Letters to the Editor

From the archive, first published Thursday 9th Feb 2006.

Unions losing their way on pensions

SIR - Your report about the threatened "walk-out" of Council employees over the proposed changes to their pension schemes (T&A, February 2) shows yet again how out of touch the unions are with the current pensions crisis.

While private companies "cut their cloth" accordingly, public sector unions seem determined to bring Council services to a standstill in a fight to preserve what is fast becoming the "unpreservable" - ie a gilt-edged deferred salary scheme with a no-risk cast-iron guarantee. Or, put another way, a blank cheque from Council taxpayers way into the future.

The point about many Council workers being female and low-paid is only half the story - what about the chief executives and senior management who retire at 56 to take advantage of the current favourable rules for Council employees?

Strikes will only serve to highlight to the many non-public sector workers how dreadful their own positions are and how vulnerable they will become if these pension scheme rules remain unaltered.

It is not sustainable to pay high rates of council tax to preserve these pensions while being expected to fund your own arrangements on a money-purchase basis.

Nigel Shaw, Westmoor Avenue, Baildon.

Retrograde step

SIR - Indeed freedom of expression is sacred. Man is bestowed with the power of speech, which he exercises to facilitate discourses, dialogues and dialectics in a civilised manner.

If we are reduced to using cartoons to make our points in a satirical manner, akin to aping the antics of monkeys in the wilderness or emulating gorilla tactics for the purpose of territorial terrorism, then the larynx would become dysfunctional, allowing the law of the jungle and that of Murphy to prevail.

This is not progress, modernity or evolution. Instead it represents a retrograde step, an insult to our creation, justifying the theory of regression.

M Qadeer, Lilycroft Road, Bradford.

What a relief

SIR - What excellent news! I have just had the best laugh I have had for many a year.

The Government's Racial and Religious Hatred Bill has been defeated in the Commons but best of all, the second division of the Bill was defeated by just one vote because Tony Blair failed to turn up!

What a disaster for our complacent, arrogant Prime Minister, what a blow to the politically-correct brigade, but most of all, what a triumph for freedom of speech.

Malcolm Wood, Westercroft View, Northowram.

The way forward

SIR - The Government's religious hate bill will not make any difference. There will always be intolerance and ignorance between respective faiths and beliefs.

Sadly, religion is a man-made concept made up of many different ideas and viewpoints and human nature is full of fear and suspicions.

Remember that old saying: "What man fears he destroys". The Government would be better off trying to help people overcome these fears and suspicions of each other's faiths.

Until that is achieved, if ever, religious harmony sadly, is a long way off.

R Halliday, Crag Road, Shipley.

A kind gesture

SIR - I would like to thank the lady who kindly returned all my daughter's and son's belongings to her school on Monday, January 30.

The items had been stolen from her father's car in Shipley on the Sunday evening and were found in Crowgill Park by the lady.

Unfortunately, I don't have her name or address to contact her. I just know she worked for the Parks Department but I have been unable to find out who she is.

My daughter is very grateful as her school bag, containing GCSE coursework, was also taken along with other personal items and she was very upset, but thanks to this lady's kindness she doesn't have to repeat all the school work and she has got all her and her brother's things back.

Tracy Smiddy, Grange Road, Eldwick.

The harsh facts

SIR - As the 100th British serviceman dies in Iraq, it is right we extend sympathy to all their families and friends. But we should remember that these were not conscripts - they were all professionals who had volunteered for a job with inherent risks. The same can be said of many other jobs which carry an increased chance of personal harm.

Perhaps the application forms should start with: "Warning - taking this job will involve following orders with which you may not agree and which may result in your injury or death. Sign here to acknowledge this before continuing."

That may seem harsh but we must always put these sad losses into the correct context of volunteer, professional services - very different from the compulsory and ill-rewarded conscription of past times.

Graham Hoyle, Kirkbourne Grove, Baildon.

Let's clear the air

SIR - The tobacco industry and some sections of the hospitality industry are suggesting there is little public demand for smoke-free air in pubs and clubs.

Nothing could be further from the truth. A survey conducted by YouGov, published by Cancer Research UK, shows 65 per cent of the people in Yorkshire support a law to give protection from smoke in all pubs and bars.

An experiment conducted in Yorkshire showed that after one evening in pubs, customers had big increases in dangerous tobacco chemicals. This explains why non-smoking bar staff suffer twice as much lung cancer.

Experience from the rest of the world shows pubs have nothing to fear from this huge improvement in public health, providing the law is introduced on a "level playing field" applying equally to all pubs and clubs.

On February 14 MPs will have the opportunity of a free vote on the Health Select Committee's proposal that pubs and clubs should be included in the Government's plans to make workplaces smoke-free.

Can I suggest people who want smoke-free air where they eat or drink should make their views known to their MP?

David Reed, Campaign Director, Yorkshire ASH, Long Tongue Scrog Lane, Huddersfield.

Sinking feeling

SIR - Europhobes claim a big majority of Britons want us out of the EU. Really?

So where does this majority go to on election days? After all there's no shortage of parties to vote for, from far right all the way to far left.

So will they please stop making their wild claims, and also demanding a referendum that in reality only they want? Truth is there's nowhere to go.

The US is moving from an east coast Atlantic power to a west coast Pacific one. It's also making up with Germany, a country that most Americans admire. After all they got their best scientists from Germany, and wouldn't have been first to the moon without them.

Add the fact that Germans are easily the biggest ethnic group in the US and that Americans have a saying that `Germans make the best Americans', and you can see a future romance between them.

Outside the EU we'd sink without trace into the cold grey waters of the north Atlantic.

E Firth, Wellington Street, Wilsden.

Hearing checks

SIR - Many of you may have seen the Royal National Institute for the Deaf's five-minute telephone hearing check advertised on television recently.

But have any of you picked up the phone and made the call yet? More than 150,000 people in the UK have and I urge you to join them.

On average people wait 15 years from the time they realise they have a hearing problem until they finally do something about it.

However, ignoring a potential hearing loss can have far-reaching effects on people's everyday lives, from misunderstanding important instructions, not being able to hear your children's laughter to feeling isolated and cut off from friends and family. I should know, I have a hearing loss myself. So, why not take RNID's telephone hearing check on 0845 600 55 55 and live life to the full? If you would like more information visit www.breakingthesoundbarrier.org.uk

Eric Sykes, on behalf of RNID, Featherstone Street, London.

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