Letters to the Editor

I have two boys at the school and since Mr O'Hagan's arrival more than a year ago they themselves have reported to me that there has been a definite improvement in discipline and behaviour of pupils and the whole school has had a new sense of purpose.

The new teachers have brought a lot of energy and drive to the school. The teachers who have left after sometimes 20 years at the school should be very disappointed in themselves that they allowed Rhodesway to drift and to accept such low levels of discipline and achievement.

The education authorities have always put Rhodesway at the back of the queue for funding and attention when in fact the school reflects the major ethnic and social problems of the city more than any other and should therefore have had priority help.

M Ward, Barnby Avenue, Lower Grange.

SIR - Recently a Mr Alan Holdsworth in a letter to the T&A, said he had cancelled a non-emergency operation at Airedale General Hospital because of their anti-smoking policies. Three cheers for Airedale Hospital!

My brother-in-law has been in Bradford Royal Infirmary (the York Suite) since October 2002 and as you walk into the ward from the main corridor you need a knife to cut through the cigarette smoke which permeates through the ward.

If you don't have chest problems when you go in, you certainly will when you come out. Yet Bradford Royal Infirmary supposedly operate a no-smoking policy.

May I suggest that Mr Holdsworth asks for a transfer to the York Suite where facilities would accommodate his addiction.

Mrs A M Garthwaite, Marion Drive, Windhill.

SIR - I want to highlight the excellent quality of care provided at Airedale General Hospital for my 97-year-old mother. She attended clinics regularly over the past three years and the consultants, registrars, nurses and other qualified professionals did everything possible to help her during that time. Age seemed totally irrelevant when dealing with her.

In December, she was in Airedale Hospital for two weeks and sadly died. However, during that time she was treated with such gentle professional kindness and good humour I certainly could not have asked for more.

Indeed, the same was true three years ago when my father, also 97, who was a patient at the same hospital.

Mrs Ursula Turner, Bracken Park, Scarcroft, Leeds.

SIR - What a cheerful story it was concerning the ringing of the bells at the magnificent church in Saltaire (T&A, January 19) which marks yet another step in the inspiring story of this unique village. Would it be too much to ask for a special ceremony to be organised in which a line of "pretty" women (is that now an illegal expression?) meets the wonderful Leslie "Carry On" Phillips, below, at the station so that he can leer and say "Ding Dong" as they peal out!

I reckon even old Titus might smile at that.

Sid Brown, Glenhurst Road, Shipley.

SIR - The stock transfer of council houses will take place next month. It will affect well over 60,000 tenants, but only 26,000 tenants will be able to vote in November for their representatives who may have some say in housing offices.

Through the years I have had dealings with housing officers and they have all been experts on how to waffle.

The district federation has sent its propaganda out to every tenancy stating who are the tenants' representatives in their area. The district federation is a non-democratic organisation. One year it held its AGM election of officers behind locked doors.

To ensure good practice the district federation should become a limited company, which would protect the ordinary members from the kind of situation where officers are in place for years and all the jobs go to relatives and friends.

Joan Foulds, New Line, Greengates.

SIR - It reads like a Monty Python script. A rail service has too many passengers so it cuts its services, and the Ministry of Silly Walks rubber-stamps the decision.

Would somebody please tell the virgin brains at Virgin Trains the best way to stop local passengers from using the long-distance trains is to simply increase the minimum cost of the journeys on the trains in question, making local trains an economical alternative.

Sandy Parkinson, Grigg Place, Hilton, Western Australia.

SIR - Re your report on visas for Jamaicans. Nearly 30 Commonwealth countries require visas, and if having to have them for Jamaicans helps to curb the notorious Yardie gangs and drugs barons, so be it.

We have visited Australia to see blood relations and we had to have a visa. No problem.

Peter Robin Alderson, Wrose Road Shipley.

SIR - "Is Mr Khan a true Asian?" asked a reader the other day in this column. I've never met the guy but I assumed he was British.

Andrew Milne, Randall Place, Heaton.

SIR - What a surprise! The Government is going to allow the Americans to use the radar station at Fylingdales. Seemingly if George Bush told the British Government to collectively jump in the Leeds-Liverpool canal they would do so immediately.

This is another example of the anti-democratic nature of the clique which runs this Government. Very few people agree with the Government's decision on this issue, yet Blair is determined to go ahead anyway. Blair's attitude is one of total subservience to Bush and the oil barons who pose as the government of the United States.

These global polluters are determined to wage a war of aggression against the people of Iraq so that they can steal that country's oil and Blair is determined to endanger British lives in this act of criminal folly.

Apart from the oil barons, the only people to benefit from a war against Iraq will be the Islamic terrorists - the very people Blair is supposed to be fighting.

Sean Connor, Cunliffe Road, Bradford 8

SIR - War on Iraq may be moments away now. But will it be a war? Will half-dead Iraqis fight the mighty American army? It will be a total invasion of a destroyed country. Saddam Hussein was never a problem for the powers if they wanted to get rid of him. The whole drama is staged to control Iraq's oil and level the ground for a mighty Israel in the region. Al Qaida is a myth created by the West. The fire Bush and Blair are airing will ultimately burn the whole world.

Zohra Jabeen, Ferndown Green, Bradford 5

SIR - Saddam Hussein needs to be removed from power but not the way Bush and Blair want to do it. If this is a war against terrorism and countries who fund terrorists, Mr Blair should look in his own backyard, ie Ireland, then to the USA as it is reported they are one of the biggest fundraisers. So will Mr Blair be sending the battleships to American waters or even to Ireland? I don't think so.

Michael McGann, Broomcroft, Clayton.

SIR - Here we go once again, getting ourselves involved in a war seemingly to help America but in fact for the oil barons, who have Bush in their pockets. I say carry on with the policy of "Exclusion Zones", make sure Saddam only gets essential food and medical supplies, then leave him to his own people to sort out.

Jack Mawson, Grove House Crescent, Bradford 2.

SIR - Tony Blair wishes to send troops to Iraq in support of George Bush when there appear to be more terrorists at large in this country than would likely be found in the streets of Baghdad! It is quite obvious that our troops will be needed here, and soon, in order to stop the rot. Rather than combating the mugging, rape, terrorism and murder which is a daily occurrence in this country, Blair is going for the big scene, "Frankly my dear I don't give a damn!" If he continues in power then we'll all be gone with the wind!

Trevor Williams-Berry, Bredon Avenue, Wrose

SIR - In reply to B Thompson who wrote from Saudi Arabia (Letters, January 8). I did not say let Saddam have weapons of mass destruction. I simply said: "Why should Saddam not have weapons to defend his country and himself."

N Brown, Peterborough Place, Undercliffe.

SIR - As war with Iraq draws near, I think Bush and Tony Blair should be in the front line to lead the troops. Why can't Blair let Bush play his war games and leave this country alone? How Bush and Blair can sleep at night is beyond me.

Raymond Newman, Chellow Street, Bankfoot.