Letters to the Editor

After reading the relevant section Current Government Policies PPG13&RPG12, how can Bradford Council go ahead with the Forster Square development without including a heavy rail corridor between Forster Square and Interchange railway stations?

If finance is the problem then perhaps Bradford Council should ask where did the £30 million come from for reopening the Huddersfield Narrow Canal for leisure cruising?

For Bradford to appear as attractive as Leeds to business interests, whether new or relocating, road congestion must be tackled, so cross-rail is the solution.

Bradford Rail Users Group has presented Bradford Council with documentary evidence of North American cities which have tried to beat gridlock by road construction but have admitted defeat and constructed new railways with excellent passenger usage.

Readers in any doubt about the ability of railways to attract passengers should spend more time in the late afternoon on Shipley railway station watching the trains arriving from Leeds and Bradford.

C V Barton (chairman, Bradford Rail Users Group), Hasley Road, Burley-in-Wharfedale.

SIR - Re the recent letters about a railway link between Bradford Exchange and Forster Square stations. I am an old man, the wrong side of 85, and I recall this coming up regularly at different times, especially after the closure of Adolphus Street station, and the answer was always: "Impossible".

The reason was the huge difference in height between the buffers at Exchange Station and those at Forster Square and the relatively small distance between the two stations, to say nothing of the buildings in between.

Surely there are plans still in existence giving all the heights and distances. Surely there are people still living who remember all this.

R. Smith, Glendale Drive, Bradford 6

SIR - Well done to the Bulls, but well done to the fans. I have had the privilege of living in Cardiff, after moving from Bradford, for six years. At the Millenium Stadium there's been the Six Nations rugby union, international and domestic football, concerts, cricket and even speedway, but Saturday's Challenge Cup final provided undoubtedly the best-ever atmosphere in and around the ground.

I don't know if many of the people of Cardiff knew what had hit them, but you did rugby league and Bradford proud. It was great to see and just a shame that the hotel problem persisted, but what a result!

Thank you and see you next year!

Keith Myers-Sleight, Wynnstay Close, Cardiff

SIR - I would like to thank the honest gentleman who found my mobile phone in the back of a taxi after the Bradford-Leeds Challenge Cup Final and handed it in to a hotel in Bristol. He also phoned my wife to tell her the whereabouts of the phone. I don't know your name, but I am very grateful. Thank you!

Derek Searle, Longmead Close, Shenfield, Brentwood, EssexSIR - Not satisfied with attacking and invading Iraq before a single shot was fired against them, George W Bush intends to by-pass the United Nations and try Iraq's leaders for alleged war crimes in specially-created US military courts, claimed W Hayes Parks, a senior Pentagon legal adviser.

Punishment could include the death penalty declared Pierre-Richard Prosper, US ambassador for war crimes, when both spoke at a Pentagon press briefing.

But David Scheffer, ambassador for war crimes in the previous Clinton administration, argued for a special United Nations tribunal to try Iraqis for war crimes, or the proceedings would lack credibility.

The UN's new permanent International Criminal Court would have jurisdiction for war crimes after July 1, except that President Bush withdrew support for the treaty soon after he came into office.

So Richard Dicker, of Human Rights Watch, said the US should support a tribunal composed of international jurists.

The special US courts sound to me like an updated version of Wild West lynch law. Bush wants to get it over quickly before they themselves can be questioned about their own crimes against Iraqi men, women and children in crowded cities and streets.

Robert Hornsby, Bredon Avenue, Shipley.

SIR - From May 10-16 it's Adult Learners' Week, and a great chance for families and friends, people who want to find a new hobby, or change their career, to go along to a local centre and find out what's going on.

If you want to learn a few sentences of Spanish or French for the summer holidays, or get to grips with a computer so you can keep up with the children's homework, or brush up your English or maths, Adult Learners' Week is for you.

You can find the listing of events at the website, www.alw.org.uk and click on 'online calendar of local events', or if you don't have a computer, from the beginning of May you can call a free helpline on 0800 100 900 and ask for details of Adult Learners' Week events near you.

Francisca Martinez, Campaigns Officer, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.

SIR - Endometriosis is estimated to affect the lives of more than two million women in the UK. Yet despite it affecting so many, these women are often failed by the health service.

Symptoms vary in their presentation, often making diagnosis difficult. Many of the women we have spoken to have waited more than seven years for a diagnosis from first seeing their GP with symptoms.

For this reason the Endometriosis All Party Parliamentary Group, a group of 84 MPs and Peers, has organised a seminar at Westminster tomorrow.

We are calling on health professionals of all disciplines, Primary Care Trusts and Hospital Trusts to engage in a more productive dialogue in order to significantly improve the service women presenting with endometriosis receive.

John McDonnell MP (secretary, Endometriosis APPG), Pump Lane, Hayes, Middlesex.

SIR - Councillor Ford's explanation beggars belief (Letters, April 23). All councillors have the same access to legal advice on the City Council. All he, and his party, had to do was ask.

The staff in party offices at City Hall are paid for by us, the local taxpayers. While it is perfectly acceptable for councillors to use their office in City Hall as a contact point it cannot be right, under any circumstances, for an unelected candidate in a local election to use it.

John Carroll, Bradford Road, Shipley

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mr Carroll is a former Conservative councillor for Shipley West.

SIR - As Christians living in Bradford's multi-faith society, we have come to realise that people of other denominations (I am a Methodist) and other faiths are contributing just as much to our society as the church we belong to.

So what leads us to believe this? A passage from the Bible, probably the best known in the Bible.

"These three things remain, Faith, Hope and Love, and the greatest of these is Love."

Why love? Because God is Love and we all believe in God.

From a purely Christian view point John 3 tells us "Jesus came into the world not to change but save it."

Dave & Viv Pollard, Leafield Drive, Bradford 2.

SIR - The people living on Whiteways in Bolton, Bradford are perfectly right to be outraged. However, the target of their outrage should be the lazy, inconsiderate residents of Whiteways who park their cars on the streets instead of in their drives.

Perhaps Mr Hussain of First Bus should contact the traffic department to have yellow lines painted on both sides of the street and then the bus service could be resumed thereafter.

D Leonard, Ashbourne Road, Bolton, Bradford.

SIR - Kirkgate Market looks shabby now John Street Market (now the Oastler Centre) has been refurbished.

What is needed is a fresh lick of paint, new, better lighting and stall improvements. The space-age theme could be extended through from the Kirkgate Centre into the market hall.

Let's see some improvements to help make Kirkgate Market a more pleasant place to shop.

Jack MacPherson, Killinghall Road, Bradford 3.