Have we become a nation of wimps?

SIR - The recent short snowfall resulted in more than 100 Bradford schools closing their doors.

I will admit to being a schoolboy back in the winter of 1962-63, when snow lay all about from December to March, yet my school never felt the need to close, even though we didn't then have the luxury of four-wheel-drive 'Chelsea Tractors' to get us there.

So what's going on? Have we become a nation of wimps or just opportunist work-avoiders?

I trust all the parents of those at fee-paying establishments will be demanding a refund for breach of contract (hint: it's about £40 a day).

So here's my tip for all pupils, teachers and other workers, to make sure life can go on, pretty much whatever the weather throws at us: watch the weather forecast and leave home earlier.

Simple, isn't it?

Graham Hoyle, Kirkbourne Grove, Baildon.

Parking scandal

SIR - People of Bingley and visitors please be aware. Recently we went to Bingley Little Theatre and parked in Myrtle Place in the hackney carriage stand, knowing full well that taxis never use this stand and have not done so for years.

They prefer to use the larger and newer stand in Chapel Lane or outside the station.

Unfortunately we, along with three other people, were issued with parking tickets for £25, doubling to £50 if payment is not made within seven days.

We were rather cross and sent a letter along with the cheque asking for a receipt and how to appeal on the grounds that the rank is disused.

Three-and-a-half weeks later we had received no reply so a further letter was sent and in reply received a phone call advising us that they knew it was not used but they would continue to issue parking tickets. A new sign has since been erected.

The only reason for issuing tickets is for revenue. Bradford Council must be desperate when they deliberately target vehicles causing no obstruction or hindrance to other road users.

Mrs D M Meer, Bramham Road, Bingley.

Health time bombs

SIR - In light of the recent food scare concerning the Sudan 1 dye, it is worth noting there will probably be many more health time bombs waiting for us unless considerable changes are made to the ways in which we assess health risks.

This dye, for example, appears to be carcinogenic in animals but we do not know whether that risk actually applies to humans because animals make poor models for humans.

The EU is proposing a massive testing programme to deal with the problem of 30,000 chemicals in everyday use, yet which are still to be assessed for their risk to humans and the environment.

Unfortunately, that programme looks likely to involve poisoning millions of animals in laboratories - all to yield information which we cannot rely on.

The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection is fighting for a strategy that is more reliable, cost-effective and efficient, as well as humane. One that takes chemicals off the market at the first sign of a problem; that is based on non-animal tests, and makes use of methods involving cell and tissue cultures and modern, sophisticated computer modelling rather than animals.

Adolfo Sansolini, Chief Executive BUAV, Crane Grove, London.

Broken promises

SIR - Geoff Tasker (T&A, February 22) seems to have taken exception to my letter criticising Tony Blair and his government.

Mr Tasker asks if I have any proof that this government are liars. Well, if they hadn't lied to us we would never have gone into an "illegal" war and all those young men would not have been killed.

Secondly this government has broken nearly all its promises from the last election, and will continue to do so if they win the next one.

Mr Tasker says he does not feel any difference in his pocket with all these stealth taxes. I certainly do.

Firstly by the council tax which goes up every year. I am a retired pensioner and this tax takes a huge chunk out of my pension of £93.82 per week with no rate rebate or any other state benefit.

The advert on television about "Pick it up, it's yours" is just a con to make people think we are getting extra money.

I for one have been told I can't have it and £93.82 is considered enough to feed myself and pay all the bills, just the same as these poor politicians have to.

N Brown, Peterborough Place, Undercliffe.

Welcome cuts

SIR - So Michael Howard, the Tory leader, is going to reduce council tax for pensioners if he wins the next election.

Is this an election ploy? His representative in Bradford, Mrs Eaton, and her fellow councillors have voted to put council tax up for the last few years, as have the Lib-Dems.

Nobody in power seems to bother that most pensioners have to live on a pittance of £100 a week when the average wage is £450 (government figures).

So if Mr Howard does do something about council tax for pensioners it will be welcome.

Michael Breen, Bolton Hall Road, Wrose.

Hunt ban is a joke

SIR - So foxhunting with dogs is now against the law. What a laugh! Ninety-one foxes killed the day after the law was passed, some by dogs, some shot.

Another promise Blair hasn't kept and a law the Conservatives plan to repeal if they are elected.

If starving an animal to death is classed as cruel and carries a fine or custodial sentence, what do the cubs of the foxes killed by hunting do in their lairs but die a slow, lingering death?

And how come the masters of the hounds are allowed to keep so many dogs in appalling conditions in one pen, overcrowded, when there is a law that states only a certain number of dogs can be kept at a premises without planning approval?

The fact these people still take the dogs out in packs should now be outlawed and the dogs taken from them.

Make sure whoever you vote for does something to help wildlife. If there are no foxes the rabbit population will get out of control, crops will be ruined and we'll all be worse off.

Jenny Sampson, Rossmore Drive, Allerton.

Light rail benefits

SIR - Further to your editorial comment (T&A, February 24), the building of a light rail system requires substantial capital investment but will prove more cost effective than extending the guided bus system or reintroducing electric (trolley) buses.

A light rail system is cheaper to maintain, once established, as the steel-wheeled vehicles encounter less surface friction running on steel tracks than their rubber tyre-based counterparts. As a result of this, light rail vehicles would suffer less wear and tear and consume less energy.

Studies have further confirmed that motorists are more prepared to change their mode of travel from private vehicles to light rail, but who would not be prepared to make an equivalent journey by bus.

It is important that our aspirations for the city are not merely confined to extending the Leeds Supertram via Pudsey to Bradford city centre, but that a comprehensive light rail system is developed throughout the city.

This would allow the penetration of heavily-congested routes from the city centre to the hospitals and other corridors, providing a viable alternative to private motoring and thus reducing congestion and pollution.

Alec Suchi, Secretary Bradford Rail Users Group, Allerton Road, Bradford.

Speeding puzzle

SIR - I am in complete agreement with R J Lacey (T&A, February 21). Having lived in Wrose for more than 20 years I have never witnessed anyone driving at life-threatening speeds through Plumpton End.

I have seen inconsiderate and obstructive parking by residents and the vague meanderings of the elderly.

I look forward to the time when emergency services cannot attend in time due to congestion and legal action follows.

Ironically one memory I carry is of being several times illegally and dangerously overtaken at the nearby King's Road/Wrose Road junction in hours of darkness by speeding taxis, only to observe their passengers being decanted at Plumpton End.

P A Ericson, Lyndale Drive, Wrose.