Delingpole’s victims
Sir: In his most recent column (You know it makes sense, 17 April), James Delingpole suggests that ‘even as the wall is pushed on top of’ me by anti-gay Islamists, I ‘will be squealing with [my] last breath that it’s all the fault of Western imperialism and white heterosexist Islamophobia.’ I found this slightly odd, since I am so critical of Islamic fundamentalists that I have received a substantial number of death threats from them. I worked undercover at the Finsbury Park mosque after 9/11 to expose Islamists; I have debunked Hizb ut Tahrir as a bunch of theocratic fascists on live television; and after I wrote an article criticising the ‘Prophet’ Mohammed for having sex with a pre-pubescent girl when he was 53 years old, there was a three-day riot by over 3,000 people in Calcutta calling for me to be imprisoned or killed.
At no point did I blame ‘Islamophobia’ for this lunatic behaviour. On the contrary: I was highly critical of the people who put this case. Out of interest, what risks has James Delingpole ever taken to oppose Islamic fundamentalism?
Johann Hari
London E1
Sir: I agree with almost every word of James Delingpole’s very amusing article on gays and victimhood. Just two little points. First, although gay victimhood is indeed largely ‘over’ in the UK, the Conservative party resisted liberation. It was Labour that gave protection from prosecution for homosexuality in 1967 (England and Wales only), and Labour that fully decriminalised homosexuality in 2003. The Tories opposed gay partnership, and gave us Clause 28. Spectator readers admire the Conservatives as the party that believes the government should not stick its nose into our private lives unnecessarily; gay people know better.
Second, his comparison of Jews with gays is misleading. After centuries of sporadically horrible oppression, Jews can now live freely in dozens of countries, and even have a country of their own to live in if they choose; but, after centuries of equally horrible oppression, only a handful of countries give gays exactly the same rights as their heterosexual fellow citizens. The UK and Channel Islands, to their shame, are not among them.
David Jones
Amsterdam
Eastern art
Sir: As someone closely involved in the teaching of young people about some aspects of the European cultural magnificence mentioned by Paul Johnson (A question of art, 10 April), I applaud his eloquent, if selective, discussion of the wealth of European artistic achievement since the Renaissance. However, as a proud British Chinese, I would like to point out that had a Tang Dynasty Chinese scholar from, say, the 8th century been casting his eye across the first flowerings of western European culture, he might well have turned Mr Johnson’s question around and asked whether Europe would ever match the cultural magnificence of Asia. As a distinguished historian, Mr Johnson will I am sure appreciate the historical perspective.
Yeo Yat-Soon
Director of Music, St Paul’s Girls’ School, London
A British business
Sir: Martin Vander Weyer (Any Other Business, 10 April) has, in Net-a-Porter.com, chosen the wrong company to decry the lack of British dotcom triumphs. Apart from the fact that Natalie Massenet is half British and has chosen London as the place to live, build a business and bring up her family, Net-a-Porter is a London company, drawing on the best traditions of this country as a trading nation. Centuries ago, the Brits concluded that their domestic market was too small to support grand enterprise so they started trading with the world. So it was with Net-a-Porter, which launched in London and immediately started selling around the globe. Today we ship to 170 countries, with most of our goods sent from a distribution centre a mile or so from Docklands. Many of our original investors were British; we employ over 500 people in the UK; eight out of 11 of our senior team are Brits; and we support the best in young British designer talent. Who says this is not a British success story?
Mark Sebba
Chief Executive, Net-a-porter.com, London
Defending the Brothers
Sir: M.G. Sherlock (Letters, 17 April) writes: ‘it is hard to find anyone who endured the Brothers in youth who now has a good word to say for them.’ May I volunteer? When, in Cardiff in the 1930s and 1940s, I was taught by the Christian Brothers, I experienced the strap and the cane quite often. But for me those years were not overshadowed by fear. I knew that I could usually stay out of trouble by punctuality and attentiveness in class. And, though very clumsy and unathletic, I was never seriously bullied. I thank the brothers for that — they were at least determined that no one but themselves would oppress their subjects. (By the way, I doubt whether it will ever be possible to keep boys from bullying each other without the spectre of corporal punishment.)
David Watkins
Cardiff
Game change
Sir: Simon Heffer (Diary, 17 April) is right in his comments about English county cricket, particularly in relation to uncovered wickets. However, the games, despite the absence of Test stars, have more relevance than 15 years ago, when there was no promotion or relegation.
What also must be said is that true cricket lovers are getting fed up with the lack of coherence in the fixture organisation of county cricket’s four-day games. The games are being shoehorned into April, May and September, as the organisers of cricket chase the quick buck from Twenty/20.
For those aged over 35, cricket in its domestic form will soon be changed beyond recognition. The game they fell in love with at a young age will have vanished.
David Rimmer
Hertford
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