Visitors must respect the laws of Qatar

WHAT a wonderful crop of letters in the paper on November 15, I found myself agreeing with almost all of them, especially the one from Phillip Milton!

Jeremy Comerford is absolutely correct when he says that “reparations will not solve the climate issue”. Over the years there have been similar calls for reparations from Great Britain and other countries who had colonies in the past, particularly in Africa, but what they tend to forget – or conveniently ignore – is the fact that the wealthier countries of the world pour countless billions into those very same, so-called developing countries (GB alone contribution is around 12-13 billion) every year, often with little result and will no doubt continue to do so for the foreseeable future – just how much more do they want?

Turning now to the letter from Julian Hill, again he is quite right when he challenges the current idea that British history should be trashed whenever possible, no country in the world could honestly stand up and say that their past is ‘100% squeaky clean’.

Of course, the slave trade was terrible, but the way it is projected today one would be forgiven for thinking that Britain was the only country that practiced it, when in fact it goes back to biblical times and probably before. But history is just that, history, both good and bad, no defacing of statues, bending our knees and apologising for the past is going to alter it. Let us at least try to remember that Great Britain was (and still is) one of the greatest countries in the world and we should be proud of it and its past.

Finally, a first! I found myself agreeing (mostly) with Mr Westerman over his letter about Qatar and their rather bigoted views on homosexuality. However, I think a word of caution would be advisable for those going to watch the football, Qatari views may not be the same as ours on many subjects, but no matter how much we may disagree with them, they are the laws of that country and must be respected by those visiting it.

Paul Mercer

Devon