In my 25 years of working with young offenders and young people at risk, I have seldom heard anything so crass as blaming female Doctor Whos for the increase in youth crime (Recasting male heroes as women risks driving boys to crime, claims Tory MP, 25 November). The causes of this are far more to do with austerity and the drastic cuts in youth and play provision, the reduction in community policing and the cuts in children’s services. Yes, the lack of positive role models has had something to do with this, but the critical role models used to be youth and play workers, who could engage with young men, providing real alternatives to gang culture.
Don Macdonald
London
• I found Nick Fletcher’s comments intriguing. Clearly we would be in a bad place if the consequence of casting of women in traditionally male roles left only criminals as cultural role models, so who better for young males to look up to than a womanising, vodka-swilling maverick with a licence to kill?
Tom Challenor
Ealing, London
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