Let’s stop today’s slavery, not rewrite history

SIR – Dame Jenni Murray says Britain should confront its colonial history (report, March 14).

I am not sure what sort of school she went to, where she learnt about the British Empire without the attendant slavery narrative. I attended a girls’ grammar school, and these two subjects were taught simultaneously.

There is still, however, a thriving slave trade – and this is what we should be dealing with, as we can change it. Barbara Marshall

Helmdon, Northamptonshire

SIR – You report (March 14) that Lambeth Council is proposing to rename Juxon Street.

What on earth has poor Archbishop Juxon to do with slavery and exploitation? Not only was he an outstanding academic, but he also rose to became Bishop of London before being appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles II. He supported Charles I, the Martyr King, on the scaffold, and was a devout and Christian gentleman. He was also a talented gardener and is probably responsible for the preservation of the gardens at Lambeth Palace and the adjoining Archbishop’s Park.

Is this proposal not carrying political correctness to idiotic levels?

Fra’ Ian Scott

London SE1

SIR – Changing the names of the Haberdashers’ Aske’s schools (report, March 13) will not change the fact that staff and pupils have benefited – and will continue to benefit – from the slave trade; it will merely hide it.

The schools should include the details in their literature so people can reach their own views on whether a decision made over 300 years ago is relevant today.

Ian Pimblett

Lymington, Hampshire