Letters to the Editor

And yet despite our much broader horizons, our attachment to our local town and neighbourhood remains extraordinarily strong.

I'm told that over half of us still live within a 30-minute journey of our birthplace. And surveys suggest that every important element of a person's life - where they work, shop, study, and enjoy themselves - remain largely within a few miles of home.

I believe, too, that the importance of community has got stronger not weaker in recent years. There is a renewed pride in local achievements and successes and a stronger need to be involved in the life of your neighbourhood.

I think this helps explain the renaissance of local newspapers in this country. The best of our local papers - and there are many, many examples covering from our biggest cities to our most rural areas - play a vital role in reflecting and building the unique character and values of the community they serve.

This growing sense of community drives a growing thirst for local news and information and strengthens the role of Britain's 1,300 regional and local newspapers. Our regional press, of course, remains the backbone of this country's media with 40 million people reading their local paper every week.

All politicians recognise the importance of local newspapers to them and their communities. They know local papers are more trusted than any other media because you are much closer to your readers who hold you to account for what you publish.

Campaigning and effective local papers also help us do our jobs better, ensuring we don't lose sight of the issues that matter. They help, too, to hold us to account for what we do and what we don't.

It's part of the reason why healthy local papers are so important, both to a healthy democracy and vibrant communities.

And it's why I'm delighted again to give my support and congratulations to all local papers and their readers during Local Newspaper Week.

TONY BLAIR

SIR - I am very grateful for the help you provided in my search for an old army friend, David Bastow.

David's brother saw the article you put in your newspaper and contacted David. David phoned me from Ilkley, where he was visiting his elderly mother. He was of course very surprised to know I was seeking him. 1958 is a long way back. We exchanged news of our activities since.

He has retired after being a University lecturer and now lives way, way up north of Scotland at Ullapool. (I struggled to locate it on the map).

However, the amazing thing is David came to NZ and Palmerston, my home for 40 years, for a three day conference at the University here. He and his wife went up to Auckland after.

This was five years ago and he didn't know I lived here. The world gets smaller! My wife and I are coming to the UK and Scottish Borders in Aug/Sept this year to see relatives in King's Lynn, Norfolk, where I was born, and my daughter who lives in London.

My mother was born in Stockton on Tees so we will call there. David and I will meet up somewhere. If time allows I would certainly like to see North Scotland and Ullapool.

Without your help, my search could well have been impossible. I am very grateful for it. It will be a very interesting and pleasing reunion.

All the best to you.

DAVID PUGH

New Zealand

SIR - Thank you for your 'In Brief' article on April 25, 'Search for old army pal'.

As a result of the article I have been in touch with my old friend David Pugh, and we plan to meet when he comes to Scotland this summer. It will be very good to see him again.

We were close friends in the army; amongst other things we were both in the regimental marching team which took part in the Nijmegen Marching Festival - 30 miles a day for four consecutive days!

In fact I haven't lived in Keighley since my army days; I spent my working life as a university lecturer in Scotland, and have now retired to the remote north west of Scotland.

But one of my brothers still lives in Keighley; he saw your article and kindly passed it on to me.

David Pugh is still working as a market gardener in the North Island of New Zealand.

DAVID BASTOW

Ullapool, Ross and

Cromarty, Scotland

SIR - Looking at the results for the whole of Bradford, I was amazed to see that in the year 2000, in Bowling and in Bradford Moor - both Lib Dem gains this year - the Lib Dem candidates came third, with derisive votes.

This shows how quickly the Lib Dems can turn a ward around when effort and resources are concentrated.

At this rate we can expect a steady increase in Lib Dem councillors in Bradford in the coming years.

One sinister outcome of the election is the significant increase in the BNP vote in several wards, most noticeably in Queensbury, where Andrew Smith (Conservative) admitted to feeling uncomfortable at the narrowness of his majority over the BNP candidate.

To all Conservatives I would say that your party's habit of deriding the government's 'soft' asylum policy is feeding the passions of racists who will subsequently vote not Conservative but BNP.

This government's asylum policy is far from 'soft' and it would help to defuse the whole situation if all parties agreed to take 'asylum' right out of the political agenda.

HAMISH HAY

Craven Avenue,

Silsden

SIR - With over 400 guns handed in to police across West Yorkshire during the past month's gun amnesty, our streets are surely safer.

However, while our government has been promoting the firearms amnesty in the UK, it has also been considering legislation that could allow British gunrunners to flood the streets of other countries with these destructive weapons.

On the same day the UK firearms amnesty came to a close, so did the consultation on new export control laws. As the draft legislation currently stands, British gun runners would still be able to ship small arms to embargoed countries and countries in conflict simply by jumping on a plane and conducting their activities from a hotel room in Paris.

Oxfam has seen the destructive results of small arms to the lives of people around the world. Small arms exacerbate conflict, destroying people's livelihoods and creating a major obstacle to tackling poverty. 500,000 people are killed each year by small arms, (that's the equivalent to the entire population of Bradford).

