Letters to the Editor

SIR - Thanks for your front page report of Judge Hawkesworth's outrage at the prevalence of fraudulent claims for compensation (T&A, December 20).

Many of us are dismayed at the apparent shift in attitudes to dealing with adversity. We are pestered by inducements to overstatement, self-pity and an eye to the main chance.

But who are to blame? Is it the dishonest claimants or those members of the professions who stand to gain so much and lose so little by conniving at their lack of scruple?

It would be reassuring to know that Judge Hawkesworth and his colleagues are taking steps over the case you reported and in which he made it clear he did not believe the evidence. But I doubt it.

The doctor who apparently exaggerated non-existent injuries should be demoted to giving flu injections and the claimants' legal team relegated to drawing up wills, or something equally harmless.

David Butland, Rooley Crescent, Odsal

Let us decide

SIR - After reading the horrific evidence concerning the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, may I ask why the British public are denied a referendum on the issue of capital punishment?

Are we going to sit by and see our children murdered by some evil being and not see any fit punishment? I have written to my MP, Terry Rooney, and he states in his reply that hanging is barbaric and he does not agree with it.

He says capital punishment cannot be brought back as it has been banned by the European Parliament. Is not murdering children barbaric?

M Breen, Bolton Hall Road, Wrose.

Time for honesty

SIR - As just another poor schmuck who has to grin and bear the inevitable excessive annual increases in council tax, could I take issue with Councillor Anne Hawksworth (pictured)?

She claims she cannot reveal the amount, voted for in secret, to be paid to Atmos, the company which operates the district's highways maintenance contract, because it would break the local authorities' national code of conduct.

Can I remind her and other members of the Council that they are elected to be responsible to the council tax payers of Bradford and are supposedly answerable to them. If she feels that secret deals do not raise doubts about the Council's honesty and integrity then I can assure her that the majority believe they do.

Basically, it comes down to this question. If there is nothing to hide, why bother trying to hide it?

Come on, councillor; try being honest and open and tell the people why you need to pay this company an alleged extra 25 per cent over and above the contract terms.

Or should we draw our own conclusions?

Derrick Hargreaves, Middlebrook Crescent, Fairweather Green

Give us a pool

SIR - Instead of a lake around City Hall we need an international swimming pool. At the old Windsor Baths, we would pay sixpence to watch the Dolphins swimming team on a Saturday evening with covers over us to stop the splashes.

All the local pools have been pulled down now and how many schoolchildren can swim? When I was a little girl - and I'll be 82 next March - we were taught during school visits to the pool, passing our certificates right up to gold, which got us a free swimming pass.

Also, I'd like to say "No" to any suggestion of demolishing the Odeon building. When it was the New Victoria it had film shows with a variety stage show and organ recital. There was a ballroom and a lovely restaurant and I can remember my first dance there at a Marks & Spencer function.

Mrs D Hall, Mount Tabor Street, Pudsey

Bradford reality

SIR - Of course we would all love to live in city centre masterplan architect Will Alsop's Utopia, complete with lake and sensory gardens, but the reality is that this is Bradford and we have neither the climate nor social culture where such an ideal could flourish.

Having said that, most Bradfordians realise that a change of emphasis for the city centre as a whole is of paramount importance to the future but, unfortunately, we are the worst in the world for being suspicious and cynical whenever change is mooted.

The idea of retaining the frontage of the Odeon but creating a sizeable state-of-the-art concert venue is perhaps worth further exploration.

As Steven Spencer says (Letters, December 20), at the very least it would give Bradford one feature which would attract people from other cities in the region, which our neighbours do not have.

Mark Neale, Oxford Road, Ambler Thorn, Queensbury.

Buses too small

SIR - When is First Bus going to do something about the ridiculously small buses on the 618 (Duckworth Lane) route into the city centre?

Time and time again many women with children and older people cannot get on this bus at Sunbridge Road or have to stand all the way.

This is probably one of the busiest routes in Bradford and it is extremely dangerous to overfill these tiny little buses. If the Council wants people to use buses more, then First Bus has to provide a good, cheap service which is both reliable and comfortable. This service is reliable but certainly not comfortable.

Perhaps we could have the bendy buses back or some of the many double-deckers that are half full on lesser routes.

Shirley Potter, Duckworth Lane, Bradford.

l A First Bus spokesman said: "We are aware that, at times, there are difficulties with this route and are trying to rectify the problem. We have allocated six single-deckers and three double-deckers to the route, so that point in Shirley's letter has been addressed, and we are trying to provide these at peak times during the day. As she states, the service is reliable and does run every ten minutes so this may help to reduce some of the congestion issues."

Money well spent

SIR - We are not sending Christmas cards this year as we believe that Christmas is stressful enough without them - they can be a money-making racket, especially when we are roped into sending cards on Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays and Grandma's Day. Now they even have cards congratulating you on your divorce.

This year, we are sending £10 to the NSPCC instead and feel our money has been invested in a worthy cause.

Mary and Roger Moorhouse, Flaxen Court, Wibsey Bank.

Christ's influence

SIR - With reference to arguments about removing Christ from Christmas festivals, I worked with several deeply religious Asian people who always gave me Christmas cards depicting the nativity and were happy to receive them from me.

S Walker, Crook Farm, Baildon.

Grant axe riddle

SIR - The Toy Library is clearly an excellent and badly-needed service, so why did the Council (Conservative-controlled, as Coun Andrew Smith has reminded us) axe their grant in the first place?

Jim Flood, Redburn Drive, Shipley