THE demise of C-FAR which was announced last week is deeply regrettable. The Centre For Adolescent Rehabilitation in Highampton has won over both local opposition and the sceptics amongst us by establishing successful residential and community-based rehabilitation courses for persistent young offenders. I for one make no apology for taking a very ?robust? view of the penalties which should be imposed on those who break the law and have always held that retribution is just as legitimate an aim of sentencing policy as reform. Nevertheless, I have come to admire the good work that C-FAR has delivered during the past couple of years. It is a terrible shame that this good work is now to stop because the centre finds itself with a funding shortfall of £150,000 over the next three months. This is particularly so when the residents of West Devon and Torridge (and indeed of every other constituency in the country) are obliged to contribute some £300,000 a week to the coffers of the European Union. The diversion of only one half of one week?s contribution would secure C-FAR?s future. One more example of the strange spending priorities we have in this country. Matthew Jackson UKIP prospective parliamentary candidate for West Devon and Torridge