Letters to the Editor

SIR, - During any election campaign all the parties fight their corner to try to win the day and defeat their opponents. Nevertheless there was an air of personal sadness after last Thursday's count when Graham Kirkland finally lost his seat after so many years on the city council.

Graham has given tireless service to the people of the Otley and Wharfedale ward, during which time he came to be regarded as a permanent fixture on the city council .

It is an indication of the esteem in which he is held that he became the first, and indeed only, councillor from Otley to become Lord Mayor of Leeds. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for all he has done for Otley and Wharfedale over his years as a city councillor.

He made a valuable contribution to the Community Involvement Team, the council's committee covering this ward. He remains, of course, a member of the town council and doubtless he will continue to make his presence felt in the town.

Councillor Clive Fox

Chairman,

Otley and Wharfedale Ward

Community Involvement Team,

99 Breary Lane East,

Bramhope.

Uphill struggle

SIR, - Please permit me to write through your paper to express my thanks and my ideals to the electorate in Otley and Wharfedale.

First of all my thanks go to those in Prince Henry ward who voted for me. Particular thanks go to those who voted only for me, and did not exercise their right to make three votes. Finishing fifth in the poll was not a surprise nor was it a personal disappointment. Let me explain.

Being a councillor is a thankless job; particularly if the job is to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, some of our opponents do not attend meetings for which they have been elected. Yet those same councillors sought re-election last Thursday.

By not being re-elected the electorate have given me a commodity which has been in short supply - time, and for that I should say thank you. My disappointment rests with my Labour colleagues who will yet again have to struggle in minority with a Tory/Liberal alliance. Nothing will be achieved.

People may ask what was achieved by me, as chairman of the Civic Centre Committee over the past two years. The honest answer is virtually nothing.

This was not due, in any way, to lack of effort. Other parties may be correct in saying that Leeds City Council is inept. They certainly proved to be to me. They did not answer letters. They were slow in coming to the aid of Otley's needs and they did not offer a realistic lease even after two years of continued effort by me.

So it is my fault and the electorate have seen fit to dump me. Let me turn to the campaign.

The Tory leaflets were aimed at base instincts of greed and greed. Your council tax rise has not been ten per cent. They also ask where has the £15.67 million gone from Otley ratepayers.

Fifty per cent of that goes on education. This does not need much imagination to realise that in order to provide all of our other facilities, to name but a few, library, street cleaning, refuse collection, police, fire brigade, etc. Otley receives subsidy and could not possibly support itself if left to its own devices.

Nimbyism also played a significant part. There are objections to views being threatened by possible housing development. Those same people are in favour of housing but please put them somewhere other than where it will spoil my view.

Only Labour can deliver in Otley. For the past three elections the Labour Party has issued a manifesto of its aims and objectives. These have been attainable and achievable projects. Labour even issued a guide as to what has been achieved.

What did the other parties do? They have united (surprise, surprise) in carping about Labour but what have they actually promised to achieve? Unfortunately, Otley will achieve nothing.

Perhaps if the Tory leadership has its way Otley may be able to keep out asylum seekers as seems to be the main desire of your Conservative city councillors. My prayers go out for them.

Ray Dunn

42 St David's Road,

Otley.

Electioneering

SIR, - I read with interest that Mike King had read a report that I am annoyed at the number of houses to be built on the Banksfield Dyeworks site.

Yes. I was and am concerned, but I have not expressed that view recently, to him , or to your newspaper. Where was this report?

So, as a councillor I did nothing to oppose the application? I did not ask my colleagues on Development Control Panel West to oppose the application!

How does he know? I certainly did not tell him, and as he was not a fellow councillor and certainly not a confidante of mine, I fail to see how he could know what I did or did not do. In fact I did ask my colleagues Couns Clive Fox and Amanda Carter to request a site visit and gave them chapter and verse of my reasons. A site visit was arranged and took place,to no avail.

It is fatuous to say that 'I did not use my influence with Tory members of the panel because the panel accepted the application' when they represent only two out of a total of 12.

