A letter I wrote about Prince Harry's comments

Happy New Year to all. I thought I would post this up to show my views on the comments made by Prince Harry which I sent to local newspapers. I'll come up with something more inventive next time.

In light of the recent racist comment made by Prince Harry about a Pakistani member of his Platoon as well as a complaint made by a constituent over racist abuse; I am compelled to air my views on the subject.

Racism or any type of discrimination in any shape or form is unacceptable. It should be stamped out at root and branch in institutions like the Army, like the Police. That is why it is so important that members of the British National Party are not allowed in the Police Service.

This outburst highlights a problem that many people still believe that the term in question is not racist. In most cases I believe that the use of the term is down to ignorance and is not malicious in intent. However this type of language is still derogatory and must be erased from casual conversation. This is not about political correctness; this is about treating each member of society equally and with respect.

Britain has come on leaps and bounds from the utterly abhorrent days sparked by the Rivers of Blood speech from Enoch Powell. We have moved forwards together in our communities to look past skin colour and vicious lies spread by fascists and racists like the British National Party.

Whilst Britain has moved forward to become a more tolerant society; this recent outburst illustrates that there is still work to be done to ensure that old unjustified prejudices die and are not revived by violent thugs who wish to destroy our communities for political gain.