“It was a very different time” is now shorthand for attempts to shut down moral judgment of past actions. This could possibly be acceptable when judging vague, distant insights into primitive societies and cultures from many hundreds of thousands of years ago; it is not acceptable when applied to our relatively recent history.

I am confident that if I could go back in time and inform most people about the now widely known details of the slave trade the majority would view it as inhuman, immoral and criminal. The people who made money out from this appalling trade would not need to be told; they knew the details and they thrived on its barbarity. There should be no celebration of their lives no matter how many philanthropic projects to which they attached their name.

Our world now is in desperate need of unity – of shared humanity and the odious views of divisive, racist individuals from our past should be consigned to the dustbin of history not excused and celebrated in statues and monuments.

John Dillon
Birmingham

Regardless of one’s political affiliations and in spite of those governmental policies with which one might not agree, I have always supposed that our surface differences were underpinned by common principles that unite us in society. I had assumed that our political representatives and leaders subscribed to some basic human qualities and values that define all of us, at our best. I’m thinking about things like kindness, decency, fairness, honesty, sincerity, and so on.

Over the last few years – and more intensely day by day over recent months – I have wondered whether our leaders and their advisers have these values at the core of their being. When things are tough, instant recourse to one’s values ensures that decisions are grounded in what would best serve the common good and not just our pressing, personal needs. These days, I see and hear politicians seeking recourse in what would best serve themselves and what gestures might best manipulate the public in order to serve their personal, short-term ends.

If we are not guided and led by common values, we become morally bankrupt and disregard the common good and all our children’s future in favour of selfish expediency. At the very least, our politicians should model and reflect those values that bind us together and not those that drive us selfishly apart.

Graham Powell
Cirencester

These days will be remembered as a time of great sickness across the western world. First there was Covid-19, which inflicted the mature and randomly struck down the frail and infirm. Then came the PC madness that inflicted the immature and selectively struck down history and the truth.

Mark Dyer
Australia

Am I alone in wondering, during this crisis of mortality, deprivation and inequality, why the loudest voices in the land are contending for the welfare of inanimate objects? Down with symbolism, is my cry.

Cole Davis
Norwich

I am glad to see that the government is now taking on responsibility for social distancing and not listening to scientific advice (“Government could overrule scientific advisers and relax two-metre distancing rule, chancellor says”).

I’m wondering if they are looking at reports as to what is happening in other countries after they cut their social distancing rules. As soon as they reduce social distancing, I’m sure we will see an increase in coronavirus cases. I’m glad the economy is more important to them than that of the nation’s health.

Jade Bandit
Address supplied

Black history should be made compulsory in schools in order to help “build” a sense of identity in every young person in this country. For far too long young black and mixed-race people have been denied the opportunity to learn about the true history of the UK – instead being taught a sanitised version of half truths.

I believe that the inclusion of black history in the national curriculum would go some way for all young people to have a more enlightened view of this country.

Richard McDermid
Address supplied