despots that the US is now serious in its mission to promote freedom and democracy around the world.This uncompromising attitude, which brought democracy to Eastern Europe, when the countries of Old (Western) Europe were always willing to find an accommodation with the dictators in the USSR, is now, hopefully, going to transform the Middle East in the same way. If this improves the lives of the peoples of that region to the extent that they turn away from extremism and terrorism we will have cause to thank the Americans for saving us from tyranny for a third time. Iraq probably wouldn't have changed for at least another 50 years without the forcible removal of Saddam.Although, before the war, Blair concentrated very much on WMD and even offered to accept Saddam's continuance in power if he came clean on WMD, Bush was explicitly insisting on regime change and was furthermore predicting that the democratisation of Iraq would spread to the whole region. They wouldn't have had any chance of happening in the foreseeable future as Saddam was grooming his equally obnoxious sons to take his place.

Ron Greenwood at West Ham never abused officials and as a result you did not see it in his teams: the conduct of players like Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst was exemplary. In short - sort out the managers and the players will follow suit.DAVID CROWE Huddersfield 'Segregation' for black schoolboys Sir: I was disappointed with your response to proposals by Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, as to how the academic achievement of black boys might be improved. I really don't think out-of-hand dismissal and the use of such emotive words as "apartheid" and "segregation" are enough in relation to a difficult and contentious issue.Surely the question raised by the proposals is "Will they work?", and the only way we are going to find out is by properly set-up and monitored trials with relevant and measurable results. It's like the uproar that has broken out in Munich since the beer festival organisers decided to serve the stuff in plastic cups that you can't crash together during the "Horst Wessel Song" There are rules about beer It's not about sophistication, it's about volume. The real target for action should be the club managers.Should, for example, Sir Alex Ferguson tell his players they will be fined and suspended if they abuse officials then the current appalling behaviour would largely stop.

Indeed if, for example, Sir Alex would set a better example and stop shouting and abusing officials himself, again matters would improve.Brian Clough at Derby and Nottingham told his players not to challenge match officials and they obeyed. I would suggest, however, that criticising individual footballers will not remedy the problem. Is it any surprise, if a player tells an assistant referee to "fuck off" and is allowed to get away with it, that a young pupil at school will think it acceptable to say the same thing to a teacher?More seriously, unruly behaviour and sometimes violence on the pitch is mirrored by fans both inside and outside football grounds. I have witnessed a horde of football supporters on their way from a railway station to the stadium, with many of their number acting in a way that was at best anti-social, at worst downright illegal. If I had been on my own and acting in the same way, I would have been promptly arrested.It is easy to put the blame at the door of the police, but it is not really their fault that society seems willing to accept a lower standard of behaviour from footballers and their supporters than is considered civilised for the rest of us.PETER WALTON BuckinghamSir: Regarding the bad language and abuse of authority by footballers, there can be little doubt that children are influenced by the behaviour of their "role models", and it is important that the game improves its conduct and image. The police accompanying them took no action, and were merely "containing" the situation.