Cruelty towards foxes is endemic in British culture

What a horrifying report, that at least one fox in east London was tortured and set on fire by a group of men. The depth of depravity and visceral cruelty this reveals is beyond belief. It is enough to make you weep with despair.

Foxes are subjected to a level of cruelty probably above any other native species in Britain. The fact that large groups of people regularly dress up in a certain uniform and tour the countryside for the purpose of setting their dogs onto foxes, who are forced to run to exhaustion before being literally torn to pieces by the dogs, is a scandal of epic proportions. Foxes are also snared, mainly by gamekeepers – a vile practice that should be banned outright – and shot with impunity.

Foxes are such lovely animals, sensitive and intelligent, and I am ashamed to be a human being when I reflect on my species’ treatment of them. Here at Little Foxes Wildlife Rescue we try and redress the balance somewhat, and it is our privilege to do so.

Penny Little Little Foxes Wildlife Rescue

Sue Gray will be a good fit for Labour

I read Sean O’Grady’s column about Sue Gray with interest and agreement (Why shouldn’t Gray go and work for the Labour Party?, Voices, Saturday). Why indeed not? And if the media and Conservative MPs are up in incandescent arms, so be it. Keir

Starmer and Sue Gray would have weighed up all probable fallout from this appointment, and have chosen to rise above its clamorous conspiracy “babble” and whipped-up disapprobation.

I have a certain admiration for this woman who has been extolled for her diligent work ethic, her independence, and surviving the all-powerful spotlight she was subjected to while making her Partygate report.

I think they will make a good match, and let’s hope there will be far more ethical showing than telling in this working relationship; after all, I think we’ve all had enough wild stories and political stitch-ups to last us several lifetimes. Calm, proactive and well-reasoned governance from a Labour government, in the not-too-distant future, will hit the professional political sweet spot.

Judith A Daniels Great Yarmouth

We shouldn’t speculate on cyclist case

We seem to have quite a few legal experts voicing their opinions here on what they appear to believe is a wrongful conviction of a pedestrian (Jailing people for shouting at cyclists is a waste of money, Voices, Friday).

Even getting to the ridiculous level of claiming innocence based on rule 64 of the highway code, can we please take a step back here? A 77-year-old cyclist using the pavement to avoid a treacherous road was shouted at, and subsequently veered back onto the road and was killed. A tragedy.

This is not a black-and-white case. None of us know the full details, and we must trust our legal system in looking at all the available evidence and making a just decision.

Paul Morrison Glasgow

A Gray area

Johnson and his cronies seem to think that being impartial means either having the same personal political views as they have or having no personal political views at all. However, they are wrong; being impartial means setting aside your own personal views in giving advice or investigating an issue, and looking only at the facts of a matter.

Johnson himself said that he knows no one who was more impartial than Sue Gray, and I’m sure Keir Starmer has taken her on for that very reason – a good leader likes to have someone near him who tells him what he needs to hear, not what he likes to hear.

Gordon Whitehead Scalby, North Yorkshire

Enough political correctness

Many people have been angered by the “Wakefield Incident”, yet another example of school management and police grotesquely overreacting to an incident because it might offend minorities.

It is good that Suella Braverman is taking action to revise the policies schools and police should use regarding such matters. However, she is making one fatal error.

She should not be issuing “guidance” to schools and police; she should be issuing rules which must be followed, or heads will roll.

It is time we stamped out this political correctness nonsense once and for all.

Ian McNicholas Waunlwyd, Ebbw Vale

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