Not the time to call time on tower

SIR - Shipley clock tower is the most recognisable symbol of the town. To demolish it would make as much sense in a way as demolishing the clock tower above City Hall in Bradford.

Certain buildings are synonymous with the town or cities in which they stand. Look at all the feeling that has been stirred up with the proposed demolition of the former Odeon building in Bradford. Shipley would not be Shipley without the clock tower which should be left to stand.

Bradford Council turns down the development of landmark buildings which do not require the demolition of any buildings of local historical importance. This is the irony of it.

Iain Morris, Caroline Street, Saltaire.

Support carers

SIR - This Government has given carers the princely sum of £1.35 a week rise this year. This is an insult to all the carers, many who work many times up to 24 hours a day. I address this letter to all MPs for an answer now.

I need a carer, I am 90, also disabled like thousands of other persons including thousands of children, but we are the forgotten people. We need a decent increase now, no Labour false promises for tomorrow.

Come on all carers, kick up a fuss now. Make yourselves heard. Let's have meetings and marches for those who are able to do this. We have been forgotten long enough. Let's have proper help for all disabled persons now!

A Clarke, Calverley Bridge, Rodley

What's the story?

SIR - I hope you will allow me to reply to John Taylor's response to my March 18 letter regarding the non-emptying of paper recycling bins which in my opinion implies that I am a liar.

Our bin has been put out regularly on the date stipulated on the attached label. This however has not been at the kerbside at the front of the house but at the rear, from where our bins have been emptied throughout the 47 years we have lived at this address.

I was told on one occasion when I rang to complain that we didn't need to leave the bin outside of the gateway as long as it was in clear view.

Alternatively I was told on another occasion that, if the bin could not be seen from the end of the street, the bin men would not bother to drive on. Who am I supposed to believe?

E L Roberts, Heath Terrace, Bradford 3.

Carry on please!

SIR - I would like to congratulate officers from Bradford Council's Visible Team on the work they are doing as part of the "zero tolerance" policy on littering.

Unfortunately for the young lady who dropped the tab end (T&A, March 18) she got a shock but perhaps that's what some of us need as we have all been warned about the penalties of dropping litter.

This team is trying to make the quality of all our lives better and are certainly not going around spying on anyone. Carry on with the good work and perhaps Bradford will once again be a nice, pleasant place to live and work in.

Mrs M Jones, Nab Wood Close, Shipley.

Light up City Hall

SIR - I compliment Bradford Council on its efforts to regenerate the city centre. However, as a newcomer to the area, I was disappointed how drab and uninviting the area in front of City Hall is at night.

The front exterior of City Hall is stunning in design and enhanced with statues of English monarchs that must surely be the envy of museums around the country. Sadly these statues are placed too high to be fully appreciated - unless you use a pair of binoculars, or desire a stiff neck!

However floodlighting the front at night would make them stand out in all their intricate and historic detail. The entire square in front of City Hall would then be a magnet at night, drawing in not only the drinkers and night-clubbers presently being catered for, but also tourists and families to admire these long-forgotten works of art.

George Rickford, Thornton Road, Thornton.

Nothing changes

SIR - Some 30 years ago both a friend and myself slid off our motorbikes right in front of a queue of people at a bus stop in West Bowling. Not one person offered assistance. Not one asked if we were all right. As we righted our machines the bus arrived and I'd never seen people move as fast.

A week or so ago, my partner suffered a bad asthma attack in the car and pulled up sharpish in front of a queue of people at a bus stop in Buttershaw. She struggled to operate our in-car nebuliser and not one person came to her assistance. The bus duly arrived and once again the vanishing queue trick was performed.

In our two observations of Bradford friendliness, can we deduce that the pace of life has remained the same over 30 years in our fair city?

Pete Nieschmidt, Farfield Grove, Bradford 6.

Compromise time?

SIR - I commend your recent correspondent who made the astute comparison of blood-sport cruelty with ritually slaughtered meat. This is in no way a defence of the hunters, merely a criticism of government inconsistency.

I'm afraid your correspondent will get no backing from any MPs or persons in authority because it would be the heaviest political football of all time if the subject was raised. And yet a little compromise on all sides would put this topic to bed for good.

I don't understand a religion that insists the poor animal should be hung upside down to be bled to death after the knife has connected with its throat. But I am willing to put my concerns to one side if a humane stunning could be inflicted on the animal prior to its slaughter.

To my knowledge that does not interfere with any religious taboo, and would prove that two cultures can compromise.

More and more scientific evidence proves that animals such as cows and sheep have feelings, sensitivities and thoughts, and clearly feel pain. This fact alone should ensure that we as a civilised country treat animals with more compassion. I won't hold my breath.

Paula Holmes, Tennyson Road, Wibsey.

Political leanings

SIR - In the letters page (March 17) Robert Hughes suggests that Mike Priestley's column is coloured by his political leanings, with many of the comments not being favourable to the present Government.

I recollect Mike Priestley's column in the years before and after 1997 and he could have been accused of being pro-Labour, so much that he most likely cast his 1997 vote in its favour.

Present comments regarding the present Government suggest that he is disillusioned with it, along with millions of others.

T Hill, Harbour Crescent, Bradford 6

Maud's challenge

SIR - If German bombs could not destroy the Odeon, despite a direct hit, in 1940 when not just our city but our country was fighting for survival, does Maud Marshall from Glasgow think we will let her do it?

Thousands of the Bradford public would be in the centre, and she would have to pull it down herself over our heads.

Gary Lorriman, North Walk, Harden

l EDITOR'S NOTE: The Odeon building which was hit by the bomb was situated in Manchester Road.

Blair and the truth

SIR - If, as many people believe, Tony Blair was, at best, economical with the truth with his party, Parliament, and the nation over his decision to go to war with Iraq, how can we expect him to tell the truth when it comes to the policies of his political opponents in the General Election?

Alan Carcas, Cornmill Lane, Liversdge