Letters to the Editor

Before road widening took place some 40 years ago, this memorial stood in its own little yard, protected from road gritting by a small wall and iron railings. Now it is virtually on the pavement and further erosion takes place each winter.

I understand that the church will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year and I wonder if funds might be available to have the names of those who fell in two great wars re-cut and re-gilded.

Perhaps the newly formed Keighley Council or the Civic Society have funds available or could organise a public appeal.

It is important that the names of these brave men be remembered and recorded for future generations.

SYDNEY MOORHOUSE

Brantwood Road, Bradford

SIR - We are given to understand that Mr Richard Mountjoy, your correspondent of May 9, abhors cruelty to fish.

And yet, reducing his letter to the objective content, it transpires that in reality he is a vegetarian who wishes to impose his chosen values on the rest of the world.

I know and have known a number of vegetarians, one of them being my wife. I respect their views and would not attempt to change or to ridicule them.

They likewise have not tried to force their opinions on others, not even on their own children, who have been encouraged to choose for themselves.

Mr Mountjoy is not of this kind. He is of the Hitler kind and attempts to brainwash his audience with specious conclusions about 'unjustifiable cruelty' drawn from the out-of-context observations of other authorities.

I eat fish. I am prepared to catch them and kill them. I do not enjoy killing and am not a cruel person. I respect life and I respect death. Mr Mountjoy, who does not respect the opinions of others, thereby deserves no respect.

I would like to point out one little detail to Mr Mountjoy: he states that we can avoid causing suffering to fish by 'leaving them alone'.

Doesn't Mr Mountjoy realise that the happy lot of almost every fish that hatches is to be eaten by another fish?

Incidentally, Mr Mountjoy's title is strangely curtailed. Of what is he 'Development Manager'? Could it be Development of the Anti-Fishing Trust , or similar?

J Bernard Sunderland

Braithwaite Rd

Keighley

SIR - This week, thousands of students across Yorkshire will be sitting down to begin their A -Level exams.

For the past 50 years, the A-Level has been one of the most important qualifications attained by young people who remain in education post-16, and continues to be so today.

It is widely recognised by employers as a qualification that enables them to make informed decisions about the aptitude of an individual, and is the principal qualification used by universities to determine the suitability of a candidate for higher education.

Above all, it is a qualification that we know young people work hard for.

That's why we've launched A level of pride - an alliance of employers, educators, politicians and celebrities to celebrate the hard work of A-Level students this year, and the invaluable support of their parents and teachers.

Supporters include the Prime Minister, Tony Blair MP; Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Charles Clarke NIP; Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy MP; Shadow Secretary for Education and Skills, Damian Green, MP; leaders of businesses such as Sainsbury's, Unilever, Rolls Royce and Vodafone UK; major teaching unions and celebrities including the cast of Hollyoaks.

On behalf of all of them, I'd like to wish students in Yorkshire the very best of luck with their A-Levels this year - you've worked hard to get this far and deserve to do well.

To show your support for A-Level students, visit www.alevelofpride.org.uk. Best wishes

Beverley Evans

Deputy Chief Executive

QCA

On behalf of A level of pride

SIR - It is apparent that under Tony Blair this country's democratic administration has become a dictatorship.

This has been recently confirmed by example: On May 6, because Labour MP Galloway had the courage to openly condemn Mr Blair's aggression against Iraq, against the will of the majority in this country, Blair suspended him.

On the same day Mr Blair stated on BBC TV Ceefax that any Labour MP who voted against his Foundation Hospital "gimmick" would be disciplined.

In his ignorance, does not MR Blair realise that our MPs are not elected to be his puppets on a string, they are elected to act in the interests of their constituents, which from time to time may clash with Blair?

I suggest that Mr Blair returns to his former private school to take a refresher course on the subject of "Democratic Premiership."

KEN MATHER

Greenhead Road, Utley.

SIR - Cllr Leathley, in his show of aggression towards Cllr Barry Thorne, Keighley News, 9/5/03, noted that 'It made it appear as if all members of Keighley Town Council were equally culpable in any disagreements that may have occurred, but that is not the case.'

I am in agreement with that statement! However, what Cllr Leathley has never explained in his year of office has been his lack of identifying and addressing the bitter squabbles and disharmony he talks about.

Never once has he admitted that his stewardship over the past year could have possibly been at fault. Looking back I have noticed that Cllr Leathley never discussed what others saw as problems.

Never did he have the thought that anything councillors complained about needed a quiet private chat, a chat that could have alleviated the disharmony he so often bleats on about.

Over the past year the Keighley News has published many column inches of detailed issues that Cllr Leathley and his cohorts have refused to make comments on.

