Letters to the Editor

SIR - Given the frequency of disturbing behaviour by uncontrolled dogs, I've tried to remember why the dog licence was abandoned.

Was it because administration costs outstripped its value due to high inflation?

Were the system to be resumed, at a more realistic cost, this would go some way towards monitoring ownership.

If the licence fee was on a rising scale reflecting the perceived aggressive nature of some breeds then irresponsible owners, and breeders, could be brought to account.

Our political leaders have proved a passion for state control so I see no problem in reintroducing licences which would go so some way towards protecting our dogs from the cruelties and abandonments they frequently suffer.

A dog's victim is usually the victim of the dog's careless owner.

Mrs Muriel Crook, Ryecroft, Harden, Bingley.

Leave us alone

SIR - So, smoking has been banned in bars and restaurants. Great - that's 25 per cent of the UK population who enjoy a cigarette with their drink or meal well and truly trampled on.

Why can't this interfering bunch of nitwits we laughingly call our Government leave us alone to make an adult decision for ourselves?

Why couldn't we have some pubs with a manager and staff who smoke serving drinks to customers who like a smoke?

All the non-smokers could visit their own stark, functional, smoke-free clinics to enjoy their carrot juice and talk about calories and exercise bikes.

Malcolm Wood, Westercroft View, Northowram.

Going too far...

SIR - As a smoker, I agree that smoking in a restaurant is unacceptable, but stopping smoking completely inside and outside buildings is going too far.

What good would a smoke-free city do, when there are emissions from cars, wagons and chimneys still polluting the atmosphere?

Also, I would think that the chewing gum all over the pavements and roads was an equal health hazard.

Surely the chewing of gum deserves as much, if not more publicity as smoking. This must be a health risk to everyone in spreading disease.

C Jepson, Moorcroft Drive, East Bierley, Bradford.

Facts missed

SIR - The letter by Caroline Conway, the Respect Party admirer, really does hit home at how out of touch some people really are. She clearly misses a few facts that anyone could see if they raised their eyelids for long enough.

The outcome of the "BNP two" was the result of the jury finding them not guilty and not a magic blanket Ms Conway seems to think exists.

She then states that if the Religious Hatred Bill had been passed the nasty BNP would have been prosecuted. Wrong again, I am afraid. Believe me, if the powers-that-be could have found a loophole to jail Mr Griffin and Co they would have used it.

Finally, Caroline Conway is adamant she will continue her campaign against all forms of discrimination and bigotry.

In that case, would she be interested in defending my interests here as last night some one called me "fatty" due to my over-inflated waistline?

Coun Chris Kirby, (BNP, Worth Valley), Shann Lane, Keighley.

Time to resign

SIR - I am writing to agree with the decision of the Yorkshire & Humber Assembly to exclude Bradford as part of a public consultation programme (T&A, February 6).

However, I will be happier still if they cancel all their venues and resign en-mass in the name of honour, liberty and freedom.

I will be even happier if Tony Blair fires the instigator of regional assemblies, namely John Prescott, and introduces an Enabling Act of Parliament for closing down all regional assemblies.

Including Europe, there are too many legislators trying to run UK plc. I suggest Parliament focuses on the quality of Government decision, not the volume.

Paul Brown, Ashton House, Pollard Lane, Bradford.

Think creatively

SIR - I do hope there is some creative thinking about how to spend the Government money targeted on improving local communities (T&A, February 8).

Cleaning up areas is only a short-term response to a problem and it will have longer-lasting influence if it is used to involve local people through discussion and explanation.

Word of mouth from wardens who visit a number of times to explain about recycling and bulk refuse removal and so on ensures improvements that become normal behaviour.

Keith Thomson, Heights Lane, Bradford.

Target riddle

SIR - I am very cynical about "government targets" which seem to be taken out of thin air.

The article "Squad to tackle violence surge" (T&A, February 7) says that: " . . . there were 9,836 violent offences in Bradford - 1,746 more than the target figure."

Are we to assume that the government want there to be 8,090 violent offences from April to December? What happened to zero tolerance?

Keith Trobridge, Otley Road, Shipley.

Can I be a yob?

SIR - Maybe mature folk would come to understand some young people better if we enjoyed some of their activities.

Imagine the joy of getting drunk, possibly on money from state benefits, and strolling home afterwards.

There is so much property just waiting to be damaged: garden gates and walls, trees, bus shelters, and the few remaining public telephones. There is so much mess to be made and left to others to clean up at their expense.

Do ignorant yobs have human rights? Where do I apply to get some?

L Hobsbaum, Willow Crescent, Bradford.

No to demolition

SIR - We would like to object to the proposed demolition of the Odeon Cinema which is recognised by many as a fine example of 1930s cinema architecture.

While the consensus of official opinion is that it is not worth saving, there are many who believe that this is not the case.

If the will cannot be found to preserve this building for future generations, then a unique opportunity will be lost. It could be used as both cinema and concert hall as in the past, would form a useful adjunct to the NMPFT which we feel sure would welcome the space and might provide a home for a cinema organ currently under threat with the proposed sale of the Ritz Ballroom at Brighouse.

It would make a more suitable rock/pop venue than St George's Hall, and could provide additional restaurant facilities for other nearby attractions.

To demolish the building would be to deny future generations the chance to see cinema architecture at its best.

Greg Lawson, Anna May Lawson, David Hudson, Jenny Lane, Baildon.

Humourless God?

SIR - As atheists, my Godless brethren and I view all religions as equally and essentially nonsensical, therefore a legitimate target for all kinds of joke, satire and ridicule.

So perhaps we are not the best qualified to pronounce on the cartoons affair.

However, the furore has thrown up, from my point of view, a fascinating philosophical/theological question which believers of all creeds should be addressing: If God exists, does he have a sense of humour? Discuss!

Peter Wilson, Thornhill Grove, Calverley.

Why the surprise?

SIR - The biggest surprise about the latest 'video nasty' to emerge from our troops in Iraq is that anyone is surprised.

At times of full employment, it is inevitable a career in a professional army's ranks will attract a disproportionate number of 'socially-challenged' individuals.

These recruits are then subjected to institutionalised conditioning, where they are further brutalised and de-humanised (eg Deepcut, Catterick, etc), to turn out the end-product soldier necessary to carry out the type of orders which the rest of civilised society would resist.

So, when they are occasionally caught on camera doing unspeakable things, they are only behaving to type - a type we have expensively and extensively developed to do our nation's unspeakable dirty work by proxy.

Those seeking either to glorify or condemn 'our boys' should always remember that we have only got what we paid for.

Graham Hoyle, Kirkbourne Grove, Baildon.