SIR - I write to endorse the recent letter regarding the unfairness of prescription charges. I recently paid £6.20 for one anti-sickness pill for my sister who was attending Cookridge Hospital in Leeds.

Having written to my local MP about this I now know that if you are working you are not eligible for free prescriptions as cancer is not listed as an illness of a permanent nature.

When someone is ill not only are they spending their income on extra heating but also sometimes as much as £30 per week on prescription costs. You can of course apply for a pre-payment certificate but having sent off a form three weeks ago I am still waiting.

What is particularly galling is that if someone has an exemption certificate because they have an illness which is classed as an enduring disability eg thyroid illness, they receive all their medication free, not just for their exempted medical condition.

This to me seems to be grossly unfair.

Jane Dunn, Hallfield Drive, Baildon.

SIR - Do the councillors of this city actually listen to what we, the taxpaying citizens, have to say through the T&A?

Many a time I have opened these pages to see suggestions to retain the New Victoria as a concert hall or similar and suggestions for a cross-city heavy rail link, to name but two, only for nothing to come of them (apart from a stiff rebuke from the WYPTE).

Imagine having a decent-sized venue for Gareth Gates to play, or to have two connected stations. These would tie in very well with the new shopping centre at one end of Bradford and the new developments at the Goitside end of the city.

I pray for the day that the Council listens to suggestions, however they are made, and seizes upon them to improve our city.

Mike Welsh, Westercroft Road, Great Horton, Bradford.

SIR - In response to Hamdan Khan's letter (November 14) encouraging us to wage war on Israel, I would like to make a few points.

Firstly although Israel's policies towards the Palestinians are atrocious, so are the actions of the suicide bombers which I rarely hear condemned by Muslims.

Are we to ignore Iraq and Saddam Hussein simply because his is a Muslim dictatorship? I understand Muslims often feel beleaguered and persecuted, but it has to be said in many countries - Pakistan, Sudan, Indonesia etc - it is Muslims who are doing the persecuting.

Religious and cultural tolerance can only be achieved in an atmosphere of honesty where injustices on both "sides" are admitted and fought against by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

P Weslit, Emm Lane, Bradford 9.

SIR - I should respectfully like to point out that the Bradford branch of arc, more commonly known as the Arthritis Research Campaign, has raised just a little bit more than the £70,000 quoted in the T&A of November 14.

In fact, since our branch was formed in April 1968, we have raised over three quarters of a million pounds. The actual figure, achieved last September, just prior to the close of our financial year is £755,075. What a difference a zero makes!

I should like to thank the people of Bradford, and all the supermarkets and other organisations who have helped us to attain, and maintain, our position as the number one arc branch in the fundraising league table, and the "jewel in the crown" of the arc regional organisation.

Anyone wishing for further information, please contact me at any time on (01943) 872067. Our meetings are held on the second Tuesday monthly, from January, at 2pm in the Mabel Booth Room, CVS, Sunbridge Road.

Miss E M Holbrook (Bradford Branch secretary, arc), Bradford Road, Menston, Ilkley.

SIR - I'll go along with the proposal from Bob Jowett of Idle Road for a new name for Bradford Metropolitan District. It is too much of a mouthful now.

My proposal is Tykedale. We all know a Tyke is a Yorkshire man and although we have two main Dales I think the singular word is preferable. So let's have a "name the district" competition.

Stan Brooksbank, Flower Haven, Haworth Road, Bradford 9.