I'm a householder, get me out of here

SIR - I have been a law-abiding, model citizen of Bradford for all my 52 years. My wife and I, as householders and business people providing local jobs, contribute at least £400 a month in taxes alone to this god-forsaken, rotting city.

As soon as circumstances allow we will be out of here as never has a city disintegrated so fast.

We will not be here when this festering, multi-racial timebomb, caused by unchecked immigration, apathy, lawlessness, the do-good culture, asylum seekers etc, explodes.

The arrogance of our police force is highlighted every time serious offences are treated with the pathetic issuing of a "crime number". We need police not numbers.

The shameful, extortionate "speed cameras" have been installed by stealth under the shady guise of "casualty reduction". How the perpetrators of this legal scam can sleep is beyond belief.

Decisions of council departments like planning seem to depend which side of the bed they got out of, saying "no" to a simple house extension and "yes" to tens of millions of pounds for an unwanted lake.

Will the last person to escape Bradford please turn off the lights that still work and proceed quickly out of this city at 29mph.

Steve Brear, Bilsdale Way, Baildon.

Minimum age

SIR - Many readers will have observed, with similar wry detachment, the ongoing pro and anti-Papal spat conducted in the Letters page recently. What really matters is that we live in a free and mature secular democracy, where all such views can be openly espoused without fear of persecution from bishops, rabbis or mullahs et al. Long may that continue.

So, in a spirit of adding to the debate but addressing all faiths, perhaps the time is right to nail, once and for all, the accusation that all religions perpetuate themselves by indoctrinating the fresh and malleable minds of the young with their own cunning hogwash of fairy-tales and fear.

I am sure religious leaders would fervently deny such tactics, so they should have no valid objection to my proposal for an age of consent for religion.

By imposing a minimum age, say 18, before which any religious exposure would be illegal (like voting or watching mucky films), we could be sure all adherents to any faith would have embraced its creed as mature adults, entirely free from unfair manipulation of their developing and suggestible minds.

Can't quite see the Pope going for that idea, somehow!

Graham Hoyle, Kirkbourne Grove, Baildon.

Whites CAN enter

SIR - I was forced to laugh out loud at Phil Boase's letter stating that the Urban Voice singing competition is "insultingly racist" because it is not open to "majority groups and whites" (Letters, December 1).

Mr Boase should not be so quick to judge as soon as he sees some support for black and ethnic minorities. Boosting the confidence and self-esteem of these groups is just a small part of the work Urban Voice does. This contest is open to white people and there are white people who have progressed to the grand finals.

If Mr Boase has to be so eager to point the finger, maybe next time he should do his research.

Chenia Zinyuko, Ewart Place, Great Horton.

Nothing new...

SIR - Conservative parliamentary candidate Philip Davies asks how we can tolerate Scottish MPs voting on purely English matters (Letters, December 1).

I suggest he consults his new leader, Michael Howard, a senior minister in the Thatcher and Major Governments. Mr Howard could tell him, for example, that in order to impose poll tax on a reluctant Scotland one year earlier than in England, Mrs Thatcher had to rely on the votes of her English MPs because the Scottish Tories held only 12 seats.

Later, when John Major was without an overall majority to rely on, the Ulster Unionists sustained his programme. Protests - particularly from the Scots - were brushed aside on the grounds that the Westminster Parliament is the governing body for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and that the votes of all its members carry equal weight.

Mr Davies's remarks have a high "indignation quotient", so perhaps he can see a difference between the activities of Conservative administrations, which I assume he supports, and the Labour Government, which he deplores.

Brian Holmans, Langley Road, Bingley.

Bradford dream

SIR - Just picture this amazing scene in Bradford city centre. After years of staying away, people have finally discovered the decent retail choice on their doorsteps and realised the importance of supporting local shops. Cars are queuing out of the main car park on Hall Ings, Westgate, at Kirkgate Centre and behind Sunwin House.

The Kirkgate Centre is a hive of activity. Shops are busy and people are pouring into Sunwin House, along Darley Street and down towards a jam-packed Broadway, then on to James Street.

Up at the Oastler Centre, people are queuing at stalls in the food court and there is a real buzz in the air. Shoppers leave the building and head to Boyes and the North Parade stores.

Well, I can dream can't I? But wouldn't it be great if Bradford were like this, a hugely busy and vibrant city centre where everyone comes to do shopping. Oh well, it's back to reality.

Jack MacPherson, Killinghall Road, Bradford.

Stop sniping...

SIR - Lately every time I've read some good news stories for the district of Bradford in the T&A, it is always spoilt by comments from the Labour Members of Parliament, such as Gerry Sutcliffe, Chris Leslie, Marsha Singh and, most notably, Terry Rooney (right).

It seems they can't stomach the fact that it is a Conservative-controlled Council that is turning things around, improving how the Council delivers services and working with partners to secure hundreds of millions of financial investment into the district.

I don't suppose you can blame them after watching a Labour-controlled Council from 1990 until 2000 deliver absolutely nothing for the district except, of course, millions cut from council services together with massive council tax rises.

I would suggest that, instead of sniping, they actually get behind the improvements the Council and other partners are making. I would also suggest they concentrate on Westminster and their Labour Government - after all they are delivering absolutely nothing too!

Councillor Andrew Smith, (Conservative, Queensbury), Chapel Street, Queensbury.

Lots of support

SIR - For the information of those members of the Council who met to discuss the closure of special schools, the schools' supporters have collected in excess of 5,000 signatures on a petition against the plans.

Most of those are from council tax payers who understand more about the needs of these children through knowing them than you can ever hope to read in a report. The next elections may reflect this.

Jocelyn Roberts, Farringdon Grove, Wibsey.

Lords no turkeys

SIR - An observation on peers rejecting Government plans to remove the last hereditary peers from the House of Lords: it's proof positive, if it were needed, that turkeys will not vote for an early Christmas - even those well past their sell-by date.

Andrew Thornton, Beechwood Road, Bradford.