The essence of Nick Cohen’s argument may well be sound but his naming of the two positions as “progressive” and “classical” liberalism is unnecessarily pejorative, (“Progressive liberalism is the enemy of tolerance”, Comment). At different times genuine liberals have fallen into both camps. Those who fell into the trap of supporting intolerance and “correctness” over diversity and pluralism may well have been guilty of a lack of intellectual rigour but they did it from the best of motives at the time.
Multiculturalism has clear superficial attractions for those who have instinctive sympathies with groups that are discriminated against but its inherent longer-term damaging effects on the cultural – particularly ethnic – groups themselves are now increasingly realised. The success of Jewish communities in British cities of both maintaining their identity and integrating has lessons for other minorities.
The classic case that highlighted the two camps was that of the late Ray Honeyford in 1985. Honeyford was a primary headteacher in a largely Asian area of Bradford. He expressed his political opinions in an obscure rightwing journal, the Salisbury Review. He ran a popular and successful school and carried out the policies of the local education authority, but, on the basis of his personal views, he was hounded out of his employment. It was a scandalous example of political correctness when the genuine liberal position was to support his right to express diverse opinions. Ironically, many of Honeyford’s views on educational practice, in particular the need to concentrate on teaching English, are now widely accepted.
Michael Meadowcroft
Leeds
The dangers for journalists
Peter Preston raises important questions about international editorial priorities (“We should see the big picture. But all we can see is Paris”, Media). There is another point which should be considered.
Some stories have just become too difficult and dangerous to cover. The death of journalists at the hands of Isis is just the most prominent example. Vice News had a team detained in Turkey. One of their number remains in custody. Yemen is not an easy place to report from. Travelling there in 2001, I was told not to leave my hotel after dark, such was the threat of kidnapping. The country has presumably become less safe for westerners since.
In many conflicts, the idea that journalists are neutral observers belongs to the last century. A look at the figures for journalist deaths tends, sadly, to confirm this. This is one of the reasons why the doctor quoted in the article hadn’t “met a journalist at all” – with the consequences for our understanding that Peter Preston so rightly highlights.
James Rodgers
Senior lecturer in journalism, City University London, and former BBC correspondent in Moscow, Brussels and Gaza
London W4
Diet that cured my IBS
I take exception to Alex Renton’s treatment of the Fodmap diet in his article “What is healthy eating?” (Magazine, last week). To describe Fodmap as a “quasi-scientific dietary fad” represents a great disservice to those of us with IBS. While many diets have little or no scientific basis, Fodmap is not one of them. The low Fodmap diet was developed at Melbourne’s Monash University by a professor of gastroenterology and a dietician. Here in the UK, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust offers training on the Fodmap diet to registered dieticians. As a long-time sufferer of IBS, I was pleased to be referred by my GP to a dietician with this specialist training. Following the Fodmap diet was the best decision I have ever made as I can now lead a normal life.
Margaret Young
Edinburgh
Taxes make society fair
Heather Stewart suggests that we might usefully apply a five-year-old child’s sense of fairness, comparing a child with a wardrobe full of party dresses with one who has no coat, when trying to decide on poverty reduction objectives (“Yes, minister, child poverty is all relative. Ask a five-year-old”, Business). The world isn’t a fair place, but it wouldn’t be hard to make it quite a bit fairer,.
I live pretty well, having no rent or mortgage to pay, on not very much more than the median wage Heather Stewart goes on to describe. I could afford to pay more tax and would willingly do so if everyone else as well or better off than me did so too. We need to change our perception of taxation as a cruel punishment to recognising it as the most effective way of collectively buying the things the majority agree on. I believe most would choose to live in a society where all parents could afford to buy their children warm coats.
Bob Denmark
Garstang
Lancashire
Marching as to war…
Poignantly, it is the Rev Andrew McLuskey (The Big Issue) who asserts: “Overwhelming force, including land forces as well as air attacks”, are needed to defeat terrorists. He echoes his master – Christ’s – voice: “Think not that I am come to send peace on Earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (Matt 10:34).
Denis Cobell
London SE6
