Letters to the Editor

SIR - According to some Bradfordians, Leeds is the creme de la creme of the north and they advocate that the more discerning patronise this 'icon' of cities for its cleanliness and choice.

I walked through Bradford city centre recently and would have been hard-pressed to fill a carrier bag with litter.

As for choice (I'm not a Harvey Hick sycophant) I can purchase in Bradford anything from a carrot to caviar or an egg-timer to a Rolex watch and even a state-of-the-art penthouse.

Granted we will have some disruption while the regeneration takes place but I have no doubts that the majority of Bradfordians will remain loyal and disregard the pretentious few.

Like the Phoenix, Bradford will rise from the ashes and welcome Leeds shoppers who, incidentally, will find it easier and cheaper to park their cars.

David Rhodes, Croscombe Walk, Bradford.

Denying reality

SIR - Is the T&A adopting "talking up" habits? When someone writes with a valid criticism regarding shopping in Bradford, the Editor effectively tells off the writer for their bad press!

You have no right to deny these people's experiences when in the same paper you cover a story about a mother who could find nowhere in the city centre to breastfeed her baby.

The reasons offered by Boots and the Arndale Centre for having no provision were blas and disappointing. Surely the Editor must either validate all people's experience, offering all a fair hearing, or stand accused of distinctly selective reporting?

I do not object to the Buy it in Bradford campaign but I do object to the denial of reality.

Bradford's city centre has been badly managed for some time. It has visibly deteriorated and now needs the local Press to run a campaign asking for local loyalty.

Dismissing the inadequacies of Bradford's city centre is patronising and untrue. Consumers have choices, and placing all the eggs in the Forster Square basket is foolhardy when positive changes to existing facilities need to be made now - such as facilities for breastfeeding mothers.

Kathryn Fitch, Moorside Road, Bradford

l EDITOR'S NOTE: Of course we're talking up Bradford - that's the whole point! Constantly knocking it - as many Bradfordians seem to do by default - hasn't improved the situation so why shouldn't we try a different tactic? And we're not "telling people off" but putting an alternative view. Being positive about the fact that the city still has a better shopping centre than many other places doesn't mean we shouldn't and won't highlight the problems as well. But it's equally wrong to generalise that "there's nowhere for mums to breastfeed in Bradford" based on one mum's specific experiences.

A mystery to me

SIR - Re your report headed "On the spot fines for litterbugs" (February 15). Whose lame-brained idea is this? We pay our council tax to be protected by the police, not persecuted.

Surely the job of cleaning streets is also paid for by the public, through the council tax.

B Lancaster, Thornton Road, Bradford.

More promises...

SIR - I read that Ishtiaq Ahmed, from the Council of Mosques here in Bradford is somewhat cynical about the Government's proposals for a new immigration scheme that has just been announced (T&A, February 8).

I feel sure this gentleman is not alone in thinking this way.

Since Labour returned to power in 1997 many people have been calling for a well-balanced, controlled policy on immigration and asylum seekers - note not a ban, simply good control.

Would you believe it, with a general election looming we are now going to get what so far this Government had been refusing to give us - or are we? Haven't we heard this sort of thing before?

In the coming months we are going to get many more promises of changes that will make this country of ours such a special place to live in.

The difficulty for the electorate will be knowing who and what to believe bearing in mind that in many cases we will have heard it all before.

It is no wonder people are cynical, and many will not bother to vote.

The right to vote did not come easy, particularly for women and despite what we may or not believe from our politicians we must all vote!

Brian Pickford, Summerbridge Crescent, Eccleshill

State of confusion!

SIR - Imagine if a visitor from another world were to land here, knowing nothing of British politics except what he could glean from the letters page of the T&A.

He would undoubtedly conclude that Mr Blair was destined for a fearsome electoral bush-whacking, because for every supportive letter, there are four antagonistic ones.

Yet all the soothsayers predict a reasonably comfortable Blair victory. How do we explain this paradox to our bemused extra-terrestrial?

I think the answer lies in the critics' choice of subjects.

Iraq, crime, immigration, Europe, etc are all legitimate sticks with which to beat Mr Blair, yet the really brutal bludgeon is virtually absent from their armoury, encapsulated in the now famous aphorism, "it's the economy, stupid!"

As long as a majority feel better off, or at least no worse off than they did in 2001, they are going to opt for the status quo.

Our alien may return home shaking both his heads in sorrow at our lack of altruism, but that is the way earthlings behave.

Peter Wilson, Thornhill Grove, Calverley.

Sex shop no harm

SIR - I am writing in response to Mr Maguire's letter (T&A, February 15) about Pulses and Cocktails on Tong Street, stating that if they get an adult license it will cause paedophiles and working girls to frequent the area.

What rubbish, we live in a country where we have freedom of speech and choice. If you don't like the shop then don't go in.

You know what the shop is, but it doesn't look offensive and it's on a main road not facing any houses or near a school.

Just because we go into the shop doesn't label us perverts or paedophiles. We are just people who like to have a laugh and a bit of fun.

I don't like the videos and hard core magazines but if people buy them it isn't going to turn Tong Street into a prostitute and paedophile zone.

If you are so concerned about children being offended, why is it everyone nowadays wants them to know about sex but not look at it?

When I was a child we remained naive, and that lasted into our teenage years. There were sex shops but they did nothing to hurt us.

Michelle Potter, Market Street, Bradford

No 'rights' on fares

SIR - In expressing disappointment that elderly people's concessionary fares will have to be increased by 5p from April 1 (T&A, February 14), Mrs Audrey Raistrick of Neighbourly Care, Bradford, has accused members of West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority, including myself, of "broken pledges" and allowing a 2,000-name petition to "fall on deaf ears".

Come on, Mrs Raistrick! At no time did we pledge never to increase fares - how could we? And as for the petition, it was addressed to Parliament - not to us, because, as I carefully explained to you, free travel for pensioners, which is what you are seeking, can only be afforded as part of a nationwide Government-funded scheme.

So, until the day that a national fare for pensioners becomes law, we shall have to keep pace with inflation, as the only real alternative is to reduce costs by cutting bus services, and no-one wants that.

Our concessionary fares scheme is good value for money - better, in fact, that in North or South Yorkshire or in Greater Manchester - and we aim to keep it that way.

Coun Stanley King, chairman WYPTA, Wellington Street, Leeds.

The wrong target

SIR - Re speeding fines, I totally agree with Pauline Simpson's letter of February 10.

I have recently received three points on my licence along with a £60 fine. The circumstances were the same. I too was travelling on a dual carriageway where I thought the speed limit was 40 mph (no speed signs in sight). I was in a 30 mph zone and was doing 41 mph.

I feel very strongly that more effort should be made by the police to concentrate their efforts on catching youths in "fast cars" who are speeding up and down Allerton Road instead of preying on conscientious drivers.

V A Winterburn, Aynsley Grove, Allerton.