SIR: I feel compelled to write to you, in the wake of the recent correspondence concerning the proposed march by the Apprentice Boys of Derry, which was successfully halted earlier this month.

As one who would have been there to add my voice to the protest, had I not been away from Bolton on the day in question, may I make three comments.

The Apprentice Boys of Derry seek to remember and glorify a particularly brutal and bloody episode of Anglo/Irish history. For decent British people, these events should only be recalled with shame and remorse not celebration.

That the ABOD did not condemn but actively welcomed the support of Combat 18 indicates to which mast they have nailed their colours!

I find it very distasteful (if not racist) that the Asian people who were involved in the protest have been singled out for criticism; members of the Asian community are no less British than the Apprentice Boys of Derry and they have the same rights to freedom of speech as any other section of the community.

Finally, may I salute all those decent and brave people who took the trouble to stand up and be counted on April 13 and who secured, by their protest, a moral and inspiring victory. While there are people like you to represent the rest of us, the fight for those freedoms which Combat 18 and their allies would repress, is in safe hands.

D A Taylor

Hadleigh Close, Bolton

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.