When the history of the rebirth of Keighley Town Council is written, and I am at last trying to make a start with all the Keighley News 'Letters to the Editor' articles, reports, council minutes and records, letters from statutory bodies and solicitors etc that I have available, the truth will justify those who had dared to stand up for a democracy that seemed to be faltering in this region.

David Samuels

Oxenhope

SIR - As announced in last week's Keighley News, Utley First School (Victoria Primary) is to close later this year.

It is with great sadness that another Keighley School is to close, but improvements have to be made and so the school will move into new premises in Highfield in the next academic year.

So that schools like Utley First are never forgotten, Keighley Schools Revisited is putting together - a photographic archive of all schools in the Keighley area.

KSR has already a large photographic archive of schools in the Keighley area, but requires many more.

Some of the schools missing from the archive are Long Lee Primary, Hartington Middle (Keighley Secondary Technical), Highfield Junior and St Andrew's C of E.

Photos of any Keighley School can be sent to photos@keighleyschoolsrevisited.co.uk and the library can be viewed at www.keighleyschoolsrevisited.co.uk

Andrew Hastie

Keighley Schools Revisited

SIR - Mr Tom Smith is to be congratulated for his thoughtful contribution to the Asylum debate and BNP electability.

Mainstream Asylum Policy is largely created by those whose belief system is guided by Political Correctness and the Liberal Humanist world view that underpins it.

This produces a governmental system that is, in its own way, every bit as extreme as the odious alternative provided by the BNP.

Both sides use asylum seekers as a football.

It is our current system of rule by groups of minorities, sanctioned by Political Correctness, that produces the frustrations amongst many who vote BNP.

It is time to restore majority rule, tempered by the authority of the law. Democracy demands it.

I did not vote in local elections. No candidate was worth it.

Neil A. Ramsden

Cavendish St

Keighley

SIR - In April 2003, I set out on an epic journey along the Great Wall of China for the first all-female walk of the Great Wall.

I was joining an amazing lady, Karen Churches, who has been planning the first all-female walk of the Great Wall of China in support of Breakthrough Breast Cancer for over two years.

In preparation for our departure in April, we spent months getting fit, raising awareness of Breakthrough's research and awareness work and raising funds for the trek.

At no time did we imagine that our biggest challenge would come in the form of a new and previously unidentified disease, SARS, which has affected China worse than anywhere else in the world!

On the first leg of the trek, three incredibly enthusiastic women joined Karen and me and we put our best feet forward at a time of great uncertainty, as news of the seriousness of the disease was only just emerging.

We were all hugely disappointed when we came to the end of the first leg and were advised that we had no option but to stop and reschedule plans for the Great Walk.

The Chinese government made the decision to impose a law preventing travel throughout the country to stop further transmission of the disease. We needed to consider our next steps quickly and carefully.

The past month has been a life-changing experience to say the least.

But our resolve is stronger than ever and we are determined to continue walking and raising money for research into breast cancer, a disease that affects almost 40,000 women in the UK every year.

So, off we go... our first stop is Cuba for a series of treks starting on May 10, and then we'll head off to Peru to welcome a new group of women who will be walking the Inca Trail with us from 20 June.

We'll continue to walk in other wonderful places throughout the world until the situation with SARS in China becomes clearer and we can achieve our original objective of completing the first all-female walk of the Great Wall of China.

It's not too late to join the Great Walk. For more information on where we are heading off to and when we will be returning to China, visit www.GreatWalkofChina.org or call 020 8557 000.

We look forward to meeting you on our travels throughout the world with the aim of raising £1million for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Josie Lawrence,

Actress

SIR - In the midst of debates about whether or not the war is really over and who should govern Iraq and how, one thing seems to have slipped off the agenda, yet again.

Back in December the UN General Assembly recommended that human rights monitors should be deployed with immediate effect - something that Amnesty International was firmly behind with our longstanding concerns for the human rights of the people of Iraq. It didn't happen then and it is still not happening now.

In a period of continued instability, human rights monitors would play a critical role both in preventing human rights abuses and investigating abuses by all.

They would provide real, visible proof that the human rights of the Iraqi people are at the centre of international concern.

This must be resolved urgently if there is to be a positive impact for the people of Iraq.

We, as members of the Silsden Amnesty International Group, are committed to the ideal that everyone, whatever their circumstances, deserves to be treated with dignity, to be safe and secure and to have at least the means to meet their basic needs.

In response to the human rights of others, we all have human responsibilities and we shall continue to campaign, by whatever means are at our disposal, to fulfil these obligations

JOHN IRONS

Co-ordinator

Main Street,

Farnhill

This letter was also

signed by ten other

members of the

Amnesty International

Silsden group