I think my record on opposition to unnecessary development in Aireborough is well known and well documented, both as a councillor and as chairman of the CIT, and I am, in fact, right now working with colleagues to try to minimise the effects that the High Royds Development will have.

No, Mr King, it was just a last minute bit of Labour electioneering and people who know me will see it for just that.

Coun Graham Latty

110 Harrogate Road,

Rawdon.

Not in church

SIR, - When I received my electoral card I was amazed to find the polling station in my area had been moved to the Bridge Church, which I have always regarded as a place of worship.

I think it inappropriate of what the church stands for. It is not about politics. I wrote to the authorities in Leeds and my answer was 'it is not in the church itself, but in another part of the building'.

I found I could not bring myself to vote in any part of the church.

Mrs M Roper

12 Bradford Road,

Otley.

Protest helps US

SIR, - I suppose that I must bow to Anne Lee's extensive knowledge of the armed forces, considering her total lack of experience in these matters.

British soldiers are still trained in the use of the bayonet. They do not follow the Major Dennis Bloodnok (remember the Goon Show?) tactic of always wearing a tank during explosions.

I must also take notice of her deep understanding of Middle Eastern affairs, despite the fact that she has never lived there. She has not even talked with anyone of any importance from that area.

What she has done is demonstrate how easy it is to extract information from people by just needling them.

The ladies at Menwith Hill are doing the US a great favour by finding the weaknesses in their security systems and it has not cost them a single penny in consultancy fees.

Gordon Bradley

15 Kineholme Drive,

Otley.

l This correspondence is now closed - Editor.

Claim is fishy....

SIR, - Believe it or not, I am glad the scientists at the Roslin Institute have released their findings that 'fish feel pain'. Why? Because it is moving research on the matter, and therefore the debate, forward.

I believe it is good science even though I disagree with the findings, as do other international scientists. I do not believe that fish feel 'pain' in the way we understand it, and I think there is a long way to go before any compelling evidence on the issue is found. The research we have so far, including the Medway Report and the Farm Animal Welfare Council's report on farmed fish, only concludes that we don't know. Indeed, other research would suggest that fish do not have the brains to understand or feel pain.

I believe a Royal Commission into animal welfare, to set out what is acceptable treatment of animals and what is not, is the next logical step. More and more often we are coming up against animal rights bodies who consistently talk about the 'rights' and 'feelings' of fish in overly sentimental and ill-informed tones. We must base our behaviour on scientific research, not sentiment.

A properly researched scientific paper would help lessen the current '"Disneyfication' of fish and provide a framework within which anglers can go about their business, fish and continue their vital conservation work, in harmony with the environment as they have always been.

Charles Jardine

Director,

Countryside Alliance Campaign

for Angling

www.gone-fishing.info

....But it's true!

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 swim bladder, 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,

Animal Aid.

Election thanks

SIR, - May I, via your columns, be allowed to express my sincere thanks to the people of Prince Henry's Ward, who gave me their support on polling day. This is the first time I have stood for office and therefore I am deeply honoured to have been elected.

I would emphasise that as a new member I take my seat on the council with a completely open mind, and that, as such, I am available to all my constituents should they feel I can help in any way. I would also like to express my appreciation of the courtesy shown to me by my opponents throughout the election and on polling night.

Coun Norman Harrison

109 Wrenbeck Drive,

Otley.

The 'brilliant' Curmudgeon

SIR, - My friend Curmudgeon's offering on May 1 was brilliant - our forces received no thanks during the Iraq war, and the armchair critics/BBC lefties did indeed, when things went wrong, gloat.

Some of them wouldn't know which end a bullet came out of a rifle. I will not be critical of Curmudgeon in future - his item should be sent to all. The wobblers and pussyfooting Liberals - I'll be sending a copy to the BBC.

Yes, Curmudgeon I may even vote Tory - Ian Duncan Smith stuck by his guns and supported our forces. Well done IDS, unlike some who would have helped to keep a tyrant in power.

F Dickinson (Mr)

Larkfield Road

Rawdon.