SIR - Lord David Shutt stood for Parliament seven times but was never elected (T&A, May 4) yet somehow he acquired a title in 2000 enabling him to become Liberal Democrat chief whip in the House of Lords.

All well and good but does he have to show his ignorance by claiming that Bradford was the poor relation to Leeds?

We have the National Media Museum (which incidentally houses the world's first example of moving pictures viz Louis Le Prince's 1888 film of Leeds Bridge), the World Heritage Site at Saltaire, prize-winning Lister Park, with its impressive Cartwright Hall, and the Alhambra Theatre, superior to that of The Grand, especially in acoustics.

We also have an excellent college and university plus a City Hall more grand in stature than its counterpart in Leeds.

As Don Stewart of Yorkshire Forward states: "Bradford's land and property prices are rising rapidly, a sure sign of investment confidence."

On top of all that our food and catering sectors are well documented, with household names like Mumtaz and Seabrook counting Harrods among their clients.

If he thinks that by calling Bradford a no-hoper' he will demoralise the majority of its citizens, he is on a hiding to nothing.

David Rhodes, Croscombe Walk, Bradford