I READ with concern about the young man who was turned down as a recruit by the Greater Manchester Police because he had an England tattoo on his forearm. I am a retired senior police officer and if this was the sole reason for his not being accepted, and is as a result of a Home Office directive, I feel that this is surely taking political correctness to an unnecessary extreme.

It sounds to me as though GMP have lost a valuable recruit. I have no doubt that had he applied to Australia, New Zealand, or Canada they would have accepted him with open arms (whether tattooed or not).

Danger of EU bureaucrats

From: Stewart Hanson, Collier Lane, Baildon, Shipley.

WHENEVER the EU starts sounding "green" – start worrying. They will not tackle matters intelligently.

An article in Le Monde has noted the impact of biofuel expansion on Third World food prices. It notes that rising corn prices are "certainly" linked to biofuel policies. It estimates that the World Food Programme will shortly have to spend 30 per cent more on food aid.

Separate to that, the OECD estimates that a startling 72 per cent of available land in the EU will need to be turned over to biofuel production in order to meet its absurd fuel target.

Bureaucrats are a pain. EU bureaucrats are dangerous.

On a plate

From: Su Taylor, The Vegetarian Society, Dunham Road, Altrincham.

I AM writing about your recent article "You don't need to skip a meal... just find your meal in a skip" (Yorkshire Post, March 24).

The article talks about degrees of freeganism and comments that there are "meagans, who choose to eat meat, despite normally being vegetarian". I'd like to correct this inaccuracy.

A vegetarian is someone who does not eat animals. Vegetarians do not eat any meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish or crustacea.

I think the "meagans" would more accurately be described as omnivores.

M-way risks

From: Janet Long, Coxwold, York.

THE other night, I passed the lane which is for car sharing on the M62. There was a young man whose car had broken down, tucked into the side of the road.

With no hard shoulder, he was very vulnerable, and I wondered at the wisdom of a motorway which could become a real danger zone if you break down.