Letters: Dilemma for secular Muslims

Dilemma for Britain's secular Muslims in face of assertive Islam

Sir: The simple answer to Dr Shaaz Mahboob's question, "Who speaks for secular Muslims?" (letter, 24 August), is his MP.

As he rightly states, secularism entails keeping religion private and not bringing it into the public domain; so why does he "islamicise" the agenda by calling himself a secular Muslim? Those who identify themselves as secular are affirming an identity and ideology that makes any religious affiliation, whether it be Muslim, Hindu or Devil worship, irrelevant. Britain is a secular society and those who are secularist in their outlook will be integrated and not feel the need to have any special dispensation because of their religious or cultural background.

The problem and ongoing challenge is related to those who espouse Islamic values and want to live their lives in accordance with them. Most of these people are young and are the products of the British education system and not of madrassahs; yet despite this upbringing they have adopted an assertive Muslim identity. The Government has already analysed this issue in the Home Office document "Young Muslims and Extremism" and one of the solutions is to give secular voices a platform.

However I would caution against Dr Mahboob's enthusiasm for having government or media representation since it is a poisoned chalice. The same young Muslims being targeted have a healthy scepticism of the media and government, and those anointed by them are often regarded as "sell-outs" and their message ignored.

Interesting times lie ahead and I agree with Gilles Kepel's assertion (Opinion, 22 August) that Britain must adopt either "radical secularism"or "radical multiculturalism" as a way forward to produce a truly cohesive and tolerant society. The choice is ours.

DR ADNAN SIDDIQUI

LONDON SW16

Protecting Asian textile workers

Sir: It is clear from recent events ("Revealed: how bra wars devastate world's poor", 27 August) that both the global "free trade" and "protectionism" arguments have severe shortcomings in terms of welfare. The problem is that nobody at any point in the supply chain has overall responsibility for the effects of the international garment trade.

However, it would seem that one group has more scope for improving the situation than any other: the governments of the east Asian textile producing countries. Their problem is that they are forced into relaxing their regulations (lowering minimum wages, increasing the length of working weeks, lowering minimum workplace condition standards) through the need to remain competitive with their peers.

Each government has the incentive to slash its regulations in order to permit businesses to reduce their costs, which will grab them a larger slice of the pie. However, when other governments follow suit (as they must) everyone is back at the start, but with a lower net income stream from the west to east Asia: they would have been better off not slashing their regulations in the first place.

What is required is some form of agreement between east Asian governments to not debase their industrial regulations. If each government could credibly commit to not cutting their regulations, international garment retailers would not be able to pressurise the manufacturers into exploiting their workforce for the end of an increased, or maintained, level of business. The success of such a scheme is obvious: just look at Opec.

Of course, this would mean that western consumers would have to pay a higher price for their clothes, but since the alternative is to maintain very poor living conditions for textile workers, it is a price that must be paid.

MATTHEW C BOYS

LONDON E2

Animal activists are no thugs

Sir: Janet Street-Porter requests that someone "talk her through the tortured mindset of the animal rights activist" (Opinion, 25 August). I used to be such an activist. The reason I am not currently active is the lack of activity in my area and the demands of my job in social care. (Is it conceivable that a misanthropic thug such as I puts more time and effort into alleviating human suffering even than Ms Street-Porter does?) I would suggest Ms Street-Porter attend a peaceful animal rights demonstration before she purports to know what an animal rights activist is like.

Many are nurses, social workers or support workers, such as myself. Much of activists' time is spent discussing issues of concern with the public on information stalls in town centres. I have never deliberately harmed another human being.

When the arrests and disproportionate police resources ploughed into policing sites such as Newchurch are cited, the charges and acts of Parliament under which the arrests are made are never discussed. I know someone who was convicted of harassment and fined £600 for mentioning the name of the guinea pig farmers through a megaphone at a peaceful demonstration. Someone else I know was arrested for handing someone a leaflet outside their place of work. The number of arrests cannot be cited as evidence for the "thuggery" of the protesters, but could, arguably, be given as evidence of political repression used against the more peaceful activists.

EMMA MCKEE

NEW ASH GREEN, KENT

Sir: Dr McAlpine (letter, 26 August) castigates Andrew Roberts for asserting that vivisection is medically unnecessary. My objection is that it is immoral.

Our species has a distasteful tendency to put human interests first. Our anthropocentric approach has brought environmental despoliation, species loss through habitat loss, monoagricultural landscapes and global warming. How about putting the interests of other species above our own occasionally? We might escape the irony that our ambition to extend life medically parallels our practice of degrading much that makes life worth living.

CLEM VOGLER

FOULSHAM, NORFOLK

A-level students with wrong skills

Sir: As the next round of sixth-form applicants wave their certificates in the air, industry leaders are again warning that A-level shortages in maths, engineering and physics will have dire consequences for our economy. This sort of old-fashion romantic vision of the UK economy does nobody any favours. The growth in our economy relies on new skills in IT and services.

As an employer I am regularly confronted by graduates clutching qualifications in subjects which bear little relevance to the jobs they seek. Admittedly, for 60 per cent of graduate jobs that's not an issue, but it's the jobs that demand knowledge of a particular subject that are lacking in applicants.

What we need is better careers advice for all those determining their next move this week. Like it or not, the decisions they make now will have life-changing consequences. If they knew the earning power of a systems consultant or the annual travel expenses of a translator, they might think twice about rejecting a course in IT or a language A-Level.

It's true we should encourage our children to pursue the subjects they like, as enjoyment breeds success. But perhaps perceived "hard subjects" would be more attractive if the doors they open up were better signposted.

