Students must not pander to this Brexit bias

WE SHOULDN’T be surprised at the universities’ irritation when an MP asked what students are being taught about Brexit (Mail).

Students should be encouraged to debate all issues, to protest and promote fresh ideas, but there is a worrying trend where they accept one idea and declare any other point of view unacceptable and off the agenda for discussion.

We have witnessed them calling for statues of historical figures — oddly enough, none of them Leftwing — to be pulled down, and banning (or ‘no-platforming’ as they call it) guest speakers.

Are we facing an insidious culture of students backing the ‘approved’ opinion in order to get good marks?

Will lecturers have to do likewise to keep their jobs?

PETER EDWARDS, Southampton. I AM shocked and saddened that some of our universities are circulating biased information relating to Brexit to students.

When I was the principal of a college, such actions by academic staff would never have been tolerated. Education must at all times relate to the presentation of facts in an unbiased manner.

Dr JAMES MARSDEN, Cardiff. IF THE universities had not received millions in EU funding, might lecturers have been more impartial? It is worth remembering that for every £1 the EU gives them, UK taxpayers provide over £2.

In the circumstances, it is not unreasonable to question the impartiality of lecturers, as we do with BBC presenters. They should not be offended by that.

ROGER J. ARTHUR, Pulborough, W. Sussex. WHY all the hysteria about lecturers pushing a Left-wing agenda? This has been going on since the Sixties, when Trotskyists and then Militant Tendency made it their policy to infiltrate our learning establishments and indoctrinate gullible students. I know some teachers who were anti-Tory throughout their working lives — but now, retired and sitting on gold- plated pensions, they have changed their perspective on life and politics.

DAVID FISHER, Shirley Bridge, Warks. COULD it not be that university lecturers mostly favour remaining in the EU because they consider it to be in the long-term economic interests of the UK? VALERIE CREWS, Beckenham, Kent.

The great outdoors

I FULLY support the Dandelion Education Nursery’s outdoors approach (Mail).

My two- year- old grandson Sebastian lives in China, where urban pollution, inner-city living and the lack of a garden or playground limit his opportunities to play outside.

When he visited me recently, his joy at being outdoors was a delight to behold. We collected conkers and acorns, dredged for pond weed, examined worm casts and molehills and made mud pies. He enjoyed sitting quietly and watching jackdaws and red kites overhead. We didn’t need costly electronic amusements.

There is much merit in a slower pace of life for children in their early years.

Caring professionals in nurseries are all well and good, but they can’t provide the memories a grandparent can. HAZEL VANBERGEN,

Old Basing, Hants. MY GRANDCHILDREN in Norway attend a nursery where they play outside every day, whatever the weather or temperature. They visit a wigwam in the forest nearby and cook over an open fire. I don’t know what health and safety would say here!

ROBIN COX, Hungerford, Berks.

Respect war graves

THERE have been calls to raise the Lisbon Maru, the Japanese prison ship on which 800 British PoWs were locked up and left to drown after she was torpedoed in October 1942 (Mail).

In total, 157 voyages were undertaken by Japanese hell ships during World War II. Many were sunk in the seas around Japan and elsewhere, and dozens of wrecks containing the remains of Allied Far East PoWs litter the seabed.

These are war graves, and it would be a travesty if the Lisbon Maru were raised. We will remember those who died on such ships on Remembrance Sunday.

CECIL LOWRY, Stockport, Gtr Manchester.

Silence is golden

AFTER the disgrace of the MPs’ expenses scandal, it has been revealed that 16 ‘silent’ peers have claimed £400,000 in allowances even though they have not spoken in a debate for a year (Mail).

How can they do this to taxpayers? It really is time we reduced our representatives to a more manageable 300 MPs and 375 Lords.

My town has three MPs and 60 councillors. Multiply this throughout the country and you begin to see why we are in debt.

M. COOPER, Wolverhampton.

Happy care home

THERE has been a lot of publicity about bad care homes, with people saying they fear ‘ending up’ in such places.

I would just like to reassure readers that living in a care home can be a positive experience.

The one I live in is wonderful — we want for nothing, the food is top-class, and we are never short of a cup of tea or coffee.

Our rooms are kept spotless, a hairdresser visits regularly and we have a great laugh with the carers, who are super people.

MARGARET HONEY, Wadebridge, Cornwall.