Polly Toynbee tells us “Britain, a meritocracy? That’s fantasy” (25 January). That’s a great relief! If Britain is ever to escape from a divisive society that values only the academic qualities that can be measured by examination, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology or languages, it needs also to value the human qualities that underpin a civilised society, such as citizenship, parenting, caring and working life. It is no wonder we have so many millions of disenchanted men and women when they see a meritocratic elite that is rewarded for its academic excellence by far higher pay and positions of influence.
Michael Meadowcroft
Leeds
• This week the Guardian published two stories on UK publishing’s failure to improve racial and regional diversity (Publishers failing to improve racial and regional diversity, survey finds, 16 January; UK publishers need to change the story when it comes to race, theguardian.com, 18 January). While both quote statistics with regard to respondents who identify as BAME, and refer to the white upper- and middle-class values that dominate (and limit) the industry, neither mentions the dominance of privately educated employees.
I have little doubt that, were the publishing industry (or indeed the Guardian) to take steps to represent the 92% of the UK population who attended state schools, then the current situation would improve significantly.
Susan Finlay
Berlin, Germany
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