SIR - Is it right that for whatever reason - financial, organisational, historical or security - one distinctly identifiable group of people can be treated in an entirely different way to all others?

The group are Passport to Leisure holders in Bradford. They alone are required to purchase a ticket from the Odsal office to watch the Bulls at Valley Parade.

Would this discrimination be OK if it was levied at any other group? I think not. The Bulls are the supposed "People's Team", but not the low-income family team.

They are sponsored heavily by Bradford Council, but impose harsh restrictions on users of Council services. It is abhorrent to treat one group of people so differently in the name of financial needs.

Martin O'Hara, Shuttleworth Lane, Bradford 8

SIR - There is no doubt that the welfare and tax system in this country is in a mess. We had mortgage tax relief brought in, presumably as a sweetener for the middle classes, but I could never see the slightest justification for it though benefiting personally.

I am not sure about the justification for child benefit, either. Parents of children already get tax breaks and there is a massive hidden subsidy from childless people like myself who have to pay for horrendously expensive things like education in which they have no personal interest at all.

The results of all this lavish expenditure are none too impressive either. Far better than benefits for this and benefits for that would be greater reliance on progressive taxation and a tax credit system which would lead to greater fairness all round.

As a general principle, social engineering - ie measures aimed at encouraging or fostering a certain social trend - seldom work and often produce unexpected results.

Don Burslam, South Edge, Shann Park, Keighley.

SIR - It's election time, so I'll ask a simple question of all these politicians of virtue.

In view of the importance of beta interferon and other drugs including glatiramer to the sufferers of Multiple Sclerosis, when will you abolish the National Institute for Clinical Excellence?

This is the quango that states in a letter, the following: "The Institute is not appraising the efficacy of beta interferon and glatiramer. We are concerned with their clinical and cost-effectiveness. We do not take into account patients' perspective of the disease and the technology being appraised."

This is the quango that has refused to examine or interview any person suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. In my view NICE is concerned with cost.

Over 38 per cent of MS sufferers in Europe are prescribed beta interferon and glatiramer, and that figure is rising. Twenty-nine European Universities found them useful in limiting brain damage in MS sufferers.

Years later NICE is still looking at the situation and still politicians pontificate!

Around £16 billion has been spent on overseas aid. Just for one session of Parliament, wouldn't it be nice if politicians spent taxpayers' money in the UK?

David Samuels (Multiple Sclerosis Support Group), Station Road, Oxenhope.

SIR - Why is it we don't see road sweepers on a regular basis like we used to around East Bowling? The only time we see one is when we request one over the phone, and this does not always result in a sweeper.

Some time ago it was stated that Bradford's streets were 96 per cent clean. All I can say is that the person who said that should have a walk around East Bowling, especially the Paley Road area, and have a look up the streets and back alleyways and then repeat his statement.

The pavements, alleyways, gutters and grass verges are disgusting.

Also why is it that when gangs of litter pickers do come, the green bags are left on the pavements for days at a time only to be kicked open and the litter spread all over making the place worse than it was before?

I wonder what visitors to Bradford think when they travel through East Bowling to visit the marvellous Bolling Hall museum?

H Greenwood, Paley Road, East Bowling.

SIR - I have been very disappointed with the new Bradford bus station, as most of it is not in use.

Most of my family live outside Yorkshire and to visit them I have to travel by National Express coach, which means I have to carry luggage through the tunnel, up a flight of steps and across the square to reach them.

When it was in the back bay, it was a lot easier for elderly people using the Interchange, as many of my friends agree. Now we are all stressed out and some have stopped travelling altogether.

Mrs J Butterworth, Woodside Place, Halifax

SIR - I would like to thank all my friends who came to the Yorkshire Rider Club to celebrate my 80th birthday with me and my husband Bill.

My greatest thanks to my two nieces Barbara and Maureen for catering and getting us there.

I have been in hospital most of this year, but it was lovely to see the friends who came.

The secretary, Trevor, and the bar staff were wonderful and didn't charge for the room or their time.

The collection for Manorlands instead of gifts was £140.

Frances Hill, Baxandall Street, Bradford 5.

SIR - On behalf of everyone at The Stroke Association, I would like to thank those of your readers who took part in, or supported, the Thames Bridges Bike Ride earlier this month.

We had hoped that the bike ride on May 13 would be the best yet, and the cyclists did not let us down. More than 1,300 cyclists took part in the ride and are expected to have raised more than £80,000 for all those affected by the devastating effects of stroke, the country's biggest single cause of death and disability.

One again, many thanks to all those who participated in the ride or supported the event in any way - we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Angela Pavey, National Events Officer, The Stroke Association, London, EC1.

SIR - How many of your readers realise that the price of diesel in this country is in fact only about £1 per gallon or 21p per litre?

Unfortunately, road users cannot buy fuel at that price because the Government imposes £2.15 per gallon in duty and then, adding insult to injury, slaps 17.5 per cent VAT on top, making the total at the roadside about £3.70 per gallon.

This means that 73 per cent of the price you pay is tax of one sort or another or, to put it another way, the rate of tax imposed on the basic price of £1 per gallon is a staggering 270 per cent.

The fuel protests which almost brought the country to a halt last year were caused by successive hikes in duty levels, which meant that the tax had been increased by 33 per cent since 1997.

The Budget in March saw a slight reduction but this has not solved the haulage industry's problem.

Anyone who is affected by the price of fuel should make their concerns clear to politicians and stress the need for a level playing field with Europe in respect of fuel prices.

D Taylor, quality manager, Redhead Freight Ltd, Woodroyd Industrial Estate, Low Moor, Bradford.