Letters to the Editor

Secondly, he recommends that all people use the Council-run car park known as the Bronte. Will he take the responsibility for the break-ins, because I am advised there are five a week on that car park. The other council car parks have had over 100 break-ins in the year.

Our two car parks, which are patrolled all the time, have had four in two years and they were at night when the car parks were closed. The same people visit our car parks year on year because they know they are safe.

So come on Mr Mozley, you know very well that if people paid for the parking and didn't expect more than they had paid for, they wouldn't be clamped.

E R Evans (Haworth Car Parks), Worthside House Development Co Ltd, Belle Isle Road, Haworth.

SIR - I seems to me that the government and the local council, not to mention Lord Ouseley and the CRE, have all overlooked an important and incontrovertible fact - the indigenous English are basically slightly xenophobic. That is to say, they do not care for foreigners. That this has long been the case is quite evident from a study of history.

We do not basically dislike foreigners, we just wish they were not here: indeed, we often like individual foreigners very much indeed - but we do not care for them "en masse".

And, for us, who are foreigners? Again, anyone who appears basically foreign, either by looking foreign (and this does not mean black) in dress, habits or language. If, of course, after a while they adopt English habits and appearance, we are very happy to accept them as English - again, see the historical record.

It does not appear that the Islamic Anglo-Pakistani "community" have taken this in. Maybe they (and we) should...

Ian R McDougall, Hawkswood Avenue, Heaton, Bradford.

SIR - As a grandmother with tenuous links with Parkland Primary School, I am astonished to hear that there is a proposal to close this school.

It is only two years since the last re-organisation. It is recognised that instability causes children to feel neglected and they lose the continuity that the caring teachers provide for them if they are constantly in a state of flux.

The school is set in lovely open surroundings with ample space for games and recreation, away frome main roads and within easy, safe parking for staff and visitors. To close this school with around 280 pupils seems to me to be a very backward step. How many main roads will they have to cross to another school, and will there be as many facilities?

I wonder if the education authority cares about children, or is it some money-making scheme with the sale of valuable land? If houses are built on the site this would create a need for another large school, which I believe would be false economy.

Mrs S A Farrer, King Edward Avenue, Horsforth.

SIR - Re the proposed closure of Parkland Primary School.

I have two children who attended the school a number of years ago. We then relocated a few times and as a result my children went on to attend a number of different schools.

Parkland was far the best school of those attended. The school worked hard at promoting "good wellbeing", particularly knowing that a number of children came from a variety of different backgrounds.

It is the only school my children attended that encouraged school trips for all children. This included those parents who were not as affluent and would probably be unable to afford trips otherwise. On the same note, at Christmas too, all the children had a party and gifts were given out.

These things are not educational as such but they do promote good relations between children and teachers.

I was very happy with the quality of teaching at Parkland and found that the teachers were enthusiastic. It would be a shame to lose the special atmosphere of a school which is constantly striving to better the quality and knowledge of the children attending.

Mrs Sandra Dyson, Farmhill Road, Bradford.

SIR - After reading about the proposed closure of elderly people's homes, I find this totally ruthless. How can the Council turn residents out of their home, which is what it is? First schools, then homes. What next?

My husband, who had a serious stroke a few years ago, uses Broadstones as respite. It is the one he seems most settled in. The staff are just wonderful. Now we may have to find yet another. More upset, and the battle goes on.

Where are these people going to go? They have left their homes, sold up and accepted company and care in these homes. To return them to society is just not practical or fair.

Mrs D Walsworth, Holly Park Drive, Great Horton, Bradford.

SIR - Congratulations to Manchester for providing such splendid facilities for the Commonwealth Games in only seven years from start to finish.

Perhaps the amateurs of Bradford should consult the professionals of Manchester on how to deliver a single stadium in fewer than 30 years.

Andrew Callaway, Shelf Moor, Shelf, Halifax.

SIR - Bulls chairman Chris Caisley is concerned about the decreasing support at home matches.

It was further diminished on Friday for the Castleford game.

If Mr Caisley had been present at Odsal car park, he would have witnessed a bemused and abandoned group of supporters waiting in the rain for their coach to Valley Parade.

When this service was first introduced it was welcomed by Bulls fans who for various reasons preferred this method of transport to home games.

Now we have a bus company (from Nottingham, unbelievably) who have failed to complete their obligations on two occasions.

Perhaps it would be better for the Bulls to get their own house in order before blaming other factors.

Dennis Baker, Bewick Court, Clayton Heights, Bradford.

SIR - Apart from the weather, we have two more depressions over our heads.

They are the Monarchy and the Labour Government, which are a burden to the people of this country. Nobody knows the running costs of either!

Millions are squandered on the Royal family and the army of spongers who are a headache to the taxpayers.

And Blair and his cronies spend millions on decorating their homes and offices.

In spite of this we cannot afford to give our old folk a decent pension to live on.

Our people do deserve better, a lot better!

H T Medley, Broadfield Close, Bradford 4.

SIR - I have been approached by an elderly constituent who is looking for information about her late father. His name was Samuel Stringer and he died in 1922. Mr Stringer was a wrestler who trained at the Brownroyd Gym, where he was also a gym instructor. He wrestled at the now-demolished Palace Theatre.

His daughter would like to know any information about her father's wrestling career, particularly the dates when he was an active wrestler. I wonder whether any of your readers have any information about him?

If anyone can help, please contact my constituency office directly.

Gerry Sutcliffe MP, 3rd Floor, 76 Kirkgate, Bradford, BD1 1SZ.

SIR - I am a cyclist who rides three or four times a week. In response to the shocked reader who reported seeing a cyclist in the usually empty cycle lane in Manningham Lane, I'd like to say that I find so many cars parked on cycle lanes during my rides that I am forever having to zigzag around them with the risk of being knocked down by cars on ordinary lanes.

Is that a record, or a sign of stupidity from the drivers who insist on parking on cycle lane?

M C Baglio, Long Lee, Keighley.