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Your support makes all the difference.With regard to the tragic death of Caroline Flack this weekend, I can only ask what on earth the Crown Prosecution Service was thinking in pressing ahead with a prosecution against her.
Her boyfriend, the alleged victim, reportedly did not support the prosecution, nor did Flack have any prior offending history and there was no history of suspected “prior domestic abuse” either. What was the point in spending all that taxpayers’ money? And where was the public interest justification in pursuing her? The CPS’ own guidelines do not appear to demonstrate the necessity to have gone this far with the case and I cannot believe an “ordinary” (read “non celebrity”) female member of the public would have been pursued in this way. Indeed I do worry what was going on behind the scenes within the CPS with regard to pursuing what would appear to have been a satisfyingly high profile but, with hindsight, seems to be a completely pointless prosecution against a vulnerable woman with absolutely no prior criminal history. I am all for justice but I don’t believe this is what occurred here. Far from it.
Diane Learmont-Hughes
Caldy
Don’t give up on the BBC yet
Your editorial on Sunday about the government attack on the BBC was one of the most depressing that I have read in a long time. Why do we have to “start mourning it’s passing” as if it is a done deal? The BBC is one of the UK’s greatest brands and we should not give it up so easily. Ask questions of it, maybe. Look for improvement possibly, but should we give up and move to a commercial model just like that? Things that are worth having are worth keeping. Please do not mourn yet!
Dennis Allen
Oxford
Mea culpa
Here’s an example of a common problem. Today’s leader included the phrase “Adam Smith-venerating Tories”. The problem is that the dash linking “Adam Smith” to “venerating” is more powerful than the space linking “Adam” to “Smith”. So it transforms the intended meaning of “(Adam Smith) venerating” into “Adam (Smith venerating)”, which was not intended.
A similar problem arises when using a forward slash to separate concepts if one of them has a two-word format.
John Harrison
Address supplied
The Beeb’s global reach
I spent seven years in Poland from January 1991 teaching English as a foreign language. The first encounter with my new students involved asking about their associations with, and impressions of the UK. The same answers came back almost every time: “The BBC and the Queen.” Many accredited their knowledge of, and interest in English to listening to the BBC on a daily basis. They had also relied upon the BBC to provide a counter-balance to the communist propaganda with which they knew they were being fed.
This entirely dismal government is making a grave error in underestimating the “soft power” of the BBC given its immeasurable global cultural influence.
Dominica Jewell
Normandy
Labour leader should respect the US
The selection of a new leader of the opposition party is a matter of anxiety, especially in the light of the character of the person they will be replacing. The extreme left-wing ideologies that thankfully failed to gain the support of the voters recently are in danger of being carried forward. One aspect of deep concern is the constant denigration of the United States of America.
This is a country to whom we owe so much and with whom we have a “special relationship”, not only for security and as a trading partner, but far more importantly that they are a bastion for Christianity.
It is in this regard I trust and pray that a new leader will respect and uphold the integrity of that nation along with our own.
Ralph Lucas
Purleigh
AI transcription
(“Will artificial intelligence put journalists out of work?” Editor’s letter, 16 February). Use as much AI and speech transcription as you like, but for goodness sake, if the originators of the material won’t do it, employ a proofreader – old fashioned as that make sound, and limit the use of automatic correcting – one often knows what they mean, but so often they let the computer change the spelling.
Elizabeth Pullan
Chichester
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