Letter: An English fit only for elites

Who does John Honey think he is ("Education professor wants language laws to teach us right from wrong", 17 August)?

What gives him the right to decide what is correct English? The fact that he's middle class and a Cambridge academic? How ironic that after the election of a populist social democratic government the reactionary notion of an elitist academy of English should again rear its ugly head. What we need are initiatives to undermine the monopoly that Standard English (the language of the politically and economically powerful South-east) enjoys in our institutions and which denies access to non-standard and regional variants. Let Professor Honey and his ilk keep to their ivory towers and let common usage determine correctness.

Martin Dobie

London E1