Letters to the Editor

SIR - I have never felt the need to express my views in public until I watched the recent Trevor McDonald programme regarding the Child Support Agency.

My marriage ended two years ago and I became a single parent. My children are not tots but I still required help from the CSA.

My views do not only concern the CSA, but the representation of lone parents on the programme. By this I refer to the constant mention of 'absent fathers' and the ignored possibility of 'absent mothers'.

I watched with frustration, as it seemed to imply only fathers are guilty of refusing to accept responsibility for their children. In a programme renowned for its unbiased approach, I was disappointed and surprised they referred to men so negatively.

I agree with the inefficiencies of the CSA, having experienced many of the problems referred to first-hand but I have sympathy for the employees - it can't be easy having to deal with a system that appears to be not working and with sometimes desperate parents.

I'm sure I'm not the only viewer who noticed this implied assumption, nor the only one who feels offended by it.

Stewart Pedley, Croft Street, Idle

Badly treated

SIR - I am angry and dismayed but not surprised at the way the Hussain family is being treated by some members of the Muslim community. I have no faith or religious beliefs and I know nothing about the Muslim faith other than what I see or read in the media.

I keep hearing or reading statements from Muslims saying their faith is a peace-loving and caring one. I'm sure for the majority of them this is true and they go quietly about their daily lives causing no offence or problems.

However, and this is why I am not surprised, the fanatical attitude and actions of some Muslims are being allowed to overpower many other aspects of traditional British life and because of political correctness gone too far, no-one feels they dare criticise or even comment in public.

This family, and anyone else of any faith or culture, should be allowed to worship in whatever way, whenever and wherever.

It is a portent of things to come for us all if strong action is not taken against the perpetrators of actions like this by the police, the Muslim leaders, the Bradford Council and the government.

Mrs Joan Lumb, Mainspring Road, Wilsden.

Health concerns

SIR - In a recent letter from the Department of Health, I was informed they have no knowledge of any job cuts at Bradford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

So I sent the department the article from the T&A in which chief executive, David Jackson, finally admitted that jobs will go and patient services will suffer due to the £11.3 million shortfall in budget.

I am alarmed the T&A knows what's going on but the Department of Health does not.

Is the population of Bradford aware its services to women and the elderly are being affected by cuts and closures? Foundation status was supposed to be the key to patient choice and bigger, better health care for this city and its residents. I do not see evidence of this.

Hands-on, dedicated staff are being made redundant; patients with the least voice or clout are being sidelined, probably because they are an easy target and will not kick up a fuss.

The saying that evil will flourish when good men do nothing is so true when it comes to health care in Bradford.

Services are being axed and, if Bradfordians do not stand up for themselves, the next time they or a family member needs a hospital bed, there might not be one.

Cathy MacKay, Bailey Hills Road, Bingley.

Smoking scourge

SIR - Walking from Senior Way to John Street via Centenary Square and Westgate then returning past the Alhambra and the Ice Rink, I counted 13 men compared to 29 women smoking - 21 of these women were accompanied by young children and/or babies.

This was but a small section of Bradford, imagine the total if a survey was conducted throughout the UK?

Despite the government's numerous and generous benefits to parents and their offspring we are almost daily subjected to pleas through the media by the 'bleeding heart brigade' for more financial aid for these impoverished and 'struggling' smoking addicts.

I for one am sick and tired of listening to them and I feel sure there must be others like me.

When did you last see a child enjoying a fresh orange instead of a tooth-decaying bottle of pop costing twice as much while trailing behind their mother?

For the unenlightened a packet of 20 cigarettes costs over £4.

David Rhodes, Croscombe Walk, Bradford.

Double standards

SIR - Now the foxhunting ban has been implemented, it strikes me its introduction has little or nothing to do with animal cruelty.

If the government was really concerned about animal cruelty, why has it done nothing about a practice which causes a thousand times more needless suffering to animals - the slitting of livestock's throats in slaughterhouses and letting them bleed to death?

The normal procedure in slaughterhouses is to stun animals before killing them so they feel no pain, but slaughter without stunning is an excruciating and terrifying experience faced by millions of animals every year, as reported by the Farm Animal Welfare Council last year. It recommended the practise be stopped, but the government have it ignored its recommendations.

If the government was genuinely concerned about alleviating needless animal suffering it would have done something about the practice but it can't because there is a chance that some Labour marginals could be put at risk.

Let's face it; the foxhunting ban simply illustrates the double standards of the government to animal welfare. What matters above all else are Labour votes.

Paul Parkinson, Brantwood Oval, Bradford.

Thanks for help

SIR - I would like to say a big thank you to the two community constables who gave me a helping hand in Bradford on March 2.

My friend and I were on our way home from her son's when her car suffered a puncture on Leeds Road.

Where it happened the road was only single-file traffic, so we crawled slowly and finished up outside the Hilton Hotel.

I went in to get the correct address to phone the AA and the young lady on the bar was really helpful. When I phoned the AA were very busy and it could be an hour before we were seen.

I emptied the boot to get the spare wheel and these two community constables came to see if we were okay and finished up changing wheels for me.

They were really pleasant and helpful and couldn't do enough.

Allen Brook, New Lane, Moorside, Cleckheaton.

Not the solution

SIR - I am writing to agree with Matthew Withey's suggestion that cars are the problem in causing congestion in Saltaire and Shipley (T&A, February 3).

The solution is not to build more roads or widen existing ones, but to provide a better public transport system and encourage more people to use it as well as encouraging green transport such as cycling and walking.

By widening and building additional roads, people are encouraged to live further and further out of town, increasing the number of commuters, and in turn discouraging those who live in congested areas such as Saltaire and Shipley.

Chris Kay, Wellington Crescent, Shipley.