Letters: Britain doesn’t have a ‘two-tier’ policing problem

Less is more

Sir: While I wholeheartedly agree with Toby Young’s observation that ‘more censorship would make things worse, not better’ (No sacred cows, 10 August), I’m confused by his remedy – ‘more and better speech’. First, how does one decide what better even means, without it becoming a form of censorship? Second, and perhaps more worryingly, it feels like something Stalin might appreciate. ‘Quantity has a quality of its own,’ he once said. In their different ways, both incessant social media and weekly magazines rather disprove that.

Grant Feller

Fowey, Cornwall

Backfiring rioters

Sir: The minority who threw bricks, set fire to vehicles and attacked police (‘Mob mentality’, 10 August) have now ensured that the rational and entirely legitimate concerns about mass immigration and illegal Channel crossings held by those who don’t throw bricks, set fire to vehicles or attack police will be further ignored.

Stefan Badham

Portsmouth

The state of reading

Sir: Mary Wakefield’s article struck a somewhat pessimistic note on the state of reading and the teaching of literature in schools (‘Book ends’, 10 August). I have worked as an English teacher in England and now Scotland for many years. I share the concern about screens, but let’s not be too despairing. The children I teach can and do produce imaginative and exciting creative work of their own. They always have and they always will.

Tess Killen

Balblair, Ross-shire

Screen off

Sir: In your poll ‘Who is your favourite character in children’s literature?’ (10 August), Toby Young says that he tried to interest his children in the books he loved as a child, but failed because they do not even understand what books are. I count myself lucky that I am not trying to pass on the joys of reading today, but had the chance to do so when it was a little easier a few years ago. My wife and I always thought that TV and computer games were the enemies of imagination, and so a grave danger to education in general.