http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/?service=Rss http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-homophobia-in-schools-1816589.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-homophobia-in-schools-1816589.html <p>After reading Johann Hari's article "Violence against gay people can and must be stopped" (4 November), I recalled my school days, not too long ago (15 years) when our humanities teacher raised the subject of homosexuality. </p> Letters Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-european-law-1815646.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-european-law-1815646.html <p>David Cameron's pledges to pass laws to make further loss of sovereignty to the EU impossible without a referendum and to enshrine in British law the superiority of British law are naive at best and dishonest at worst.</p> Letters Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-why-i-wont-wear-a-poppy-1814810.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-why-i-wont-wear-a-poppy-1814810.html <p>I lost two uncles to German bullets. But if they died for anything at all, it was to live in a society where you were not browbeaten into wearing a badge or flower or insignia at certain times of the year ("Why should I be pressured into wearing a poppy?", 4 November). Such societies are for the likes of Hitler. He for sure would have had us all wearing a swastika when we popped out to the supermarket.</p> Letters Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-halloween-killjoys-1814148.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-halloween-killjoys-1814148.html <p>My three-year-old granddaughter sat in a pink and black witch's dress on Saturday waiting excitedly for her Halloween "guests" to arrive to receive the sweets that she had ready. A few eventually rang the doorbell when Daddy placed the prepared pumpkin head by the front door. </p> Letters Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-drugs-policy-1813650.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-drugs-policy-1813650.html <p>I agree with Bruce Anderson (Comment, 2 November). On every conceivable front, the legalisation of drugs presents itself as the most sensible, compassionate and logical conclusion. Most of our policy-makers choose to remain out of touch with the reality of the drug culture in modern Britain, although one in three British adults has taken some form of illegal drug in his or her lifetime. </p> Letters Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-prostitution-and-the-law-1813268.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-prostitution-and-the-law-1813268.html <p>The question is not whether trafficking exists, but how it is being used to raid and arrest sex workers ("Make no mistake: sex trafficking is real", Comment, 29 October). Even the police do not dispute the findings reported as "Inquiry fails to find single trafficker who forced anybody into prostitution".</p> Letters Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/iiosi-letters-emails--online-postings-1-november-2009-1812765.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/iiosi-letters-emails--online-postings-1-november-2009-1812765.html <p>Peter Stanford says that for 470 years the Church of England has "... been walking a careful middle line, halfway between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism..." ("Has the Pope outfoxed the Archbishop", 25 October). The position on the Protestant-Catholic continuum varied in accordance with the views of the reigning monarch. So, Henry VIII was more "Catholic" than his son Edward, who was more "Protestant" than Elizabeth I. The debate about the nature of the Church of England became a feature of the English Civil War, not as a result of the need to tread a middle line, but because of the growth of the Protestant Puritan faction. The Church of England's Anglo-Catholics may want to trace their line back 470 years, but it is doubtful that it can be traced further than the 19th century, to Newman and the Oxford Movement. </p> Letters Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-the-nimrod-crash-1812294.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-the-nimrod-crash-1812294.html <p>The Nimrod crash was shocking and it is right that the investigation and report were thorough and hard-hitting; but that one Nimrod was unsafe should not mean this applies to the whole fleet.</p> Letters Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-postal-strike-1811602.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-postal-strike-1811602.html <p>A clever twist has been added to the effort to get the unemployed back to work by this "New Labour" government. After 13 weeks of receiving unemployment benefit, if you are still unemployed and wish not to have any benefit docked, then you have to accept a job interview with whoever your Job Centre liaison person recommends. </p> Letters Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-antenatal-testing-1810940.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-antenatal-testing-1810940.html <p>Professor Joan Morris (report, 27 October) believes more research is needed into why women refuse screening for Down's and other birth defects. One consequence of the increase in maternal age is a higher incidence of such problems, but another must surely be that the number of older women becoming pregnant after medical intervention is also increasing. </p> Letters Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-secret-inquests-1810452.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-secret-inquests-1810452.html <p>You report on plans to hold inquests into controversial deaths in private (22 October). How is this compatible with democracy and government for the people as well as of them?</p> Letters Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-bnp-and-nick-griffin-1809959.