I CONGRATULATE Tony Blair and his government on the first successful thing they have done for our country -- January 27 saw the introduction of Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain when, as a nation, we remembered the 170 million victims of genocide in the 20th century.

I am thankful that we can at last commemorate the Holocaust in a similar way to the victims of war, albeit the absence of the equivalent of a poppy was noticeable.

We could not forget, of course, other cases of ethnic cleansing, such as in Bosnia and Rwanda, in our tribute.

Tony Blair summed up our overwhelming attitude by stating that "if we do not remember our history, we shall repeat it." Sadly, we cannot remember effectively the lesson to mankind about racial, religious and ethnic equality, and we continue to reject it to this day.

MISS C CZYZYK (aged 15), Jack's Key Drive, Darwen.