Letters

The Editor, Sir:

I take issue with your letter writer, Winston D. Barrett, who accused me of supporting "illegal and anti-social activities" in my letter to the editor in which I condemned the manner in which the police had executed their lawful duty.

I made a point of emphasising that I "agreed and accepted" that they have to be removed and for the very reasons he described, but complained that the anti-social behaviour they display does not apply to all but the minority. I stated that as they have grown accustomed to earning an honest living by that means and countless lives are dependent on them, efforts should be made to provide them with an alternative source of livelihood, but in the interim, methods should be found to regulate their operations.

Inhumane removal

So, far from failing "to uphold the law rather than encourage its violation", I was concerned with the inhumane manner in which their removal took place, bearing in mind the lack of notice and the fact that they were incarcerated.

However, I can understand the perspective from which Mr Barrett speaks. He reveals it in his choice of word in describing these young men as 'miscreants' - the Oxford Dictionary's definition is "wretched". Clearly Mr Barrett does not believe "the wretched of this earth" are worthy of sharing the same air space he does.

I am, etc.,

HOWARD HAMILTON, QC

Kingston