Letters to the Editor

SIR - Regarding the "Right to get tough on claims" editorial (T&A, January 21) this once again allows the myth to be perpetuated that the British public are all enthusiastic litigators. The reality is far removed from this.

A simple test: ask any member of your immediate family if they would they like to be involved in litigation?

Secondly it is suggested claims should be excluded on the grounds that the injured party was not watching where he or she was going.

A second simple test: imagine your grandmother has badly broken her leg because the Council has not bothered to maintain the footpath outside her old people's home. The suggestion is that the Council should be absolved from responsibility because she failed to see the defective footpath. This cannot be right.

The picture painted can be one-sided. Let us not forget it is the Council that receives millions in taxes so surely it should not be too much to ask that with this they keep the pavements and roads to a standard that enables us to walk safely up and down them.

Rogan Ashton, Bradford Road, Otley.

Time for a ballot

SIR - Re the housing trusts merger plan (T&A, January 12), as a former member of Bradford East housing trust who has recently resigned over this plan to merge all the trusts into one, I notice you don't have any dates down for when it is going to take place.

Well, I can give you the dates - by June this year everything should have been done and the one trust will be in place.

Under the present system of six area trusts, each area knew what was needed in its own area and got most of it done.

Under the proposed system, I completely agree with the former director Mike Stocks that it will be an ivory tower approach which is what the trusts were designed to get away from.

Bradford North MP Terry Rooney should be more concerned on how they are going to dramatically reduce the wage bill. I would not consider redundancies a good thing for anyone, not even tenants, who no doubt Mr Rooney has not considered may even work there.

The article also states it would give tenants more involvement. Then why don't they give the tenants a ballot on this to see if that's what they really want? After all, it does involve every tenant who voted for the six area trusts.

B Towell, Leicester Street, East Bowling, Bradford.

Support our cause

SIR - Many readers support a ban on the use of animals in circuses, but they can help even more by contacting Animal Defenders, 261 Goldhawk Road, London, W12 9PE (tel 0208 846 9777) and asking for their 'ban the use of animals in circuses' postcards to send to their MP, or they can write their own letter.

The Animal Welfare Bill is due to be amended and it is vital as many people as possible let their MPs know how strongly they feel on this issue.

Currently it is legal to use any amount of violence on an animal until it complies with commands. Violence only becomes illegal if it continues once the animal obeys.

This is in addition to the animals being kept tethered or caged for up to 30 hours at a time when they are being transported and 98 per cent of the time when the circus is set up.

There is lots of video and photographic evidence of animals being kicked, punched and hit in the face and body with metal poles. Please help to stop this once and for all. Visit www.ad-international.org for more details.

Lynne Stokes, Temple Rhydding Drive, Baildon.

The right balance

SIR - What a contrast from the Andersons (T&A, January 16).

John wrote about the need for renewable energy and wind turbines to safeguard energy supplies, and Ed was enthusiastic about the Leeds Bradford Airport expansion to allow cheap flights to second homes in Spain.

Unless we make marked progress with the former the damage from increased and subsidised aviation will mean unbridled climate change, damage to property and person, and discord and warfare as we compete for less food and less space.

Keith Thomson, Heights Lane, Bradford.

No need to sneer

SIR - Rebecca Wright penned an upbeat account about ASDA and Shipley police together tackling the problem of bored youngsters congregating at the supermarket, (T&A, January 20).

Such an initiative to divert their energies into constructive and self-challenging activities is to be applauded.

Shame then on your sub-editor, who chose a misleadingly sarcastic heading, and on your cartoonist for the unfunny drawing and caption on the letters page.

I am saddened they did not have the nous to recognise a genuine good news story, and instead sought to sneer at it using the tired old rhetoric about treats for troublemakers.

When all your recent reports about all manner of Bradford citizens' fears of crime have highlighted the problems of nuisance and offending behaviour, I would have thought that you would have welcomed this opportunity to put your considerable weight and influence behind the imaginative efforts of those involved, rather than undermining them.

ASDA and the police are not providing treats, but seeking to channel energy into constructively developmental behaviour before nuisance becomes offending.

Come on! Give credit where it's due, and perhaps you'll find that this initiative will lead to more good news stories!

Robert Appleby, Hopefield Way, Bradford.

l EDITOR'S NOTE: The difficulty with such schemes is that they are open to misinterpretation and some Shipley residents will no doubt believe that teenagers should learn to behave respectfully without being given the impression that if they cause trouble they'll be "rewarded" in some way with free trips to the bowling alley.

Surely there are bored - and well-behaved teenagers - throughout the district who would welcome such opportunities?

I accept, though, that the headline should have been more neutral in tone.

A real inspiration

SIR - Winston Churchill (left) was not only Prime Minister but also a member of the War Cabinet during World War Two.

Whether or not he was ever the worse for drink at their meetings is a matter of conjecture. Nevertheless he inspired the nation and pulled us through.

However, I despair on reading letters like that of Mrs R Rushforth (T&A, January 18) who seriously try to compare icons with present-day political leaders.

It matters not whether Charles Kennedy responds to treatment we don't want a politician representing Britain at a world summit who might turn up inebriated, dishevelled and unable to recall statistics.

We live in a very competitive world with an ever-increasing population and we have not got the time to await progress reports on politicians with self-inflicted ailments.

Of course, there's little chance of the Liberals ever coming to power regardless of the fickle floating voters and I feel sure that the opposition parties couldn't care less who leads them.

David Rhodes, Croscombe Walk, Bradford.

Wakey, wakey!

SIR - I am bemused, even amused, by senior Anglicans engaging in an agonised debate, and tying themselves up in theological knots, over the question of whether or not to ordain female bishops.

Have none of them noticed, especially the dissidents, that for the last 53 years or so the 'Supreme Governor' of the Church of England has been a woman?

Peter Wilson, Thornhill Grove, Calverley.

Get 'em trained

SIR - The simple answer to the dog excrement problem is that all those devoted dog owners should train their dogs to perform in their own gardens or back yards.

It would certainly prevent us moaning, health-conscious, people writing letters of concern to the local newspapers.

Barry Foster, Gilstead Lane, Gilstead.