Words are powerful, they heal or destroy

RECENTLY I wrote expressing my concern about Suella Braverman, her unsuitability for her post and her immoderate use of language when discussing polarising topics such as race and immigration.

Last week, Mr Carroll wrote, expressing his fear that his freedom of speech had been curtailed by an ‘extreme wokeness virus’. But despite his fears, his letter, in all its glory, was published for all to read.

Words are powerful. They can heal or destroy. Language is the medium by which we think, form and transmit opinions so the power and the precision of the language we use is key.

In the Commons, the MP Lee Anderson said: “When are we going to grow a backbone and do the right thing and send them (refugees) straight back the same day?” Braverman has described her ‘dream’ of transporting migrants to Rwanda. Boris Johnson is known for his infamous descriptions of ‘letterboxes’ and ‘water melon smiles’. Enoch Powell spouted his infamous ‘rivers of blood’ speech.

‘Go home’ slogans were painted on buses to deter ‘illegal’ immigrants during the May government. And, lest we forget, the Nazis called the Jews ‘Untermenschen’, describing Jews, Gypsies and others as rats: dangerous, disease-carrying rats.

Language has the power to foment hate, which eventually led to the murders of Jo Cox and David Amess, causing untold heartache for their friends and families and threatening our democracy at its roots.

Catherine Pickles Buckfastleigh, Devon