ROBERT CHAPMAN

LONDON W1

Brazil is right to demand the truth

Sir: I was appalled by what Howard Jacobson wrote (Opinion, 27 August) pertaining to the Brazilian government advocating on behalf of a Brazilian citizen victim of a tragedy abroad.

What the Brazilian government is doing in the Menezes case is completely within the framework of international law; the British government does it all the time whenever a British national is the victim of a misfortune abroad; this dreadful incident hasn't caused any diplomatic problem between Brazil and the UK, whose relationship is excellent.

What have the Brazilian government's difficulties with domestic rates of crime and human rights issues got to do with the need to have a trustworthy inquiry about what really happened at Stockwell Tube station and their efforts to clarify and correct the purposefully misleading information distributed about the incident?

It is in the interest of the British people to clarify what went wrong. The high levels of confidence the British police enjoys domestically and internationally depend on its ability to have a truthful relationship with the public, particularly at a moment when discretionary powers are being put into their hands in the name of national security.

HUMBERTO MAFRA

LONDON W9

Unwanted applause at the Proms

Sir: In her review of Prom 55 (29 August) Annette Morreau says the conductor went straight into the slow movement of the Beethoven symphony "before any Prommer even thought of applauding".

Opinions may differ about applause between movements: after all, it happened all the time until the early 20th century; and these days it can be a welcome sign that an audience includes some newcomers to the concert hall, and that they're enjoying themselves. But in any case, my strong impression is that, while there's been a lot of such extraneous applause during this Prom season, most of it has come not from those of us who are "Prommers", standing in the Arena or Gallery, but from the people in the seats.

ANTHONY BURTON

EAST BARNET, HERTFORDSHIRE

Two homes? Some don't even have one

Sir: In Jonathan Brown's piece on the boom in second homes (25 August) he quotes a researcher saying, "We are becoming better off and people throughout the UK are beginning to realise that they need more than one home to reflect their lifestyle and meet their needs."

The other day I was talking to a man sitting on the pavement outside our church. He has been homeless for a year, would like to work but cannot get a job because he has no address and cannot afford an address because without a job he has no money. He sleeps in a car park, goes to the Methodist church for breakfast and the Salvation Army for clothes. "I hate living like this!" he exclaimed, "I really hate it."

Is it acceptable that in our wealthy society some have more than one home while others shiver under the stars?

THE REVD SUE NORTON

YORK

Boys fail to shine in inane tests

Sir: Once again we have the annual wringing of hands over the state of boys' writing (report, 24 August). I wonder if those who are so free with their condemnations of teachers have any idea of the inane tasks which were set for this year's SATs.

These poor children had 20 minutes to describe "My Favourite Meal" (somewhat tricky even for seasoned restaurant critics), and 40 minutes to write a script persuading their parents to let them stay up to watch a TV programme.

In many homes, I am happy to say, the conversation would be: "Please can I watch Friends?" - "No, and don't argue, I'm your mother". Our Year 6 were incensed at the triviality of the tasks which gave them no opportunity to display their excellent writing skills.

Still, it gives all these chaps something to fret about when the real worry (which is never mentioned) is the difference in achievement between the social classes.

JANE LAWSON

LONDON SE7

Poor reward for cricket fans

Sir: Like many, many others, I watched a thrilling game of cricket on television on Sunday and celebrated the England team's deserved victory. We have had a feast of three close-run matches in four weeks, with another to come in two weeks' time.

Over the next few years live television coverage of similar events will be denied to millions as transmission is switched to satellite, with only highlights on terrestrial television. This is scant reward for the support that cricket is now receiving as the ECB pursues the shy millions.

RODNEY ALLEN

LONG EATON, DERBYSHIRE

Teenage stress

Sir: The same week which brings news of higher than ever exam performance by teenagers, particularly girls, also brings us news of higher than ever alcohol consumption by teenagers, particularly girls. Is it possible to conclude that this generation of young women is under rather too much pressure?

KATE GREENHALGH

LONDON SW19

Welsh family code

Sir: Gwyn Davies suggests that MI5 conduct its business exclusively in Welsh as a means of encoding (letter, 24 August). My friend Phil Thomas was the principal of an international school in Geneva, where two of the pupils were the children of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. One day Phil's secretary brought him a cablegram saying "This seems to be in code." It turned out to be a message to those two children from their father, saying that he and their mother were to be remarried. The code was Welsh (Phil being a Welshman too).

JOHN HAWGOOD

DURHAM

Subtitles on French TV

Sir: Debra Hart, from Marseille (letter, 29 August), complains that French TV does not offer English programmes with subtitles. She has obviously never watched the public channel Arté, which plays subtitled foreign films constantly, or she has never connected to the great Canal+ channels which offer foreign films (with choice of languages and subtitles) 24 hours a day.

SIMON TRIQUET

BRIGHTON

Desperate Tories

Sir: On Saturday Andrew Grice reported: "Backers of Mr Clarke say that he is the candidate Labour fears most, the one best-placed to exploit the economic storm clouds the Tories hope will gather before the next election." Would anyone want to vote for a party which hoped for disaster in order to facilitate their return to power? Would we not think that they are now at rock-bottom and desperate because they know it?

DAVID M BISHOP

GUISBOROUGH, CLEVELAND

Sir: We must be grateful to Michael Brown (Opinion, 26 August) for drawing attention to yet another Tory failing. He reveals that they are indulging in "naval-gazing". Why can't they leave our brave sailors alone?

BILL HUNT

ST MONANS, FIFE