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-bnp-and-nick-griffin-1809959.html <p>I have every sympathy for the appalling experiences of racist intimidation and violence at the hands of the BNP and its sympathisers described by Paul Rees (letters, 26 October). But can I, as one of the "middle-class white liberals" he castigates – albeit one married to a non-white, conservative, immigrant, and who also works in the field of equality and human rights – please clear up his misinterpretation of why people like me supported the BNP's inclusion on Question Time.</p> Letters Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-palestine-and-the-west-1809445.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-palestine-and-the-west-1809445.html <p>In "The Nowhere People" (22 October), Judith Miller and David Samuels tell us that the disinheritance and periodic mass expulsions of Palestinians meted out by Arab states "recalls the treatment of Jews in medieval Europe". No; it immediately recalls the treatment of Palestinians by Israel much more recently. </p> Letters Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/iiosi-letters-emails--online-postings-25-october-2009-1808968.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/iiosi-letters-emails--online-postings-25-october-2009-1808968.html <p>Your leading article "We won't get fooled again" (18 October) outlined the reasons why Tony Blair should not be president of the European Council. You also outlined the criteria needed for the post both within the "very constrained powers" of co-ordination within Europe or as a spokesperson for Europe. You have called for the president to come from one of the smaller countries to act as a unifying signal for the countries within Europe. Not only does Mary Robinson fulfil these criteria; she comes from a smaller country within the eurozone, she has great experience of chairing meetings between nations and she has no specific party-political baggage. However, it is as her work with the UN Commission on Human Rights and her work in global development and democracy, as well as a member of The Elders that would enable her to place Europe within the dynamics of the wider global arena and of the challenges to global pressures for change. Britain supporting Mary Robinson would also help heal some of the pain of the past history between England and Ireland.</p> Letters Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-the-bnp-on-question-time-1808426.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-the-bnp-on-question-time-1808426.html <p>There has been much speculation in recent years about exactly what it means to be British. I feel that if a demonstration were needed, it was amply provided by Question Time on Thursday night.</p> Letters Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-social-mobility-1807568.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-social-mobility-1807568.html <p>It is refreshing to see figures that reflect the progress that has been made around social mobility in UK universities ("Universities finally open their doors to the poor", 15 October). However, Andrew Grant, the chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, describes some of the measures that have helped achieve this as a "leg up" which is inaccurate and unfair.</p> Letters Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-disability-benefits-1806787.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-disability-benefits-1806787.html <p>Welfare state reform is an issue on which a consensus among all three political parties has emerged. A few years ago, a City banker was approached by the Labour government to report on and come up with ideas for reducing the numbers claiming disability benefits, incapacity benefit in particular. He admitted that before he was approached he had no opinions on the issue and never thought much about it, and he wondered why he was approached.</p> Letters Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-britains-prisons-1806196.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-britains-prisons-1806196.html <p>If it is true that managers have moved difficult prisoners in advance of inspection visits ("Governors face disciplinary action over 'prisoner chess'", 20 October), then it will be another example of people doing their job not to achieve the best result, but to meet a government target.</p> Letters Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-tory-localism-1805643.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-tory-localism-1805643.html <p>Steve Richards (Opinion, 16 October) quite rightly sees some of the contradictions in the Tory enthusiasm for localism. He could usefully have added that the normal time lag between an opposition party pledging to give away power, that party's election to government and its subsequent rediscovery of the virtue of central control, is around the 48-hour mark. It is instructive to remember both the Thatcherite assault on the metropolitan councils and the gleeful rediscovery of rate capping by messrs Blair and Brown. </p> Letters Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-tory-policy-on-incapacity-benefit-1805252.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-tory-policy-on-incapacity-benefit-1805252.html <p>As somebody who draws incapacity benefits because of a disability in the autism spectrum, I have felt disgusted, angry and depressed listening to Conservative shadow ministers assert with pride that people drawing incapacity benefits who are judged to be capable of work will receive a cut in benefit of £25 a week (report, 5 October).</p> Letters Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/iiosi-letters-emails--online-postings-18-october-2009-1804769.