Freedom of speech is a key aspect of British society

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Daniel McArthur, managing director of Ashers Bakery and his wife Amy McArthur outside the High Court in Belfast (Getty)

Congratulations to Peter Tatchell for bringing clarity and rigour to the intellectual debate now raging over freedom of speech.

In his last “Thought for the Day” before standing down as Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks declared “the Messiah has not yet come”. I uphold his right to make that claim, although it raises huge questions about the New Testament, Jesus' self-understanding, and asserts that Christianity is a global mistake.

Reverent Richard James
Harrogate

The global political climate has increased the prevelance of racism

Martin Redfern (Letters, 24 October) is of course correct that racism exists in all parts of the UK. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say otherwise, and we all have a responsibility to challenge it whenever – and wherever – it is expressed. But the prevalent attitudes in the various political landscapes within these islands are undeniably different.

While Scotland’s independence movement does have a small, odious element expressing divisive and xenophobic views, the message of a diverse and inclusive civic identity is overwhelmingly dominant. There is a strong desire to be able to treat asylum seekers with dignity, and to offer a warm welcome to immigrants not only for the social, cultural and economic value they bring, but also out of basic human decency.

This compares with the competition in anti-immigrant rhetoric we see elsewhere. The current exercise of tabloid newspapers singling out individual young asylum seekers’ faces, and politicians being among the first to judge, condemn, humiliate and exclude people is only the latest expression of this disgusting attitude.

As with the Trump campaign in the US, the events of recent months appear to have given license for some of the most toxic and hateful attitudes in society to be given freer expression, both in word and in deed. Those who stoked anti-immigrant sentiment for their own political purposes bear a heavy responsibility, and those who oppose racism in all its forms must redouble our resolve, regardless of our differences on independence or any other issue.

Patrick Harvie MSP, Co-convener, Scottish Green Party
Edinburgh

We need a hub airport, but Heathrow isn't the answer

Britain does need a hub airport. Transit passengers and new destinations are fundamental to the argument for a third runway at Heathrow.

But expansion at Heathrow has a high impact on its environment, which must rule out expansion there.

Two runways at Gatwick is not enough to transform it into a hub. No regional airport could become a hub; there is just not sufficient demand outside London to be viable.

So the Thames Estuary proposal is the only long-term option, despite being blighted by Boris's support. But that is a long-term solution involving clearing of land for the construction of several runways.

Gordon Willey
Address supplied

Airlines need to adapt for customer comfort

I think everyone would agree that it's fair to get the whole airline seat you pay for.

While I'm very sympathetic with anyone who struggles with their weight I've also experienced some very uncomfortable long-haul flights wedged between large folk who have spilled into my space.

This is both uncomfortable and unpleasant for us all. It is unfair too and beyond that, I can't imagine how the safety regulators allow it.

If the population continues to increase in size then airlines must make provision to accommodate us all.

Sal Michelle
Address supplied

Animal neglect is not exaggerated by animal rights groups

Once again it has taken undercover filming to reveal the true horror of animal neglect and abuse hidden behind closed doors. (“The shocking and filthy conditions endured by supermarket hens in ‘enriched cages’”, 24 October).

People who exploit animals always claim that animal rights activists exaggerate the scale of suffering in such places as laboratories, slaughter houses, factory farms, and the hunting field. They do not, and undercover filming proves again and again that what they say is true. The scale and horror of the suffering inflicted upon animals by humans is what motivates them to undertake gruelling and often frustrating campaigns to try and get things changed.

In the midst the industry’s wholly unconvincing defence as to why these poor birds were found in such disgusting conditions, I note that one farm owner says “dead hens are removed every day”, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the need to do so is shocking. Another claims that a “minor health challenge” resulted in the hens looking in such a pitiful condition, when in fact it would take weeks of stress, deprivation and unhealthy living conditions to produce such a shocking result.

The only eggs I eat are from my own hens, who have a lovely free range life in my garden. What a contrast between my healthy birds and the pathetic creatures trapped in their “enriched” cages.

Penny Little
Great Haseley

Lazy men still exist

I have news for Grace Dent. The image of the smart clever powerful woman and the thick lazy incapable man still exists in 2016. It wasn't just the Eighties and Nineties; it's still happening.

Ken Twiss
Yarm