I’d choose duke’s straight talking over ‘woke’ society

Sir, – I wonder why, out of the plethora of tributes paid to the life of the Duke of Edinburgh, not one mainstream British television channel or national newspaper dared to go where Prince Philip frequently and intrepidly ventured.

If the duke wasn’t a rebel he was no stranger to speaking his mind and pushing boundaries, and surely attributes worth celebrating, especially in this age of thought sterilisation, and not doing right for fear of doing wrong.

There is no denying that the grand old duke knew how to drive a horse and cart through political correctness.

Woke he wasn’t; awake he was – to the need for straight talking, and how refreshingly different when we consider just how mealy-mouthed we have to be these days as we tiptoe around so many issues and campaign groups.

Quite rightly, the media

– and in particular the BBC – highlighted Philip’s unstinting service to Queen and country, as well as the way he offered young people a sense of direction and achievement through the multiple-award Duke Of Edinburgh challenge scheme for schools, colleges and institutions.

It’s just a shame the BBC are so politically correct that they filtered out the one timeless quality of Philip which chimed with many; his courage to ask prickly questions, to challenge accepted wisdom, to say what he thought, be it clumsy or not, and to refuse to submit to the trendy thinking and political pressures of the day.

I hope I’m wrong but it seems to me that as the older generation goes, gone for good will be those not afraid to take on the system.

How grey and uninspiring to be left facing a landscape of “yes” men and women.

Better and much more colourful to put your foot in it now and then if it means always being your own person. Jamie Buchan.

Grove Road, Dundee.