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/iiosi-letters-emails--online-postings-18-october-2009-1804769.html <p>Your interview with Irene Khan, the outgoing secretary general of Amnesty International, concluded, "Perhaps the time will come to start a new group, one dedicated solely to prisoners of conscience" ("A prisoner of her own conscience" 11 October).</p> Letters Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-sir-thomas-legg-and-expenses-1804435.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-sir-thomas-legg-and-expenses-1804435.html <p>Your leading article (13 October) is to the point in advising that errant MPs should swallow their medicine and pay back the sums that Sir Thomas Legg suggests. Sir Thomas provides a rare and magnificent example of independent assessment and evaluation. </p> Letters Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-unfettered-capitalism-1803568.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-unfettered-capitalism-1803568.html <p>There are two factors in the "super-injunction" affair that should surprise no one (report, 14 October). The first is that a large company which might have something to hide should cower behind its pet law firm to avoid public scrutiny. The second is the willingness of lawyers to be employed in such an exercise. </p> Letters Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-mps-expenses-1802704.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-mps-expenses-1802704.html <p>As the MPs' expenses row rumbles on, I would like to hear more about the moral argument. So far the emphasis has been on whether or not their claims have been within the rules – revised, backdated or otherwise. Do MPs ever stop to think about where the money they have been so eager to claim comes from? It is not out of some magic forest of money trees, but out of ordinary people's pockets. </p> Letters Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-president-blair-1802172.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-president-blair-1802172.html <p>There must be millions of EU citizens who would do more for Europe than Tony Blair, if only there were some sort of democratic process to elect one of them as President. Blair never lifted a finger to lead from the front and promote the European ideal when he was Prime Minister, and so we had 10 years of stagnation on one of the critical issues of our time. </p> Letters Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-public-spending-and-deficit-1801803.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-public-spending-and-deficit-1801803.html <p>The Tories are relishing swinging the axe on the public services everyone depends on. But how honest can they be when they refuse to admit that the budget deficit was caused by the recession? For party political reasons, they say the problem is government spending, but this is patently untrue.</p> Letters Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/a-different-story-about-gadaffi-and-the-ira-1801700.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/a-different-story-about-gadaffi-and-the-ira-1801700.html <p> I read with interest the <b><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/britain-offered-gaddafi-16314m-to-stop-supporting-the-ira-1797754.html">article by Robert Verkaik, 5 October</a></b>, headlined "Britain offered Gadaffi £14 million to stop supporting the IRA", and telling of a "secret offer, detailed in a letter sent by the then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson." </p> Letters Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:23:04 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-fond-memories-of-unfriendly-dulverton-1801357.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-fond-memories-of-unfriendly-dulverton-1801357.html <p>In 2005 we went on a bike tour of Exmoor. On the Saturday afternoon, approaching Dulverton ("Is this the unfriendliest place in Britain?", 10 October) my rear wheel started to buckle badly enough to need attention. We limped into the town, where my attempts to straighten the wheel failed miserably. It had now taken on the appearance of a figure of eight. </p> Letters Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/iiosi-letters-emails-amp-online-postings-11-october-2009-1800904.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/iiosi-letters-emails-amp-online-postings-11-october-2009-1800904.html <p>The Conservative energy spokesman, Greg Clark, pledges that combating climate change is as big a priority for his party as it is for the other two main parties ("Global warming is not on our back burner", 4 October). More than 5 million British households spend more than 10 per cent of their disposable income on trying to keep warm in winter. </p> Letters Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-single-mothers-and-taxes-1800593.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-single-mothers-and-taxes-1800593.html <p>We all, like Mary Dejevsky ("My problem with teenage mothers", 2 October) occasionally feel annoyed at the use of our taxes, but I suspect that she believes more is being spent on a social group that she clearly feels is undeserving than is actually the case. Contrary to popular myth only 2 per cent of all single mothers out of a total of 1.5 million single parents are under 18. The average age of a single parent is 36. </p> Letters Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-richard-dannatt-joins-tories-1799887.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-richard-dannatt-joins-tories-1799887.html <p>Lord Foulkes has made serious, if unsubstantiated, allegations about Richard Dannatt's possible collusion with the Tories. One cannot but wonder if, for once, he has a point, or be other than dismayed by the increasing political interventions and motivation displayed by senior members of the Army. </p> Letters Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100