Letters: Britain doesn’t have a ‘two-tier’ policing problem

Less is more

Sir: While I wholeheartedly agree with Toby Young’s observation that ‘more censorship would make things worse, not better’ (No sacred cows, 10 August), I’m confused by his remedy – ‘more and better speech’. First, how does one decide what better even means, without it becoming a form of censorship? Second, and perhaps more worryingly, it feels like something Stalin might appreciate. ‘Quantity has a quality of its own,’ he once said. In their different ways, both incessant social media and weekly magazines rather disprove that.

Grant Feller

Fowey, Cornwall

Backfiring rioters

Sir: The minority who threw bricks, set fire to vehicles and attacked police (‘Mob mentality’, 10 August) have now ensured that the rational and entirely legitimate concerns about mass immigration and illegal Channel crossings held by those who don’t throw bricks, set fire to vehicles or attack police will be further ignored.

Stefan Badham

Portsmouth

The state of reading

Sir: Mary Wakefield’s article struck a somewhat pessimistic note on the state of reading and the teaching of literature in schools (‘Book ends’, 10 August). I have worked as an English teacher in England and now Scotland for many years. I share the concern about screens, but let’s not be too despairing. The children I teach can and do produce imaginative and exciting creative work of their own. They always have and they always will.

Tess Killen

Balblair, Ross-shire

Screen off

Sir: In your poll ‘Who is your favourite character in children’s literature?’ (10 August), Toby Young says that he tried to interest his children in the books he loved as a child, but failed because they do not even understand what books are. I count myself lucky that I am not trying to pass on the joys of reading today, but had the chance to do so when it was a little easier a few years ago. My wife and I always thought that TV and computer games were the enemies of imagination, and so a grave danger to education in general. How can we understand the positions of those who disagree with us if we have little or no imagination? But in late 20th-century Oxford and in Moscow (where all the TV was in Russian) it was far easier to keep these things at a distance. Paradoxically, the main danger came from schools, where the social pressure to watch certain programmes or play computer games was strong.

Peter Hitchens

London

What, no Asterix?

Sir: I was surprised that the Asterix books did not feature in your poll of favourite children’s characters, and not just for their fun with Latin. Obelix – as a powerful champion of resistance, a hunter (of wild boar) and a devoted dog owner (of Dogmatix) – ticks many boxes. I loved his bewilderment at his foolishly militaristic adversaries. ‘Those Romans are crazy,’ he’d say, before he flattened a dozen of them.

Struan Macdonald

Hayes, Kent

A perfect anti-hero

Sir: I was surprised that none of your contributors nominated Billy Bunter. The Fat Owl of the Remove created by Frank Richards (real name Charles Hamilton, probably the most prolific author in the English language) is lazy, selfish, dishonest, no good at sports, the stupidest boy at Greyfriars, a frightful snob and addicted to jam tarts. This perfect anti-hero adorned my childhood and made me long for life at an English public school.

Francis Bown

London E3

Copy that

Sir: Anthony Horowitz is mistaken to say that Tintin ‘never actually wrote anything’. In his first adventure, Tintin writes a dauntingly long report from Soviet Russia. A raid by OGPU agents prevents him from filing, which surely is an excuse any editor would accept.

Deirdre Wyllie

Dull, Perth and Kinross

One-tier policing

Sir: I disagree with Rod Liddle’s assertion that the country has two-tier policing (‘Bring on the new football season’, 10 August). The tag reminds me of the endless fuss over racial disparity around stop and search. The day that officers are ordered to go easy on any group suspected of crime hasn’t arrived yet, and any chief officer who tried to order this would, I imagine, simply be ignored.

Richard Hill, Met police constable (retired) Hitchin, Herts

Bats need protection

Sir: We’d like to resolve Peter Krijgsman’s confusion about why bats are legally protected (‘Beware the bat police’, 3 August). It is true that ‘some UK bat populations have been stable or recovering since 1999’. But the UK’s 18 bat species all suffered severe historic declines before that baseline date. We monitor bat species, and are science-led when we say bats need protection. Out of the 11 mammals at risk of extinction in the UK, four are bats. We welcome the opportunity for a constructive dialogue to support the government’s aim of a ‘strong economy and environment this country needs and deserves’, but our natural heritage does not need to be sacrificed to achieve economic growth.

Kit Stoner

Chief executive, Bat Conservation Trust

London SW8