Letters to the Editor

SIR, - I refer to your letter last week (February 17), headlined 'Web war', in which Mr Drake makes several incorrect and misleading statements.

Only he knows why he chose to make public his views whilst e-mail correspondence between Wharfedale Online Trust and another of his colleagues was taking place.

A key difference between the two websites is that Ilkley.org has been developed over many years as a non-commercial service to the town This has been achieved through considerable hours of volunteer activity, coupled with the free provision of web hosting from some of the trustees.

The parish council has taken an interest in the development of ilkley.org for a number of years, and it is against this background that informal discussions have recently taken place between the council and the trust 9which is non-profitmaking).

It is hoped that closer co-operation will enable ilkley.org to expand and to ensure that its website name of 'www.ilkley.org' - a valuable asset - remains a community resource, continuing its longstanding, reputable and highly regarded support of Ilkley and its many businesses and voluntary organisations.

ALAN DREW

Chairman,

Wharfedale Online Trust.

Tory record

SIR, - Your correspondent, Mr Alec Jackson (Comment Page, February 17), cites a long list of serious shortcomings of Tony Blair and the current Government. Despite all of these deficiencies, however, the main party of opposition consistently lags behind the Government in the opinion polls.

The reason for this is that Michael Howard and his Shadow Cabinet are no good. They're poor in opposition and would be even worse in government.

In his misguided optimism over 'Michael Howard's Party' Mr Jackson fails to remember the crass mishandling of the economy by recent Conservative administrations (of which Mr Howard was a leading member). He might recall double digit mortgage interest rates, record levels of bankruptcy, more than three million people unemployed, and damage to the economy which was so severe that international confidence evaporated, the price of sterling plummeted and we were forced into an ignominious withdrawal from the ERM.

Whilst the personalities on the Conservative front bench may have changed, the level of incompetence of the current crop appears to be much the same as that of the old guard.

One does take heart in all of this from the views of psephologists, who rate their chances of regaining power, in the near future at least, as poor.

DAVID and JEAN COATES

10, Beacon Street,

Addingham.

Released

SIR, - The Wharfedale Group of Amnesty International, which has have been campaigning for the release of a Vietnamese prisoner of conscience, Nguyen Dinh Huy, were pleased to hear that he had recently been released and is back with his family.

Nguyen Dinh Huy, who was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in 1995 for planning an International Conference on Democracy and Human Rights, was released this month, along with other Prisoners of Conscience, as part of an amnesty arranged by the Vietnamese government. He had spent 27 years in prison for the peaceful expression of his views.

Nguyen Dinh Huy, 72 years' old and a former English and history professor, was arrested on November, 1993, after asking permission to hold a conference on democracy in Ho Chi Minh City. In April, 1995, he was sentenced to 15 years for attempting to 'overthrow the people's government'. He had previously been detained for 're-education' without charge or trial for 17 years before his release in January, 1992. It has been reported that Nguyen Dinh Huy is suffering from Parkinson's Disease.

He was the founder of the Movement to Unite the People and Build Democracy (MUPBD). This movement, which advocated peaceful political change and respect for human rights, did not have state authorisation.

Wharfedale Amnesty would like to thank the many local people who helped with the campaign by signing their petition to the Vietnamese authorities.

LYNDA EAST

Wharfedale Group,

Amnesty International.

Kind village

SIR, - I felt that I must write to you, in the hope that you will pass on my thanks to the Menston community for their kindness.

My mum and dad moved to Menston from Sunderland six years ago, and were immediately welcomed into the village. Sadly, my mum died on February 10.

Once again, the community pulled together, with their kindness and thoughtfulness, and helped my dad and the rest of the family through a difficult time. Nothing seems too much trouble for the people of Menston.

Sometimes, we forget our neighbours, with the hustle and bustle of life. A 'hello' or 'how are you?' or even a 'please and thank you' are forgotten by people these days. Common courtesy that means so much. A lot of communities could learn a lot from Menston.

Donations from my mum's funeral, totalling more than £400, are being sent to the Yorkshire air ambulance, a charity that can help the local community.

Thank you Menston. You should all be so proud of your community.

Pauline Barton

Stockport,

Cheshire.

Ageist factor

SIR, - Maybe not everyone will have read the hurtful and malicious comments reported on Page 6 of the Ilkley Gazette last week.

Paul Belliss is foolish enough to boast that his recruitment and training company finds his preferred recruits 'being young, they come with no pre-conceived ideas and have no fear of approaching new prospects'.

I doubt if any of the many large firms listed so proudly on his firm's web site would agree with this ageist policy. I shall, in any case, write to all of them to inquire whether they wish to be associated with a firm that disparages so many of their employees, customers and suppliers.

Our Government has hoped that it could persuade employers not to be prejudiced against people just because they are no longer what Belliss' firm, Pareto Law, implies are 'young'. They've tried, but with only a little success.

Some employers - especially many recruitment agencies - are stuck in the age discrimination groove. So, subject to any events that might upset the Parliamentary schedule, regulations outlawing age discrimination in employment will be published this summer, and are planned to be enforceable from autumn 2006. We can hope that Pareto Law will have either changed its spots or has disappeared long before then.

Firms registered in the US are, Pareto Law may need to know, already subject to US legislation that has outlawed age discrimination since 1964 (your readers may recall Robert Kennedy and the Civil Rights movement) and would need to distance themselves from such age prejudice anyway. I shall be writing to these claimed clients to protect them from prosecution.

Finally, I must describe the reputation of Vilfredo Pareto, whose name and economic observations this firm has adopted by using his name.

Pareto's major contribution to philosophy was his theoretical concept that, when economic exchanges are in state of equilibrium, any improvement for an individual could only be at someone else's expense.

However, he later adopted ideas that became the pre-cursor to Facism - which I couldn't defend. It is a mystery why any recruitment company should wish to associate itself with Pareto's musings.

Andrew Dundas

The New Homestead,

Parish Ghyll Drive,

Ilkley.

Bigger lorries

SIR, - Proposals are afoot to increase the present vehicle weight from 42 tons to 84 tons, with a length of some 110 feet.

Do we really want such great machines thundering through Ilkley, causing congestion and possibly undermining the very foundations of the main road properties?

A bypass has been a debatable topic for many years now, and is it not time to settle this issue once and for all - and get something done about it?

NAME SUPPLIED

Addingham.

Myths plea

SIR, - I am researching Yorkshire myths, legends and old wives' tales. If anyone knows of any, please write to me.

Michael Dunn

82 Mansfield Road,

Worksop,

Notts, S80 3AA.