Anyone explain these decisions?

SIR - I always thought that legal aid was for persons of no or limited means to obtain justice via the courts, civil or criminal.

Seems I was wrong and the asylum has truly been taken over by the inmates.

El-Hadji Diouf, a footballer earning £40,000 per week for kicking around a copy of a pig's bladder, has been granted legal aid to fight a charge brought against him of spitting at a young football fan.

Similarly, an immigrant has taken this country for a vast amount of cash via two or three different councils.

She is jailed but there was no mention of restoration of money stolen despite the fact that she has been able to buy property but even worse is the fact that they cannot deport her at the end of her sentence!

Can anyone explain to me, a simple soul if ever there was one, why?

Phil Boase, Elizabeth Street, Wyke

Question of rights

SIR - When all the blather dies down, George Galloway, it must be remembered, failed to answer quite a few questions when in the United States.

We were shown selected items by an anti-US BBC which of course pleased Mike Priestley and other "unbaised" columnists.

Regarding Saddam's photos, I'm sorry his "human rights" may have been violated - pity we can't ask those being dug up from mass graves in Iraq what "human rights" they were accorded.

F Dickinson, Larkfield Road, Rawdon.

Such spoilsports

SIR - I would like to make some comments on the article about on-street shop displays (T&A, May 18).

The Council is at it again! I can't believe shop displays are being so actively attacked. Surely the Council's efforts would be better used in the fight against litter, graffiti and vandalism? I have always been in support of these displays, they make otherwise dull streets much more lively and inviting.

Other countries have pavement cafes and street trading in abundance, and to great effect.

The rest of Bradford isn't affected by the ban, so it can't be for safety reasons, so why do the Council, yet again, try to spoil something that's been part of Bradford for decades?

Come on, let's all Buy It In Bradford and in a bright and colourful atmosphere!

M Milner, Mandale Road, Bradford.

Absurd suggestion

SIR - M Perry (T&A, May 23) was confused by my letter. I was not comparing Shipley's Labour and Tory parliamentary candidates to extreme left and right-wingers, but like some in their parties, such as Labour's militant "entryists", they are happy to take advantage of a primitive voting system which allows MPs to be elected on minority support - albeit the largest minority.

In truth, there's not much to choose between the candidates or their parties. Labour ditched its old principles to become New Labour, and the Tories are currently deciding which principles to ditch in order to appeal to a larger minority!

From M Perry's absurd description of Lib-Dems as the "loony left", I guess he has right-wing tendencies. How dare he suggest that Lib-Dems favour lawbreakers over victims.

Lib-Dem policies are developed from long-standing Liberal democratic principles. Compare this to Tory and Labour scrabbling for the unprincipled votes of those who merely vote against Tory or Labour when finally driven to by negative press.

John Hall, Pennithorne Avenue, Baildon.

Thank you, sir!

SIR - N Brown (T&A, May 23) managed to both miss the point and help to make the case for a through rail link in Bradford.

The short link being called for would be a small but significant piece in the wider local rail network of West Yorkshire, which needs to provide more journey possibilities than at present if it is to play any part in providing alternatives to the car and thereby help to free up log-jammed buses.

Buses in fact run across the city in all directions and nobody suggests that they should terminate at points on the edge of the centre ten minutes walk from each other.

The low usage claimed by N Brown for Bradford's existing rail facilities is a symptom of the limitations of the existing network, if two dead-end lines into the city can be described as such.

Those travelling between Bradford and Ilkley/Skipton etc will no doubt have their own views about the suggestion that the Forster Square to Shipley line might as well be closed.

Michael Ramsden, Bath Road, Cleckheaton