SIR – I don’t know why Bruce Barnes thinks “tired ideological battles are going to be fought out on our streets again” (Letters, July 31) when people gather to do banghra and Morris dancing, hear Islamic praise and church choral singing, declamations from Shakespeare, the Bible and the Qur’An, perform folk ballads and rock’n’roll, and, hopefully, engage in a mass rendering of Ilkla Moor Baht ‘At.

Of course, Bruce does not know any of this because he has no idea what we are planning for August 28, since he hasn’t asked and, to be frank, we couldn’t say if he did – we can’t be sure of the programme until it is agreed with the powers-that-be.

It is obvious what we are planning cannot succeed unless we have the backing of everyone who loves this city.

But we must provide a focus for everything positive about our lives together to avoid a repetition of what happened the last time we missed the opportunity to put our city on the map positively.

I can’t understand why he thinks we should surrender our city to those who think they have licence to spread their doctrine of hate wherever they like, and force us to cower at home.

Karl Dallas, Church Green, Bradford