Who is the Communist in this debate?

The letter suggested I was a Communist because I said no former coal miner in South Yorkshire could ever go along with the idea of the August Bank Holiday changing its name to Margaret Thatcher Day.

I still cannot personally see what is wrong with that sentiment and still believe it is true.

At no point did I suggest I agreed with them and neither did I suggest I agreed with the majority of the population of Scotland and their reaction to being treated as Poll Tax Guinea Pigs.

But “Disgruntled Reader” or whatever made-up name the letter writer opted for, I actually neither know no care who it came from, believes me to be a Communist merely for offering an opinion.

In my book, when you are not allowed to have an opinion without someone shouting it down, the person doing the shouting is actually more likely to be the Communist!

I am not about to start discussing my own political beliefs, I’ll just say that like most right-minded members of society, I believe there are good and bad points in most mainstream political ideals and I could no more be a Communist than I could Fascist.

I also wrote recently about the progress made locally in the right against racism.

I expected letters and got one. It is a shame this particular correspondent did not want his letter published.

In it he made some very valid points, but also missed the point of what I was trying to say.

One of his biggest points seemed to be that in every case of positive discrimination there was someone who missed out, usually someone of the “indigenous population”.

I never advocated positive discrimination as I don’t like it at all in any circumstances.

What I actually said was: “I still find it very difficult to understand how the colour of someone’s skin, their religion, their heritage culture or language could make them a better or worse person.”

Still seems fair enough to me.