We wrote our Christmas list and posted it. We all received a letter back from Santa, so did our great-gran who is 84 (we asked for one for her and she was really pleased).

Mum said it was great value for the money. Well done for a magical day. — Connor (8), Kiera (7), Liam (4) and Kyle (4).

PS — Mum and Auntie Avril liked it too, but we are not allowed to tell their age.

Although local Press and similar media have been supportive, all is not well.

People who were there have said they were convinced Press, plus parliamentary interest and debate, made The Watch a “celebrity target”

To support General Walker, on the day the 1BW Battle Group moved north from Basra, the BBC Six O’Clock News asked their reporter on the scene what was going on.

“You realise there are things I can’t tell you,” he replied, and delivered some very circumspect generalities.

By contrast, ITN’s news dealt with the subject in depth, with a chirpy studio-bound presenter helpfully indicating on a map just where our lads would bivouac for the night, before setting off for Camp Dogwood in the morning.

It hardly takes a genius to work out that an insurgent sympathiser would need only seconds to phone his chums to expect a bunch of guys with red hackles to pass by in the forenoon. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

By and large, the national media’s handling of the whole Iraq deployment shows that they do not know what they are talking about.

Nearly every picture caption from Iraq contains an error of fact, from types of equipment to ranks and appointments; and their would-be “cool” use of military terminology, most of which they get wrong.

Unless, of course, it’s all a cunning plan to confuse the enemy, in which case they’ve done a pretty good job of confusing the whole issue. — A. Maclean, Maryfield, Dundee.

MY SON, a serving soldier, was in Iraq. I don’t believe it was the media which was responsible for the deaths of five Black Watch soldiers, despite the general’s claim. I blame Tony Blair and Geoff Hoon. They sent the men to Camp Dogwood.

My thoughts are with the families.

The media took letters to the men from their families when they went to Iraq. If it hadn’t been for the news, we wouldn’t have known anything or seen our sons on TV.

The Ministry of Defence never got in touch with the families. — Proud Soldier’s Mother.

I take a disabled person to clinics and have had difficulty finding a space.

The disabled patient takes at least 15 minutes to reach the clinic and the appointment can last up to two hours.

I now have to take an able-bodied person with me as the setting down time of 15 minutes is totally inadequate.

I was recently directed to park in the disabled spaces in the multi-storey park. While I was parking a woman next to me had to leave her disabled husband standing at the hospital door until she could return to take him for his appointment.

The situation has been made worse by the increase in setting down places. To achieve this a large number of parking spaces have been lost.

This was entirely unnecessary as the previous pavement width appeared to cope adequately for both bus passengers and disabled people, whether they were walking or in wheelchairs.

Hospital bosses appear to have lost sight that the hospital and car parks should be there to satisfy the needs of the patients. — Concerned.

I suggest that the council-run car park, known locally as “Pullars”, should stay open at night.

As it is situated at the back of the hall at the corner of Mill Street and Kinnoull Street, surely this would go a long way to solving any problem?

“Pullars” is always open during the day, but closes in the evening, although friends tell me it’s been open occasionally at night recently. — Perth Visitor.

[The car park is owned by Town and City Parking. Operations director George Alexander said, "We have had discussions and will open the multi-storey for any specific event. If there is demand for parking, we will remain open.

"From December 10, we have been opening up to 11.30pm in support of the city centre and are monitoring demand."]

However, since those countries’ vast deposits of oil and gas are currently propping up the developed world, it would be a brave leader to urge them to dig deep into their pockets.

As for singling out over-population as the major cause of poverty in Africa, I believe this is a simplification.

Africa is currently being squeezed on many fronts by a myriad problems.

HIV, famine, climate change, foreign debt, political instability, civil war, corruption and religious strife all play a part there and that’s without even mentioning the effects our trading systems have on their markets or the economic and health pressures piled on by certain Western companies.

It is to the developed world’s shame that Africa still suffers this burden in the 21st century.

Band Aid’s efforts may prove to be a drop in the bucket, but at least they will save lives. — Alistair Wilson, Garland Place, Dundee.

The programme featured real dancing allied to good music, so different from the usual rubbish to which we are subjected these days. — Strict Tempo.