Letters to the Editor

SIR, - I was most surprised to read the letter headed 'Prescott's folly' from Timothy Kirkhope in the Ilkley Gazette (April 10).

Surely, as an MEP he is aware that these regional governments are EU policy and will be responsible to Brussels and not Westminster. The sample map that shows these regions apparently shows Gibraltar as being a part of Spain!

We originally voted to join the European Economic Community not to become a satellite state of a 'United States of Europe' - yet slowly but surely we are becoming just that.

Our politicians have progressively kept us in the dark about the Federal Europe agenda. Ted Heath promised us that our legal system would be inviolate - yet Habeas Corpus is being eroded, the right to trial by jury is going and the law on double jeopardy has been severely weakened.

It is EU policy to get all EU countries to have common legal standards - that of Napoleonic Law where one is guilty until proved innocent. We fought two worked wars to keep our freedoms, yet they are being steadily taken away from us, bit by bit, by our politicians.

EU law now takes precedence over UK law. The EU is a very damaging social experiment and the sooner we get out of it the better.

Our own small business of making flower essences is increasingly threatened by EU legislation; legislation that is formulated by non-elected bodies. As Timothy Kirkhope must know, the EU Parliament is just rubber-stamping body, nothing like the UK-elected government system.

The web site www..credence.org is a mine of information about the EU and what our politicians have been keeping from the electorate - presumably because they want to be big fishes in a much bigger pond!

ARTHUR R BAILEY

7 Nelson Road,

Ilkley.

Real citizenship

SIR, - We are talking about teaching citizenship to pupils within the school curriculum. As a practising councillor, I have had plenty of time to think about the importance and relevance of this label.

1. Citizenship is speaking out on an issue that is going to be of best interest to your fellow men and women in your community.

2. It is not for your own inter.ests or to boost your own ego.

3. It is not to patronise your fellow men or women in any way.

4. It is not to humiliate a person's personality that is different from your own for entertainment purposes.

5. It is taking time to listen; everyone has something to say that might be of importance.

6. Citizenship belongs to everyone. It should not be taken advantage of because of your wealth, creed or status in the community.

7. It should be a co-operation of working hands together that feed their community for the needs of all its people.

8. Let us show Bradford that we are its 'jewel in the crown'.

Coun JULIA COLLINGTON

Ilkley.

Voting guide

SIR, - In a week's time people will be asked to vote for their local

representatives. Before you vote, you should ask yourself a few questions.

Does the candidate live or work in your ward? If the answer is no, does the candidate frequently pass through your ward?

Has the candidate a track record of showing interest in the town?

Is the candidate just a political aspirant who only wants the kudos of sitting on the council?

Think carefully before you cast your vote and do not support a party hack.

Gordon Bradley

15, Kineholme Drive,

Otley.

Iraq aid needed

SIR, - In a war where humanitarian aid was a declared priority, the desperate plight of Iraq's children failed to find significance amidst the scenes of battle.

Away from the cameras, the devastating impact of war on children has largely gone unnoticed. Only now, as aid corridors begin to open up, are the harrowing images of children, scarred emotionally and physically by this war, beginning to surface.

For two young Iraqi boys last week, their childhood was shattered when curiosity drew them towards a bright piece of scrap metal. It was a landmine, and in an instant it blew off the hands of six-year-old Huner and damaged the sight of his five-year-old brother, Aumed.

Children suffer most in times of war. They are all displaced from their homes, may lose family and friends and suffer lengthy disruption to their education. UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, has warned that the state of Iraq's children, already weakened by 12 years of sanctions and two previous wars, is worsening daily.

UNICEF has been working in Iraq since 1952 and has established distribution networks throughout the county. In the months before the outbreak of war in Iraq, UNICEF positioned thousands of tonnes of life-saving supplies both inside the country and in neighbouring countries.

It is now the responsibility of all forces to ensure that there is order and to provide secure access to civilian populations to enable this aid to get through to those who need it most. By that, UNICEF means a ensuring it reaches children and women weakened and beseiged by thirst, fear and hunger.

The current plight of Iraq's children is the result of years of deprivation, made worse by the impact of war. Their needs will not simply go away when guns cease firing and troops withdraw.

The major task of rebuilding the lives and prospects of Iraq's children begins now. How we respond in the next few months to this challenge will determine the future of a generation of Iraq's children.

