Letters to the Editor

Sir - Why use the Royal Mail? asks Liza Grievson, (T&A, September 8).

As a prolific user of e-mail and the internet I still advocate the need for some form of postal service, be it Royal Mail or an alternative.

Ms Grievson says e-mail is faster, more efficient and cheaper.

Faster - yes as long as the message is sent to an active address. There is no way of knowing this or of finding out anyone's new address.

More efficient - only so long as the recipient downloads the communication.

Cheaper - yes except one requires a computer, which may cost hundreds of pounds, a telephone line and be able to afford the calls.

Using libraries and other internet access still entails trips to the venue which uses something which is hard to evaluate - time.

Writing a letter and paying for a stamp should ensure a letter is delivered. If there is any need to confirm delivery or one needs proof of posting then the facilities are available.

How sad my faith in the postal service is now being dashed by the attitude of the Post Office management who seem set on closing post offices, making it harder for customers to access services.

Denise Musk, Fernbank Drive, Baildon

Posties blameless

Sir - I write to express my disgust at the comment made by Liza Grievson (T&A, September 8).

I find it hard to believe she blames the Royal Mail's problems on inadequate staff. Does she not realise Royal Mail has cut staff to save money?

In exchange the posties were rewarded with a five-day week and the promise of a pay increase when individual offices made a substantial reduction in staff and met a target for delivery. Most offices have not and are not in reach of meeting this target.

I appreciate there have been incidents where mail has gone astray, been delivered late or not at all. Most of this has been down to agency staff drafted in at the last minute due to lack of staff (ironic after staff cutbacks) and often sent out, untrained, with a bag on their back and left to fend for themselves.

I would ask Ms Grievson to ask herself this question: are the staff who made Royal Mail the envy of the world not still the same staff that work there now?

So before you blame the posties look higher and point the finger at Mr Leighton and Co, who obviously sees cash before quality.

N Hastings, Flockton Road, Bradford

Do us a favour...

SIR - Recently one of your readers, quite rightly, in my view, called upon Chris Leslie to resign over the postal vote fiasco.

Unfortunately Labour ministers need a reason to resign; a family to spend more time with. Leslie has, as far as I know, has no family except his parents but he has a fiancee, with whom he could spend more quality time.

John Prescott, who was the mastermind (if that is not contradictory) has a wife and grown-up family and should for their sake and that of the country resign forthwith.

I thought it very amusing that he fought for the retention of Ian McCarthy in the government ranks, another man who is incomprehensible when he opens his mouth.

What a government we have when Tony Blair needs to reappoint Alan Milburn as a minister without portfolio but with a salary of more than £130,000 per annum to help him keep Gordon Brown at bay.

Alan Milburn, who resigned as Health Minister - yes to spend more time with his family. It seems 15 months was ample! What a shower.

Roll on the chance for the country to give them all the boot.

P E Bird, Nab Wood Terrace, Shipley.

Humour of Jesus

SIR - May I come back briefly at Sandy Parkinson's riposte to my letter (T&A, August 30). A sense of humour is a very elusive quality, and its possession or otherwise can hardly be judged from one letter to the T&A.

But a sense of humour is not incompatible with a deep sense of awe and reference, and does not impose an obligation to turn a blind eye when the name of Almighty God is taken lightly, even - or especially - in a frivolous article.

Remember the third of the Ten Commandments (in Exodus Chapter 20).

Jesus had a tremendous sense of humour, which he used to great effect. Remember the camel struggling to get through the eye of a needle? Or using a sieve to get rid of the gnats in your cup of tea when there's a monster in there a hundred times the size of the cup?

Rev Douglas E Legge, Farmstead Road, Bradford.

Church alterations

SIR - As a disabled member of All Saints Church in Bingley, I would like to comment on the suggested alterations, especially regarding the church interior.

I find the pews strong and sturdy, where young and old alike feel secure during periods of worship or quiet reflection.

Yes, the entrance and inner step have to be made accessible, but surely that is no excuse for the powers-that-be ruining the church interior.

What is wrong with a ramp? Leave the pews alone, they have served wonderfully for many years and, God willing, will do so for many more to come.

As for the churchyard, to build on graves in order to have a concert hall attached to the church is beyond belief.

One gets the impression that some have forgotten just what the church is for.

Miss Helen Mills, Myrtle Avenue, Bingley.

Will of the majority

SIR - Whether other readers and letter writers keep a scrapbook of T&A clippings about issues that concern them I don't know, but looking at mine I've been impressed by the amount of balanced and well-argued coverage that our paper and its correspondents have devoted to the contentious issue of blood sports over the last 20 years to my knowledge.

Now that it is, hopefully, nearer to resolution it is to be hoped that those disappointed by its Parliamentary outcome will not, as some hotheads have threatened to so do, break the law.

Many years ago we achieved a parliamentary democracy in this country where the will of the majority expressed through its elected representatives in the House of Commons must, in the end, prevail over views expressed in an unelected (and thus unaccountable) second chamber.

Sid Brown, Glenhurst Road, Shipley.

Blair in the right

SIR - Isn't it ironic that Mr Lorriman's view that the Prime Minister will go down in history as the worst PM ever, while at the same time his government, by the same token will go down as the best government ever, with a record second to none, a record the Tories could only dream of.

Yes there was Iraq but make no mistake, if we hadn't taken action, the status quo would have gone on for generations, remember Uday and Gusay, two murderous psychopaths the Iraqis feared even more.

Even while I am writing this letter they are discovering more mass graves. History will show we did the right thing.

G Tasker, Park Road, Low Moor.

Clarification

Mr Les Vasey, who was appointed Co-Ordinator for Child Protection and Domestic Violence units for West Yorkshire Police in 1987, has asked us to make it clear that he retired from the force in 1995 and therefore had no operational responsibility for police investigations into the current allegations in Keighley. We also wish to make it clear that we have not at any stage questioned his openness or honesty as a serving officer.