While we welcome the moves made to remove guns from circulation in the UK, we also call on our Government to end its double standards, control British gun runners wherever they are located, and help remove these dangerous weapons from the streets around the world.

Jonathan Dorsett

Campaigns Officer

Oxfam Campaigns,

Yorkshire.

SIR - What are the odds on those who were unsuccessful in the recent elections maintaining a dignified silence?

Will those prospective candidates who were quite vocal in their opinions regarding how they are always right now free up the letters page to those of us who have smaller axes to grind?

Obviously in this day and age, it is more than acceptable for adults to take sides with each other over the type of issue that even Tweedledum and Tweedledee would have felt was too trivial to bother with, but I would ask they confine this to the playground and not fill up the local newspaper with it.

Perhaps those with spare time on their hands could now help the elected councillors by packing away the clown costumes that seem to have given some people the idea that the Town Council was becoming some sort of circus?

Time for a fresh start and for the losers to get over it!

Antony Silson

Skipton Road, Utley

SIR - I wonder if your readers know that their unwanted or broken jewellry and collectables can help the Royal National Lifeboat Institution save lives at sea.

Since 1986 our Jewellry Appeal has raised nearly £465,000 for lifeboat funds, which would buy six high-speed Atlantic 75 rigid inflatable inshore lifeboats.

I would be delighted to receive any good quality items of jewellry, such as rings of all kinds, small objets d'art, broaches, bracelets, chains and watches which are no longer required. Gold and silver articles would be very much appreciated, as would war medals and memorabilia, decorations and badges.

The RNLI is supported entirely by voluntary contributions and legacies, receiving no financial assistance whatsoever from the government. This year it will cost £103 million to run the lifeboat service, which is a staggering £282,000 per day.

Our volunteer lifeboatmen and women are always ready to exchange the comforts of home for cold, wet, fatigue and danger in their quest to help those in distress on the sea.

Over 20,000 lives have been saved by the RNLI since the beginning of the Jewellry Appeal. Please help me to turn unwanted jewellry into lifeboats so that our brave crews can continue to carry out their vital work.

ROY NORGROVE, MBE, JP

Jewellry Appeal Organiser,

RNLI,

SIR - The new research from the prestigious Roslin Institute in Edinburgh showing that fish feel pain is backed up by earlier research from the Government's own Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) and by the RSPCA Medway report.

The FAWC found that fish experience fear, stress and pain when removed from water, and that the physiological mechanisms in fish for experiencing pain are very similar to those in mammals. Similarly, the Medway report concluded that all vertebrates (including fish and people) experience similar sensations in response to painful stimuli.

The evidence is clear, and means that angling is cruel and unjustifiable.

It also means that eating fish is just as cruel as eating meat, and that fish farming is particularly cruel. Salmon and trout are kept in sea cages that are so overcrowded that many fish become injured as they collide with each other, when trying to get exercise without there being sufficient room.

The overcrowding also means that parasites spread rapidly, with sea lice being a particular problem. The fish suffer both from the lice and from the chemicals used to deal with them.

Wild-caught sea fish also suffer greatly. When hauled up from the deep, fish undergo excruciating decompression. Frequently, the intense internal pressure ruptures the swimbladder, pops out the eyes and pushes the stomach out through the mouth. The only way to avoid causing great suffering is to leave fish alone.

For more information about how to combat cruelty to animals, please contact Animal Aid on 01732 354 032.

Richard Mountford

Development Manager

SIR - Staff at Skipton based FRESH Radio have been cleaning up after vandals caused nearly £8,000 of damage to the transmitter site over the Bank Holiday weekend and took the station off air for nearly eight hours.

During the early hours of Saturday morning, a compound based at Aireville School was broken into and the side literally ripped away from a small hut containing broadcast equipment.

A transmission processor, of little use to the general public, was stolen and other equipment was ripped from its sockets.

Having already had a break-in earlier last week and a minidisc player stolen, this is really sickening to think that people could do this kind of thing.

Judging by the damage, it was a mindless attack of vandalism and I would appeal to anyone with information about this, or the whereabouts of the equipment stolen, to contact us on 01756 799991 or contact the Police at Skipton. There is a reward for information leading to the prosecution of the offender(s) and/or recovery of the property.

LES GUNN

General Manager

Fresh Radio Ltd -

SIR - Children get arthritis too. Imagine being told that your child has arthritis. You'd be in a state of utter shock and disbelief. You'd think: "Surely arthritis is a condition that only affects older people."

In fact around 12,000 children and teenagers suffer from a childhood form of arthritis, a potentially crippling condition which in severe cases can cause immense pain, inflammation and stiffness in their joints - and may lead to joint replacement surgery before the age of 20.

Fortunately, the outlook for these youngsters is much better than it was. A new booklet called When your Child has Arthritis gives a comprehensive guide to what the condition is, how it is diagnosed and treated, and what the future holds for these youngsters.

To get hold of a free copy of the booklet ring us on 0870 8505000, email us at info@arc.org.uk or write to us at the address below:

Bev Chapman,

ARC

St Mary's Gate,

Chesterfield, S41 7TD.