Hope that JK Rowling’s fightback can spell the end of Scottish wokery

sir – If, as Byron put it, Cervantes “smiled Spain’s chivalry away”, hopefully some bard of the future will record that “JK Rowling smiled Scotland’s wokery away” (“No10 backs Rowling as she dares police to arrest her over trans tweets”, report, April 2).

John Webster Oxford

sir – Rishi Sunak was right to back JK Rowling over her remarks on Scotland’s new hate-crime law.

He should go further and give her a damehood for services to national sanity in the next honours list.

Jennifer Reynolds Okehampton, Devon

sir – I see that under the new Scottish hate-crime law, an offence can be committed on the say-so of “a reasonable person” (“Thousands of police ‘not trained’ on hate law”, report, April 2).

This might invite the question, for instance, of whether transgender activists are “reasonable people” or hysterical extremists.

Who is to judge? Roger White Sherborne, Dorset

sir – It has been shocking to learn of the amount of hatred pervading Scotland and its people, and that this may now take a whole industry to deal with – including 500 hate-crime champions (report, March 27).

It seems they must have been fooling us all this time into thinking they were normal, decent people.

Hilary Chelminski Addiscombe, Surrey

sir – Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s First Minister, said: “There is far too much hatred in our society” (Features, April 1). Has he looked in the SNP mirror? His predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon, said in October 2022: “I detest the Tories and everything they stand for.”

Peter Richardson Amersham, Buckinghamshire

sir – Isn’t it ironic that a party whose sole raison d’etre is to break up the United Kingdom has introduced the Hate Crime (Scotland) Act?

The SNP has systematically played on irrational animosity towards the English in order to further its delusional objective of achieving independence.

This legislation is not only misguided, it’s the height of hypocrisy.

Ian Garratt Brasted, Kent

sir – One has to ask whether the term “United Kingdom” has become a misnomer.

Devolution, intended to enable local areas to deal with local issues, is one thing – and probably acceptable to most of the electorate. However, we now have different law on freedom of speech within and beyond one’s household in separate parts of the Kingdom. Is devolution out of control?

Peter Williman Chatteris, Cambridgeshire