Caught on the hop by Christmas gifts!

SIR - My mother lives in one of the 'ethnic minority' districts of Bradford and, fearing that she may give offence to her Muslim neighbours, decided not to send them Christmas cards.

After all, the white middle-class libertarian army had preached the sensitivity of Christmas celebrations of all forms, and sundry councils the length and breadth of England had taken heed.

Well, she got the shock of her life! Not only did she get traditional Christmas cards from her Muslim friends, but expensive presents as well. In fact one of the families was holding a Christmas Day party for all their children!

My mother had some last-ditch shopping to do to return the compliment, but she was delighted. Could these intelligent PC people be actually wrong about their ideals, or is it all a plot by a fiendish fascist party to destabilise race relations?

Whoever the perpetrators are it is downright insulting to assume that Muslims are intolerant towards the religion of their adopted country. My mother's experience epitomises real integration.

It is also heartening to see that our much-maligned Council did not jump on the PC bandwagon at Christmas.

T Williams, Park Road, Bingley

Figures...and facts

SIR - In response to Diane Duguid's letter (T&A, December 29), She hints that the Iraq war is justified because Iraq was involved in the September 11 attack. In fact, Mr Bush stated in 2003, "We have no evidence that Saddam

Hussein was involved with the September 11 attacks."

She further mentions that "no-one will ever be safe until these (terrorists) are caught."

The terrorist threat, while real, is being blown out of proportion. 9/11 is the only terrorist attack in America since the Oklahoma bombing in 1995.

In 1992 400,000 Americans suffered injuries involving beds, mattresses or pillows. This means an American in 1992 was 13,333 per cent more likely to be injured by their bed than to have been a victim of a terrorist attack in the last ten years.

If everyone was to be safer then America should not have invaded Iraq.

A study, using the same methods used to work out the Jewish death toll during the Holocaust, shows that between 8,000 and 194,000 Iraqi civilians have died, with the most probable figure being 98,000.

The growing anti-American sentiments and corresponding increase in terrorism throughout the world accompanies this. Is American imperialism making the world safer?

David Lawson, Altar Drive, Heaton

Putting people off

SIR - Having seen that First Bus are putting up their fares for the second time in a year I find it amazing that they have the cheek to do so.

I would like to know why on the most "popular" routes fares have gone up 20p (a 15 per cent hike) and on others 10p. Also child bus fares vary in increase too. How can they claim to want to encourage people to use the buses when its so expensive to do so?

Mary Byrne, Clover Street, Little Horton, Bradford

Times change...

SIR - I am glad that Peter Wilson is so gifted with clairvoyance that he is able to categorically foresee events which preclude Britain's future withdrawal from the European Union and related events (T&A, December 29).

I doubt Mr Wilson had foreseen the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall, as most other people would have assumed their continuation for decades.

Just as the collapse of the Soviet Union appeared unlikely in the 1970s, circumstances may well change so that Britain restores the death penalty irrespective of the provisions of the Human Rights Act and other constraints.

Only a fool speaks about the future with unqualified certainty!

Alec Suchi, Allerton Road, Allerton

Advance a gear

SIR - The beleaguered motorist may raise two cheers for the rumoured moratorium on the siting of new speed cameras.

However, once it is realised that the alternative is a series of indiscriminate reductions in speed limits, this joy will be short-lived.

Many local authorities are shockingly awash with the proceeds from 'safety' cameras, but instead of education through relentless restriction and punishment, it is surely more beneficial to invest this money in the positive promotion of Advanced Driving.

It costs just £20 to become an associate member of the RoSPA Advanced Drivers' Association - an organisation with safety at its very heart - where tuition to advanced test standard is free.

What better way to teach drivers the appropriate use of speed in all conditions?

Robin Jones, RoSPA Advanced Drivers & Riders - West Yorkshire Group, Town End, Almondbury, Huddersfield

Why not try these?

SIR - Some people celebrate New Year with fireworks. They try to get the maximum possible enjoyment from these moments but unfortunately do not think about others.

They do not care about the elderly, hospital patients, babies and those who sleep early.

Can they imagine how disturbing it would be for a sick person on his/her bed and somebody exploded firework next to his window? They are selfish.

I would like to suggest some different ways to celebrate New Year.

l It is a time to think what we have done in last year and consider what are the plans for next year.

l Try not to waste money (on fireworks) but give it to good causes.

l Try to work for the betterment of the society and country.

l Be more kind, humble and gentle with your neighbours and exchange gifts with them.

l Learn lessons from past mistakes and try not to commit them again.

Aejaz ul Haque Malik, Amberley Court, Bradford

Wrong assumption

SIR -Malcolm Wood's letter headed 'Judges living in a fantasy world' (T&A, December 30), offered some case histories and quotations which in his view indicate the British judiciary is out of touch with the situation and the sentiments of the common man towards violent crime and burglary.

He suggests that being cocooned in an exclusive world of privilege and isolation, judges and senior politicians are "totally removed from real life and the concerns and fears of ordinary people".

Clearly some daft character appraisals and sentences have been heard from the bench.

Maybe policy on sentencing is driven by what is affordable and achievable, rather than attempting to create positive change in the values and behaviour of what is an underclass in society - an 'underclass' which never comes into contact with those "elitists" quoted by Mr Wood.

It would be wrong to suggest, without proof, that the 'class' of the perpetrator relative to that of the victim has any bearing on sentencing in British courts.

Denis Spence, Mitchell Close, Idle