Opinions: Are you politically correct?

TERESA GORMAN, MP: Certainly not. It's so much rubbish. For the whole of my life I've longed to be incorrect. Most people who are PC are intellectual fascists who try to foist their views on ordinary people like me.

PETER FRANKLAND, butcher: Well, 97 per cent eat meat - so I'm in the majority in eating meat. It's the correct thing to do. If you bring your kids up vegetarian, they're more likely to die young - at about 40. Preservatives are good for you, too. Anyway, you can't have a sausage without them. Black pudding? That's not racist.

TONY LIVESEY, editor, Sunday Sport: I don't mind what political persuasion the women are who appear in my paper, as long as their knockers swing five per cent to the right. It's all stuff and nonsense. Being PC means not being able to have a laugh at life - and any journalist who tells you they're PC is fibbing.

JUDITH ORR, Socialist Workers Party: If you mean are we against discrimination against women, against blacks being beaten up on the streets or against giving a platform to Nazis, then yes. We stood for these principles long before right-wingers ever called it 'political correctness'.

BRIAN SEWELL, art critic: I view the whole business with some horror, contempt - it's an anathema. It's a creature of silly women and people badly educated at polytechnics masquerading as universities.

PATRICIA HODGE, publishing editor: No, not at all. I don't agree with PCism. It's a set of rules and regulations rather than simple decency and common sense. Should school children be allowed to go and see Romeo and Juliet? Yes, they should. Should you be able to ask for black coffee? Yes, you should. It's just a lot of American silliness.

RODNEY VATTER, student: I'm not politically correct. It's pedantic. There are far more important things in the world to deal with rather than whether you say salesman or salesperson.

SHARON AMENT, marketing manager, London Zoo: This politically correct thing is a pain in the butt for us. The argument about zoos is a very complex one. It's not only about animal welfare but also about conservation. This PC thing is not founded on real understanding or knowledge and people get stuck in it.

STEPHANIE SAIRBAIN, playworker: Being politically correct is about ensuring that people are treated equally. Certain words shouldn't be used, for example, if they victimise one group. But PC is now becoming a slogan and some people are taking it too far. Prince Charles has a right to say what he likes, but in my line of work I don't agree with his argument that it's OK to smack a child.

CAROL FOSTER, Equal Opportunities Commission: I don't know what politically correct means. Its meaning seems to depend on the person you're talking to.