The price we pay for so many cars

SIR - Councillor David Heseltine states that cars are a fact of life and we should be making sure we have the best road system in place to accommodate them (T&A, January 5).

In the same story your reporter mentions that cars can now drive unhindered through Bingley town centre.

Pedestrians, cyclists or bus users would have different views to those of Coun Heseltine on the state of the transport system around Bingley and the obscene monies spent on accommodating the motorist.

A few consequences of current transport policy are 3,500 deaths a year; nearly 250,000 injuries; 10,500 pedestrians and 3,300 cyclists seriously injured or killed; 127,000 deaths from coronary heart disease; rocketing bronchitis, asthma and obesity numbers (especially among the young); isolated communities (usually the poorest) and the fastest-growing rate of carbon dioxide production in any sector.

The problem with some is that they cannot see beyond the bonnets of their 4x4 vehicles.

Brian Ford, Oak Avenue, Bingley.

Vital headstones

SIR - I couldn't believe it when Phil Boase said he attaches no significance to gravestones (Letters, Jan 5). They are what people have left to remember their loved ones by.

What about all the headstones of the men who were killed in the wars? Of course we always have them in our minds, but the headstones are a way of thanking them for all they have done for us.

Let us never remove that lovely saying on the Cenotaph: "And in the morning we will remember them".

Mrs F Pickles, Wadehouse Road, Shelf.

Stop these yobs

SIR - I've been a resident in Allerton most of my life and it saddens me to see how the yobs are destroying what used to be a lovely village.

Almost nightly we hear tyres skidding and engines revving as joyriders go about their business. We've had tyres slashed, car doors wrenched, wing mirrors broken off and walls knocked down in separate incidents.

Our first recourse, of course, should be the police. They are generally polite, issuing crime numbers etc. They usually ask if you can identify the perpetrators and I've pointed out to them that if they arrive quickly, they'll catch them in the act. They want the public to report all incidents and I would urge people to do that. Crime figures would then go through the roof.

The police have to prioritise and may not have the manpower or resources they should have, but that's no consolation to the victims who have to suffer these yobs on a regular basis.

R Beech, Meadowbank Avenue, Allerton.

Book ban shame

SIR - Shame on Bradford Council for barring sales of our charity fundraising booklets from Bradford Central Library's local history bookshelves (T&A, January 6).

Last October we asked them to display copies of Up a Nick i' Bowlin', by Kenneth Higgins. They said: "We are currently reviewing our general policy towards publications, and so we are not in a position to take on any new publications at this stage."

When I reminded them that the Yorkshire & Humberside Local History Librarians' Group had designated October as Local History Month and the Central Library was supporting this with two excellent local history displays, they were "prepared to make an exception" and take "a small number of copies for sale".

I later spoke to a library manager, seeking permission to have two more booklets displayed. He refused "as a management review of the service was underway". In frustration, I wrote to Bradford Council leader Margaret Eaton. But as the library was simply following Council policies she couldn't do anything but support them.

Not even the fact that these booklets will generate charity funds has served to dissuade these hard-nosed bureaucrats that their decisions are wrong and have no support among local people.

Alan O'Day Scott (Co-ordinator, West Bowling Local History Newsletter), Chancery Court, Gaythorne Road, West Bowling.

Make life tough

SIR - I have to agree in part with N Brown, who says that prisoners should serve their full sentence and not be paroled (Letters, January 6).

The prison experience should not be a happy one; it should be a lot harder to do time than at present. However, for the first-time prisoner, there should be time off for good behaviour.

I would also make sentences progressively longer for repeat offenders, with no chance of parole. Sex offenders who refuse to attend counselling should be held "at Her Majesty's pleasure" - in other words, if they don't attend the sessions they don't get out.

I would have wanted the death penalty brought back except that so many convicted people are later proved innocent. There is not much point in that after the person has been put to death, is there?

Ken Hodgson, Longacre Drive, Vernon BC, Canada.

Remember Wilf?

SIR - Forty-five years on, if he had not died following a car crash, would Wilfred Fienburgh now be the Grand Old Man of Labour politics?

I posed the question after re-reading Fienburgh's single - and singular - novel, No Love for Johnnie, a telling picture of life both inside and outside the House of Commons (and subsequently made into a movie).

The son of a Bradford millworker, Fienburgh rose through the ranks to become an infantry major in the Second World War. Then trade union activity and Labour Party research work saw him elected MP for North Islington in 1951.

His Front Bench performances, combined with his talent as a journalist and writer, led to him being viewed as a very bright spark indeed - only for his career to be tragically snuffed out before he could read the plaudits that greeted his book.

I wonder if there is anyone around who still remembers Fienburgh now? Any reminiscences would be gratefully received and acknowledged.

Ray Kinross, Campions, Nuttery Vale, Hoxne, Eye, Suffolk IP21 5BD.

A vengeful God

SIR - If there is such a thing as a God, then he must be a vengeful God, not a humane one.

I do not care if he is called a Christian God, Buddhist, Islamic, or any other God. Why does he not prevent these earthquakes, floods, avalanches, tornadoes and all the terrorists and wars if he is as supreme as they say?

I do not think any of these Gods exist and that people of all nations are looking for someone or something to worship. The rules which they say come from God are actually man-made.

I have been told many fairy stories by Methodists, Salvation Army and the Church of England, none of which I believe now.

I found that the Salvation Army were good to us service personnel during the war - better than anyone else. But, to my dismay I find the ones who push their religion in your face are the biggest hypocrites.

N Brown, Peterborough Place, Undercliffe.

Elderly victims

SIR - Once again our Labour Government is picking on elderly people by charging Social Services £100 a day for those still in hospital when they should be in care homes or at home.

Social Services are still under-funded and will be more so when paying out this money. It is the Government that under-funded our care homes and our Council closed homes down.

How much longer are the elderly going to take this dictatorship in our rich country? It is time we fought for the human rights which are being taken away from us by Blair and his henchmen. So write to your MP.

J R Smith (Retired Persons Action Group), Flawith Drive, Fagley.