UNICEF urgently needs funds for its vital work in Iraq to continue. Currently we are trucking essential humanitarian aid into Iraq from neighbouring countries. In recent days, trucks have reached northern and southern Iraq, delivering supplies of food, clean water, health kits and medical supplies.

Our appeal for £106 million, launched at the start of the war, has so far received only a fifth of the funding it needs. However, just £25 could help save the lives of 150 children suffering from cholera or dysentry, and £32 could buy enough high energy biscuit to feed 15 children for one month.

If your readers would like to help, donations to support UNICEF's emergency appeal for the children of Iraq can be sent to: UNICEF UK, PO Box 1800, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S6 4UG. Thank you.

LOUIS COLES

Regional Fundraising Manager,

UNICEF Yorkshire and North-East..

Survey facts

SIR, - I hope not to exhaust the patience of the readers of the Ilkley Gazette, but they will be aware that traffic plans are in train for many areas of Ilkley as a result of extensive consultations with local people.

One of the first areas to be dealt with will be Springs Lane/Bolling Road. Here, residents were disappointed that plans for traffic calming omitted the central and fastest section of Bolling Road.

A petition of 55 signatures was sent to the parish council and the highways authority, asking specifically for traffic calming in this area.

As a result, new plans were drawn up to include this section of road.Altogether, 150 letters with copies of the plans and a reply form were sent out to residents with frontages on to Springs Lane/Bolling Road, asking for their comments and stressing the importance of their views.

These letters yielded 91 replies, 78 of which were in favour of the scheme, and 13 were against or with some reservations.

Subsequently, as is customary, notices were posted on lamp-posts, asking if there were any objections. This appeal yielded 20 objections. These were added to the previous 13, making a total of 33.

More than twice as many people, therefore, 78 (even if we exclude the petition of 55), were in favour of the plans for traffic calming as those against.

The Gazette tells us that Councillor Martin Smith and the area panel have chosen an alternative scheme which again excludes the central area, leaving no protection from fast traffic. A review is promised next November - another six months of speeding, another delay.

One of the objectors wrote: "Let us hope that democracy will prevail." I wonder if he thinks it has.

BARBARA DAVY

The Willows,

Parklands,

Ilkley.

Target smashed

SIR, - The important fundraising and meningitis awareness campaign Every Second Counts has smashed its £250,000 target thanks to the commitment of British Gas staff in Leeds - in just seven months.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has worked so hard to achieve this fantastic fundraising total for the vital work of the country's leading meningitis charity, the Meningitis Trust.

As many of your readers will know, meningitis can take hold rapidly with devastating and sometimes fatal effects. By working together with Centrica Plc (British Gas, AA, One.Tel and Goldfish), we can ensure that people know that fast action is vital and save lives.

What's more, their fundraising efforts help us continue to fight meningitis through funding lifesaving medical research, educating health professionals and the public about the disease and providing support services.

Rachel Armitage

North East Regional Development

Officer,

Meningitis Trust,

24 hour Helpline 0845 6000 800,

www.meningitis-trust.org

Village bloom efforts praised

SIR, - On Wednesday, April 2, two judges from the Yorkshire In Bloom organisation visited Addingham for the spring section of the competition.

The village was in almost ideal condition, thanks to the rain on the Tuesday which rinsed off the dust and freshened the plants in the flower beds and planters and the daffodils were at their peak.

But, most of all, thanks must go to everyone who helped in their own way, however small, the village clean-up on the previous Saturday. These included the Ilkley depot of the gardens and parks department and the street cleansing from Keighley, both from Bradford Council.

I would personally like to thank all the volunteers of our group, who put in a lot of hard work, come rain or shine, both at the monthly working parties and at any other time which they have had to spare.

It is encouraging to see that some businesses are becoming involved and this is one of the ways forward to improve our position in our category.

The group has various projects in the pipeline in conjunction with Mr Mel Smith from Bradford Council and the parish council and these will be ongoing in future.

Not only the group preparing for the judging, but we held a coffee morning on Saturday, April 5, which was most successful in raising more than £170 which will be used in the village for shrubs etc. Thank you to all who supported the event. It was also very encouraging to get positive comments from those attending.

Joe Maiden, of Radio Leeds fame, is coming to the Memorial Hall in Addingham on Tuesday, May 13, to give a talk and demonstration on hanging baskets, with the aim of having a competition in the village during the summer.

Look out for further details.

ALAN HAIGH

Chairman,

Addingham Garden Friends,

'Rillside',

41 Moor Park Drive,

Addingham.