Letters to the Editor

Whether people like it or not, teenagers are going to have sex, so why not promote oral sex as opposed to penetrative sex? It seems the most practical solution!

Yes there are risks and consequences with sex (and this is not just restricted to teenagers), but there are risks and (environmental) consequences in driving a car. Does this mean we should stop people driving, as a moral case?

I imagine many so-called moralists are secretly jealous of teens engaged in pleasure, as opposed to any serious moral valuation they may hold.

Danny Murphy, Halifax Road, Keighley.

SIR - As a fervent anti-bloodsport supporter it irks me to agree with Mr Mozejko (March 11) but he is quite right to mention the hypocrisy of some of my clan. By all means campaign against bloodsports, but they should also recognise other acts of barbarity towards animals.

I hope the whimsical Mr Sid Brown has devoured its contents, because he epitomises Mr Mozejko's point with his perennial words of protest. The animals that are torn to shreds by the hunters dogs are probably in no more agony than the ritually slaughtered ones in the name of halal meat.

In our liberal, politically correct country it is quite legal to butcher animals in this way.

So, yes Mr Mozejko you have made a fair point. I've never written to the T&A attacking bloodsports, but if I do I will ensure my rant will include other acts of cruelty to animals.

I fear it is the PC thought police that precludes the mention of ritually slaughtered animals by the anti-bloodsport supporters.

P J Hunter, Herbert Street, Saltaire.

SIR - Will you please allow me to clarify a point made by E Lindley T&A (Letters March 11) in respect of my letter of February 28?

I don't know where the misleading brackets came from connecting Chindits and Burma-Siam railway but they were most certainly not in my original letter.

I am old enough to remember both events, and the aftermath of the PoWs, as well as having met both sets of Servicemen.

His statement as to the make-up of the railway construction workers is slightly misleading too, as I'm sure he will hear, from some of the still surviving ex PoW's.

No hard feelings E Lindley, you sound like a chap I could talk to for a long while. We could correct each other!

H Hawksworth, Stonegate Road, Bradford 10.

l Editor's note: We apologise if our efforts to clarify some rather confusing punctuation in Mr Hawksworth's original, hand-written letter resulted in a misunderstanding.

SIR - Caring for toddlers can be a real challenge, and sometimes it can seem that they are winding you up deliberately. But they're not - much toddler behaviour is actually quite normal, not naughty. Toddlers test everything - boundaries, people and environments. It is their way of learning, making sense of the world and dealing with new emotions and experiences.

The NSPCC is convinced that greater understanding of toddlers will lead to less stressful and more positive parenting. Punishing toddlers for what comes naturally makes no sense and just upsets everybody.

Positive discipline works - for parents and toddlers - which is why we are distributing half a million new advice leaflets entitled "Not naughty but normal" to new parents and parents-to-be.

When we all ditch the negative "Terrible Twos" label and recognise that toddlers are simply terrific, we will know that this vulnerable age group are better understood and safer.

Mary Marsh, NSPCC Director & Chief Executive, Curtain Road, London EC2

SIR - The last thing that we need in Bingley is to replace the town centre with a car park and supermarket. Yet again, we could have imposed on us, without our will, another scheme which is transparently only in existence to further the greed of business.

We have an opportunity to create a town centre that could act as a meeting place or some point of civic focus. Not retail outlets. Not car parking.

The recent planning applications approved by Shipley Area Committee leave me in no doubt that this body exists solely as a legitimiser of business development and has no interest in the wishes or needs of people who have to live daily with the effects of their decisions.

We must have a concerted effort from all local residents to resist further destruction of our little town, and to leave for future inhabitants a place worthy of occupation, not another retail park with its attendant chaos, pollution and rubbish.

Kevin McDade, Sycamore Avenue, Bingley

SIR - May I remind readers that time is running out for those who have objections to the proposed ward boundary changes for Bradford Metropolitan District. Some of the compulsory changes appear to have been thought up by persons living in Outer Mongolia.

I shall object to the proposed Royds Ward, which is an insult to Wibsey, Woodside, Buttershaw and the Royds Hall Estate.

The proposed changes are supposed to even out the number of electors per ward, but the planners appear to have overlooked several hundred new houses being built in Buttershaw which will upset the arithmetic.

Both Royds and Wibsey wards will be bisected by busy main roads which ought to be boundaries, and to extend Wibsey into Marshfields is a nonsense.

There's much to object to with regards to the proposed boundary changes, so don't sit on your hands. Send your objection and modified proposals to Team Leader, Bradford Review, The Boundary Committee for England, Trevelyan House, Great Porter Street, London SW1P 2HW before April 7.

K Ellison, Verdun Road, Bradford 6.

SIR - Re Veronica Farnell's letter of March 7 about Thornton Baths.

I was brought up in Thornton. We didn't have a car and it was cheap and fun to go swimming. Veronica's niece was my best friend. We went swimming nearly every night. There wasn't much for kids to do, just like there isn't nowadays.

What a shame the money can't be found to build a new swimming baths in Thornton. Children in schools now only go swimming for a short time. It is so important to learn to swim, but it is fun too.

I feel sorry that the people of Thornton don't have the privilege of a swimming bath so close to their home.

Mrs Linda Norton (nee Charles), Grove House Crescent, Bradford 2.

SIR - We are making a third series The Life Laundry programme for BBC 2.

We are looking for men and women in the West Yorkshire area who are drowning in clutter and need to take control of their junk - and their lives.

Home consultant Dawna Walter and antiques expert Mark Franks streamline people's lives by clearing out their clutter and giving them a fresh start.

Our experts are tough: people must be willing to let go of their possessions and confront the emotional attachments they may represent.

If anyone would like any further information, please contact the Life Laundry hotline on 020 7861 8083, or email us at lifelaundry@talkback.co.uk

Harry Blackwell, researcher, Life Laundry Talkback Productions, London W1.

SIR - In the old days we had belching, black chimney stacks; we choked, coughed and spat. Now these are extinct.Clean Fresh air? I think not! Guess what? We have the motor cars, the whole country gridlocked. That's progress!

Alan Holdsworth, Chippendale Court, Bradford Road, Menston

SIR - I believe that Peter Sutcliffe, right, the "Yorkshire Ripper" must have had something wrong with him to act as he did. I know that he was incredibly cunning (and lucky for a time), but sane people just don't do those things.

The fact that he habitually went dressed for the occasion doesn't prove one thing or another - I view it as part of his mad cunning.

Peter Sutcliffe was deemed fit to stand trial and convicted of serial murders. Subsequently he was found to be insane and sent to Broadmoor.

I am sure that the psychiatrists at Broadmoor know all about criminals who pretend to be insane. I don't think Peter Sutcliffe or anyone else could hoodwink them for 20 years.

It would be impossible to release him after all he did, but the suitable punishment is simply deprivation of liberty. Looking to exact a kind of "extra revenge" by sending him to a prison is not the answer.

Keith Trobridge, Otley Road, Shipley.