MP Ann asks for patience after office changes

Mark Taylor, my PA and caseworker has, after seven years, moved on to establish his own business. From April 4, Jim Pressley, my main caseworker for nearly 11 years, will also leave my employment, due to now having a small son and living with his partner in York. Jim has holiday entitlement to come and will therefore not be at work for the whole of the time.

Councillor Cath Rowen is, thankfully, staying on as my diary secretary and between us we will have to do some casework, but considering my now very full role in Parliament, Monday to Thursday, and a massive number of constituency engagements from Friday to Sunday, this is going to be a very difficult time.

I have already appointed two excellent people as PA/office manager and caseworker; however, due to working out their two months notice neither can start until May 6.

Meanwhile, I have appointed a temporary assistant who will help to keep the office ticking over. All of the above are or will be based in Keighley as I don't have any help in Westminster.

There may be some severe delays in my handling of cases and some, needing a great deal of research might have to wait until May. Please bear with us and understand our difficulties. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel and we should be back to a smooth and efficient organisation come June.

Finally, can I point out that my Keighley office has become, over the years, one of the busiest MP's offices in the country, at times behaving more like a fourth emergency service rather than a MP's support system. We will eventually get back to the earlier position but for a few weeks we may have to point constituents in the direction of such organisations as the Citizens Advice Bureau, Key House and Sangat Centre while I get on with representing Keighley and Ilkley in the House of Commons and in meetings and through letters to Ministers.

ANN CRYER MP

A tarnished knight of the road

My daughter was driving home on Thursday, February 7, along Bradford Road, Stockbridge, when a lorry pulled out in front of her causing her to brake hard, just missing the lorry by inches.

Very shaken, my daughter pipped her horn and the next moment the driver was out of his cab and walking towards her, verbally abusing and threatening her.

Obviously, my daughter was very frightened and thought he was going to drag her out of her car (she is 19 years old, this was a mature man, for want of a better word).

Luckily, the driver in the car behind my daughter got out and came to her rescue and told the lorry driver to leave her alone and accusing him of nearly causing an accident. My daughter drove away and arrived home in a terrible state but sorry she had left the scene without thanking the Good Samaritan who saved her from, who knows what! We, as her parents, would like to thank the driver and appreciate his actions in preventing our daughter from being attacked by this creature. Thank you.

Being in such a state my daughter couldn't remember the name, any details about the lorry and we would appeal to any people who witnessed the scene and ask if anyone noticed anything about the lorry which would lead us to this person's employer. (janandrews4@msn.com).

M J Andrews

Dobbing in police driver

I was driving up Cavendish Street at 1.21pm, on Sunday, February 10, with a police car in front of me.

Imagine my amazement when the police car indicated, then turned right down Lawkholme Lane, no flashing lights, no emergency and he was alone. There are clearly several "no right turn" signs and on several occasions I have observed members of the public flouting this law, often in view of the police, who have ignored the fact.

How can Keighley police expect the general public to observe the law when their own officers do this?

If Keighley police are properly run, they should know exactly who was driving that car but I bet they do not. Finally, I remain anonymous because I feel quite sure should I be found guilty of dobbing in a police officer, I would be persecuted at my slightest driving indiscretion.

Name and address supplied

A genuine concern

The debate about the risks of marrying close relatives is not a new one and surfaces in the media every year or so.

The trouble is that it gets confused with culture and family values, instead of focusing on hard scientific fact. Mr Ishtiaq Ahmed is reported as accusing Mrs Cryer of scaremongering as he has five healthy children. This does not mean he is right and she is wrong. Statistically some people will always be lucky, just as not every smoker dies of lung cancer, but that does not make the facts less true.

Around a year ago this same issue was reported on national television and featured an interview with a consultant obstetrician. She explained again that there are very high risks of birth defects involved in marrying first cousins and that this risk increases as the generations go forward.

Just another politically motivated scaremonger who does not understand different cultural values? Well, no. This consultant was of Pakistani origin, a practising Muslim and the interview was filmed in the hospital in Islamabad where she worked.

She daily saw the result of this willingness to ignore the hard facts of genetics in favour of custom and practice.

While we in the West have much to learn about family values from our Asian brothers and sisters, we must ask them to understand that not all attacks are made from racist motives but with a genuine concern for everybody's well-being.

I do not have the right to comment on other people's values but we all have a duty to explain and inform, especially in the interest of unborn children, where we believe there is misunderstanding.

Andrew Makin Silsden

Benchmark for free world

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams's conclusion that Britain will eventually have to concede some place in law for aspects of Sharia law, together with the recent report commissioned by the equalities minister Harriet Harman, which seems to call for ethnic minority-only shortlists to boost the number of black and Asian MPs, makes me seriously wonder what planet these people are living on!

Are these so-called "leaders" actually saying that the laws of our land, which have been so painfully honed by the struggle for democracy and human rights over many centuries, are now inadequate and biased? And, that our democratic system is so unfair, that our elected leaders are incapable of representing everyone?

Our law and electoral system is a benchmark for the vast majority of the free world because its foundations are built on fairness and equality for all.

Maybe its time for the Williams's and Harman's of this world to hand back the keys of the Asylum and let the sane get on with building the communities that they seem so desperate to divide.

Gary pedley Fell Lane, Keighley

Correct wording on signs Since the New Year I have had issues with the town council re the wording of the new illuminated sign put across High Street as part of the town's Christmas lights.

This sign says: "Keighley Town Council Welcomes You." I have put it to the council that this wording insinuates that the welcome to Keighley is from the town council only and not from the town. To my mind, a correct wording would have been: "Welcome to Keighley."

If the council wants to personalise the signs they commission by using wording quoting only their own body, then the costs should come from their own pockets and not from the funds which we, the ordinary townspeople of Keighley are compelled to pay annually in order for them to enjoy office and spend exactly as they wish.

The gist of all answers from the council officials is that: "Keighley Town Council and its members are elected by the people of Keighley to serve the people of Keighley and this is what we are doing. It would not be appropriate to make the sign as you suggest."

Colin Holt Southfield Avenue, Riddlesden.