Letters to the Editor

Who does Councillor John Prestage think will pay the fines totalling £11 million? Eventually it will have to be the passengers, who will face increases in fares, for which Arriva will be criticised again.

Apparently Arriva are having difficulties in recruiting drivers. What a hideous crime!

Doesn't Blair have the same problems in luring nurses, doctors and teachers? What fines should be imposed on the Government for this incompetence?

Did we never have trouble with trains in the days of dear old British Rail? Had we always sufficient drivers?

P E Bird, Nab Wood Terrace, Shipley.

SIR - It's not that many years ago that 5, 000 Kurds - men, women and children - were killed by Saddam Hussein in northern Iraq using poison gas. It's not that long ago either that the Shiites in the south of that country were under regular attack by his army and saw their natural habitat destroyed.

We all know about the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War and who started them.

Where would the Kurds and Shiites be now without surveillance of the no-fly zones by British and American airforces?

Where would the Albanians be had not NATO and the United States put a stop to the genocide in the Balkans?

If gangsters like Saddam, Milosevic, Noriega, bin Laden and others can use countries as their own personal fiefdoms, wreaking havoc at home and abroad, then thank God there is a nation like the United States with the moral fibre and iron fist to stand up for the rest of us regardless of race and creed.

Where would we be otherwise?

Stuart Baker, Place St Michel, Etalle, Belgium

SIR - Why is it that we only receive offers for discounted theatre tickets when the Priestley Arts Centre is under threat of closure? Why not promote events before the situation becomes dire?

I lived in Sheffield for three years as a student and during that time often went to the theatre and to gigs because I regularly received promotional leaflets. Young people were encouraged to visit the theatre and special student prices were offered.

Bradford could be a great city if people were willing to put in a bit more effort.

Annice Gill, Leafield Drive, Eccleshill.

SIR - Re the plan to introduce street wardens at a cost of £255,000.

The money would be better spent on more police on the beat who have the authority to stop people who are doing wrong. The wardens have only the same rights as all people to make a citizen's arrest. This can cause more trouble and then the police have to be involved.

J R Smith, Flawith Drive, Fagley.

SIR - Hundreds of boys and girls are living rough and sleeping in doorways in London and how many more in other cities in this country.

They are there for perverts who prey on them, such as pimps who lead them into sexual slavery, and also drug dealers who first get them addicted, then use them to get other children addicted.

If the do-gooders and the bleeding hearts whose only concern is to see that asylum seekers and other immigrants are fed, clothed and given houses and furniture, were to widen their scope and to think of their own people for once, then this problem could be solved.

N Brown, Peterborough Place, Undercliffe.

SIR - In response to Alan Holdsworth (Letters, October 27), I would like to ask him if he has been to Afghanistan to witness the so-called oppression of Afghan women. The western media in their attempt to justify theWest's action are trying their best to degrade the Afghans in whatever way they can.

As regards my comments that Islam is the fastest-growing religion, it is not because Muslims have large families, it is because of the large number of people who convert to Islam from Christainity, Judaism and other religions, because they see that Islam is the true religion.

Ayub Khan, Healey Lane, Clerk Green, Batley

SIR - Yet again stupid people are letting fireworks off. What about the poor animals who are scared of them, or the old people who get them through their letter box? It seems to me November 5 is getting earlier every year.

Sarah Hayton, Kensington Street, Girlington.