January 30 Letters: Cumberbatch clearly meant no offence

From: Paul Morley, Long Preston, Skipton.

Why should the actor Benedict Cumberbatch have to apologise because a few bleeding heart liberals had an attack of the vapours when he used an old- fashioned term for people who aren’t white?

He wasn’t being offensive to black and Asian actors but actually speaking up for them.

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In my lifetime the terms black, coloured and people of colour have been accepted terms to describe non-white people and none of these terms were ever meant in a malicious way.

I’m sure in the near future somebody (probably white with left-of-centre tendencies) will come up with another term.

We will then all have to try to reprogramme our brains to the new term or risk censure if we slip up and use the old one.

What these anti-everything campaigners can’t seem to get their narrow minds around is that it is not the term that is the problem but the sense in which it is said. None of the terms I have mentioned were ever meant derogatorily and Mr Cumberbatch obviously never meant anything insulting. Don’t let this put you off giving support to all actors, Benedict.

The case for regional rule

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From: Professor Paul Salveson MBE, Parliamentary Candidate for Colne Valley, Yorkshire First, Golcar.

Nick Clegg starts off with the correct premise that devolution to Scotland but not England “isn’t sustainable” (The Yorkshire Post, January 28), but draws the wrong conclusions.

We certainly need stronger local government but what is missing is the regional tier, for the whole of Yorkshire. The mish-mash of combined authorities and city mayors will achieve little and keep power entrenched in Whitehall and Westminster.

Scotland has a very similar population to that of Yorkshire – just over five million – but with infinitely more powers. If we are serious about creating a more balanced and growing economy across the UK which combines social justice and democratic accountability, the case for elected regional assemblies is very strong.

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Nick Clegg’s solution is little more than an attempt to revive his party’s flagging fortunes. Fortunately people will have the chance of putting Yorkshire first at the coming general election.

Good picture – but ruined

From: Ron Farley, Camblesforth, Near Selby.

I DO enjoy Monday’s Picture Post, but if you are going to show one extolling the beauty of the Dales and the product of the skill of our dry stone wallers, then please show a good example of the finished product and not the untidy remnants of an old fallen down one (The Yorkshire Post, January 26)!

It might make a good lead-in to a good picture, but it is a bad advert for our skilled “wallers”.

Knighthoods for everyone

From: Anthony Hopkins, Guiseley.

will there ever be an end to the now tiresome correspondence column discussions in The Yorkshire Post as to who should or should not be recognised with a knighthood or similar title?

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Can it not be very readily and equitably resolved by the simple procedure of at birth endowing all male offspring with a knighthood and all female offspring with a dameship, thus removing any question of 
who is more worthy than another?

Of course, Royal approval will be required which can be by means of a certificate from the reigning Monarch by post – first class of course – and think of the boost for Royal Mail postal services.

Class war 
by coalition

From: Albert Smith, Bradford.

after four years of Tory-Lib Dem government we have seen the level of VAT increased to 20 per cent, the lowering of the fuel allowance, reduction of pension increases, bedroom tax on the poor and student fees increased to £9,000.

All this and more makes the working class worse off each year.

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Yet the same government has lowered the tax rate for the rich from 50 to 45 per cent and allows the banks who caused the financial crash to pay bonuses up to £5bn each year.

This results in the poor getting poorer and the rich getting even richer. I know which two parties I will not be voting for in May.

Bike highway goes adrift

Mr SB Oliver, Heckmondwike.

I just had to laugh at an item on the BBC TV digital text service with news from the Leeds area.

The item was about a 14-mile cycle super-highway from Bradford city centre to Seacroft, Leeds, called City Connect Project.

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It is expected to be completed by the end of this year and, according to the BBC, the scheme “also includes resurfacing parts of the Leeds-Liverpool canal”.

Now, that I would love to witness with a camera.

Won’t the resurfaced parts 
just flow slowly away towards Leeds?

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