SIR - During my lifetime there has been remarkable progress in technology etc. There has also been a decline in the ability to "think things through" among those in charge locally and nationally.

The abolition of any form of physical punishment for children is registered by them at a very early age with subsequent lack of respect for authority. Those who lack parental discipline are obvious candidates for the young gangs causing mayhem. Yet there are still appalling cases of cruelty to children.

It's many years since Bradford Cathedral formed a committee to help the Asian immigrants to integrate. After listening to a talk on the subject, I asked: "Would it help integration if they would conform in simple ways such as two visitors only at a hospital bedside?" The reply was "There you are, you're picking on them!"

This over-anxious, pandering attitude has destroyed, not aided, integration. Had Ray Honeyford been heeded, not hounded, the present educational problems would not have arisen.

The solution proposed by the blinkered educational authorities is a very dangerous one and people who can "think things through" such as Ann Cryer and Mohammed Riaz should be listened to very carefully.

Mrs E Simpson, Manscombe Road, Allerton.

SIR - Everyone knows that an integrated transport system is the life blood of any town or city.

So why is it Bradford Council in its wisdom spent millions of pounds on a guided bus lane that nobody wanted anyway?

It supports building huge road bypasses that just move traffic jams from one spot to another (I am a motorist), yet it doesn't seem even remotely interested in the city rail link.

This would cost a substantial amount of money and it may cause a few headaches to the Broadway re-development (which is great, but this isn't the 1960s).

Railways are more popular than ever and becoming ever more so as people rediscover them.

So come on Bradford Council, let's look to the future and get our city linked to Britain's main artery rail network.

A G Walker, Herschel Road, Bradford 8.

SIR - Re Victoria Clark from Houston, Texas, who wanted to visit this country six months ago to visit a friend whom she had met over the internet.

His parents have a pub, where she would have been looked after, fed and kept safe during her stay in this country. Instead they had to meet in Holland.

Maybe she should have come to this country as an asylum seeker and then her friend Paul Preston would not have to pay for her to stay in a British hotel.

The British Government would be paying that for her.

Mrs C Cockroft, Blakehill Avenue, Fagley.

SIR - The recent severe punishment to the football fan who used the derogatory term "Paki" epitomises the hypocrisy of the justice system.

Hate is manifested in a whole range of insults in football and nobody is spared in an arena where the lowest common denominator rules the roost. What about the sick purveyors of the "Munich" song who celebrate the death of the young Manchester United footballers in Munich, or the vitriolic abuse dished out to Eric Cantona on his return to Elland Road?

What about the homophobic jibes towards the flair players, or the filthy sexist chants about players' wives? What about the IRA songs rejoicing in the death of British soldiers?

Let's tackle hate crime/insults without fear or favour and not treat Asians as a sacred people who need special protection.

This is the sort of "positive" discrimination that fuels the BNP.

Jim Shields, Moore Avenue, Wibsey.

SIR - We are a fickle lot in this country. People up in arms because of the necessary rail repairs and the disruption to the "couple of times per year" users. Surely it is better than disrupting the daily commuters who, let's face it, pay out the most for those services. Think how many cars would be on the roads on a Monday morning!

These same people were probably also up in arms about the Hatfield rail disaster when necessary repair work had not been carried out. Damned if they do and damned if they don't.

I was also pretty disgusted at the way the BBC breakfast newscasters kept harping on the negative side of the disruption instead of being positive about this essential work to ensure our safety on the railway.

The power of the media can too often, put negative spin on positive action and this could be seen as incitement!

Carol Younger, Westbury Street, Bradford 4