Letters to the Editor

SIR - Is there anyone else out there who is wondering what is going on at City Hall? Are the lights on, is anyone home?

The public, as a shareholder paying council tax, deserves an explanation as to what's going on. Perhaps the leader and chief executive will respond to these questions and also tell us when the district auditor's report will be publicly available.

If the Council were a company, questions would have to be answered as to why many senior managers are either retiring early, going to other jobs with other councils or being investigated. Why are they dropping like flies and who is paying the pension deficit to the WY pension funds?

Where will the talent come from to replace key personnel or will we be subject to another decade of inside promotions?

Is the Council exempt from explanation to the main stakeholder, the public? After all, is it not our money they hold the purse strings to?

Debbie Fitzpatrick, Fenwick Drive, Bradford.

Wasted resources

SIR - The government's proposals on 'zero tolerance' towards the squalid and sordid trade of prostitution, although sending a message for high moral standards, will leave many law-abiding citizens with a feeling of deja-vu and the realisation that once again valuable police resources, urgently needed to combat the thieves, muggers and armed gangs who flourish in our present-day society, are to be diverted towards an industry or profession that thrives on a supply-and-demand basis.

Legalised prostitution was the way out for some women but this government, like its predecessors, has chosen to ignore this option.

How many citizens of Bradford who have suffered loss of property, assaults and threats of violence compared to being harassed by street-women and/or their pimps, will welcome this proposed zero tolerance?

Very few, I would think.

Donald Firth, Harrogate Street, Otley Road, Bradford.

Honours mockery

SIR - I entirely agree with Mr A Lund (T&A, December 31) when he advises young people who are contemplating joining the services, not to do so, not even the police. There are safer and better-paid jobs out there.

Do not volunteer. If they want an army, let them bring back National Service.

You will notice in the New Year's Honours List the names of pop stars, game show hosts and sports people, but not a single soldier. They are the real heroes of this country. The Honours List is now just a mockery.

N Brown, Peterborough Place, Undercliffe.

Answers, please

SIR - What an interesting article by Jim Greenhalf headlined 'Who is holding the city's purse strings?' on local government responsibilities (T&A, December 29).

The final two paragraphs read: "Before local government was reorganised in 1974 councillors were accountable. They were not paid, but they were of high calibre.

"These days Bradford's 90 councillors all receive salaries costing up to £1.4 million; but the structure of local government is such that few of them are perceived to have any authority for the budget or anything else."

Both neatly sum up the question many Bradfordians ask. Who is in charge?

Would any of our elected representatives care to explain?

R J Lacey, Wrose Road, Bradford.

A step forward

SIR - What a great idea from West Yorkshire police (T&A, January 2) to provide a safe venue for mini-motorcycle riders as an alternative to illegal street riding.

This would be a big step forward towards solving the problems of youths with nothing to do.

Many of them, I think, would be happy to have a go at biking and gain some kind of basic riding skills and a knowledge of bikes.

What will also be needed is a pool of bikes to be ridden by those who are not able to afford to buy one for themselves (put my name down for help with the maintenance of these bikes).

Oh, just a minute though. Didn't 60 bikes get crushed just in October? What a shame. So much for forward thinking.

George Watmough, Carr Lane, Shipley.

The bigger picture

SIR - Coun Lewthwaite should consider an even bigger picture than the one he suggested of a new road to the west of Clayton and Thornton (T&A, December 30) - and that is the global one and the part it would play in climate change.

We don't need to encourage more car use and new roads do just that.

Already it is expected there will be 40 per cent more traffic by 2010. Car ownership is increasing, journeys are getting longer and the average emissions per kilometre are higher for new cars.

Climate-change gases from transport are continuing to rise and the construction work itself would be seriously damaging.

We need a better understanding of the need to be more patient and the fact that we can't continue to build our way out of problems at the expense of the future climate and people who live elsewhere.

The £100 million plus for such a road would be better spent on improving and subsidising public transport as well as enforcing the speed limits more robustly.

Keith Thomson, Heights Lane, Bradford.

PR is no answer

SIR - According to the most recent publication from UKIP, if, at the last election, proportional representation had been in place, New Labour would have had 227 seats, not 356, the Conservatives 209 not 197, Lib Dems 142 not 62, UKIP 14, Green six and others 46.

Thus it would have been conceivable that the Tories, UKIP and Greens could have formed an alliance and New Labour would not have been in control.

It would appear on these figures that PR, upon which Lib Dems base their hopes of swaying power, is not necessarily in their interests.

The UKIP has asked members if they are in favour of PR and published the pros and cons. It will be interesting to see the outcome.

I hope the majority will be against for the sake of strong meaningful government.

And I also have a pipe dream that they will win a majority of seats at Westminster, or at least enough to make the current major parties take steps to leave the EU, which is costing each family £60 per week.

P E Bird, Nab Wood Terrace, Shipley.

US objective

SIR - The responses "Our War on Terror" (T&A, December 22) and "Predictable Rant" (T&A, December 30) to Philomena Hingston's letter criticising the USA's involvement in the Middle East are consistent in that they both ignore the fact that the USA spends more on militarism than the rest of the world put together suggesting that world dominance has overtaken mere imperialism as its main objective!

Any supporters of the USA regime must understand that they must continue applauding a country which is interested only in the riches of Africa, Central and South America while at the same time steadfastly refusing to even acknowledge the poverty created in such areas of the world as a result of its actions.

Pete Lund, Ramsden Place, Clayton.

I'm no Leftie!

SIR - A 'whingeing Leftie' - moi? No, I'm just an old softie. But thanks for the accolade, Mr Long (T&A, December 30) - you're too kind.

Philomena Hingston, Leaventhorpe Avenue, Fairweather Green, Bradford.