Letters to the Editor

SIR - I write in amazement to reply to R Davison (June 8) who is obviously a member of the Edwina Currie School of Charm. You know the one: "Stop moaning. If you're cold, get off to bed" - that type of person.

I pay for my glasses, false teeth (yes a lot of pensioners do have them), TV licence and many other things, and as a pensioner myself I implore your readers not to stop moaning, but to moan louder than ever before.

We are heading towards a General Election and the so called "Grey" vote is going to be a very big factor in it.

I am a non-political person, but when the canvassers from Blathering Blair and Happy Boy Hague come around, I shall say to them "What are you going to do for us."

For generations people over 65 were simply discounted at election times, but they won't be this time.

So I say to all the great Grey VIPs, be ready this time to have your say for a decent pension rise, free TV licences for all pensioners and anything else we can squeeze out of them.

Geoff Mallinson, Sapgate Lane, Thornton.

Working together

SIR - It is heartening to note that at least two of Bradford's schools - Bingley Grammar and Dixons CTC - are to be awarded Beacon Schools status, from which others can aspire to learn and emulate.

But it must stick in the gullet of those politicians recently deposed from positions of power in the Education Authority for I well remember it was they who opposed the CTC and tried to strangle it at birth.

They failed, but continued to shun it using infantile means such as not allowing other schools to play football etc against it. And now the CTC has a role to play in rehabilitating its former tormentor.

Now let's put the past and ideology to bed and everyone work together to give the children of Bradford the excellence in education they so desperately need.

Lance Oyston, Upper Batley Lane, Birstall.

Labour disaster

SIR - Regarding the proposed ban on hunting with hounds (a foregone conclusion due to a hung jury). It is another catastrophe down to New Labour which will have more repercussions than "El Nino".

I can remember a time when Labour at least showed an interest in the working man, but New Labour will not be satisfied until there is no work for anyone. The consequences of this ban will be:

1. All hounds will have to be shot because they have been bred for hunting, and not as pets.

2. There will be devastating unemployment in rural areas where there is no alternative work.

3. The crime figures will rocket.

4. There will be a knock-on effect to service industries supplying the hunting fraternity.

5. Smaller businesses will be flushed down the pan.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. We only have one enemy in Europe and that is New Labour.

T Williams-Berry, Bredon Avenue, Wrose.

Blair's madness

SIR - Has our PM gone stark raving bonkers? Our local textile industry is finding things very difficult and Tony Blair (pictured) refers to the wearing of a suit as one of the tyrannies of life.

Poor Tony having to wear a suit and by his statement encouraging others to give up this "tyranny". A big help to textiles.

The man can find time to write to one of the Guildford Four to apologise, yet he can't find time to write to members of the general public who ask him pertinent questions.

I was hoping Mr Blair would have taken all of his paternity leave (unpaid of course!). The fact that he has taken any illustrates that he is just an ordinary dad and should not count on any previous privilege bestowed upon him as a special dad, the PM of our once-great country.

Until the Government gets its act together, neither he nor any other members of his "lost" cabinet and spin doctors should enjoy any privileges. I'm disgusted with the whole lot of them.

P E Bird, Nab Wood Terrace, Shipley.

What a giveaway

SIR - Well done to K Rymer (Letters, June 8) regarding flying the EU flag on City Hall.

It is an insult to Bradfordians and all England to fly a flag which has no merits. The only flag which should adorn this mast is the Union Jack. (Yes the Union Jack, not the Union Flag).

Make the most of your present freedom, it's coming to an end. When these elected nincompoops give it all away to Europe, you won't have any say in anything.

I cannot understand how this situation has got this far. It seems impossible that we, previous rulers of the world, can't get enough real men or women (mustn't be sexist) to say enough is enough.

We have no allegiance to anybody so why do we give all on a platter to people who can't beat us by the sword but are trying by the pen?

Derek Wright, Westbury Street, Bradford 4.

Explosive June

SIR - It's June 11 and Bonfire Night is with us already. It's 10.30pm and Heaton is echoing to the sound of bangers and rockets. I don't think it's ex-pat Belgians and Dutch celebrating their great start to Euro 2000, so it must be selfish morons with no consideration for others.

Do any of your readers know who detonates these explosives, and where they get them?

Andrew Milne, Randall Place, Heaton

Crazy crayfish

SIR - As an ex-resident of Bradford (I moved to Australia in 1976), I would just like to say that having access to Bradford news on the internet is a real blast!

I'd also like to tell the chef who was attacked by a "mobster lobster" that he should come over here and do battle with some of our crazy crayfish and punishing prawns!

If you print this, it will be about 35 years after my last letter in the T&A!

Sandy Parkinson, Grigg Place, Hilton, Western Austalia.

Waste of money

SIR - Today (June 6) I read of millions of pounds being spent on improvements to the M62. Just what is the point of that when all it will do is increase problems on several roads into Bradford, including the M606, Cleckheaton Road, Bierley Lane, Tong Street, Wakefield Road, Mayo Avenue and Manchester Road to name but a few?

Surely it would be better to spend money and complete the M606 and so relieve all these bottlenecks, in particular Tong Street, which seems to be taking the main brunt of all this congestion.

John A Stead, Rooley Avenue, Odsal.

Why can't we have a windfall?

SIR - Yet again a letter appears (June 6) urging us to reject the forthcoming ballot to take the Bradford and Bingley into the private sector. I would love to know who is financing the feverish activities of the so-called Bradford and Bingley members against conversion (BBMAC) down in St Albans of all places.

Let us have the other side. What is wrong with windfalls of anything between £700 and £1,000? They simply reflect and emphasise the astronomical, ever-increasing assets of these huge, responsible-to-nobody institutions.

The "antis" assert that borrowers and savers alike will suffer financially if they take the carrot and the cash.

Rubbish! If that were true the Halifax, the Alliance and Leicester, the Provincial, the Abbey National and all the others that have converted would long ago have gone bust. Accounts would have been closed, mortgages transferred.

If a windfall is perfectly "legit" for the fat cats of this world, what is wrong with us little kittens having our moment? Just make sure you vote!

Ronald Boyle, Selborne Villas, Clayton.

What a sight for the camcorders...

SIR - Recently police prosecuted a man for eating a Kit-Kat while driving and they have charged a young lady for drinking water while at red traffic lights. But here's a better one which they missed!

The time: Approximately 9.45am on Friday, June 9, and it was raining. The place: Well let's just say somewhere between Heaton and Nab Wood.

As I drove along the road I saw a car in the distance, on the opposite side of the road, with hazard warning lights flashing. He must have a problem, I thought.

But no! As I got nearer I saw that he was driving with one hand while holding a surveyor's measuring wheel on the road with the other.

What a pity I didn't have my camcorder with me. It would have been a sure winner for You've Been Framed!

Peter A Rushforth, Sutton Drive, Cullingworth.