MUCH as I dislike replying to the criticism that follows my letters on this page, the recent level of misunderstanding compels me to do so.

That tired old cliché about “deploring the statement while defending the freedom to make it” is routinely run out by those who never test with original thought the boundaries of this profoundly apathetic society.

All who campaign against the present anti-Islamic hysteria know only too well the dangers of “free speech”.

They also have seen the unreported police brutality at anti-fascist demonstrations; have seen the interminably long prison sentences – 22 years last week for “thought crime”; and have seen the prosecution of those speaking out in defence of Palestinians as anti-Semitic.

As for “the true horrors of ISIS”, what can we know amid all the contradictions and lies other than that 18 months ago this government was pressing for war on their behalf to help topple the Syrian Government.

If they exist in the form that the media wishes us to believe, then I am as far removed from their ideology as I am from the “less than interesting” contributors to this page.

Roger Westmoreland, The Oval, Pocklington.