MY heart sank when I read that my home city has declared itself the first UK city on human rights, but I wasn’t surprised (The Press, April 19).

It seems to me that the liberal elite in York have for at least the last 40 years espoused every vacuous fashionable cause going. They even rival the luvvies of Hampstead in London.

Human rights at first sight appears to be a noble aspiration. In practice it is a gravy train for lawyers and it is used by their clients to play the system at a cost of millions to the taxpayer.

I see that the campaign was initiated by Prof Paul Gready of the University of York.

It seems to me that since its inception in 1963 it, in tandem with the Joseph Rowntree Trust, has encouraged the “I am right” mindset which has unfortunately infected modern day Britain.

I suggest that Prof Gready looks to his own institution and abolishes “deplatforming”, ie not allowing those with views you disagree with to speak.

Whatever happened to vigorous debate and free speech, which should be a cornerstone of our universities?

Carole Tucker, Highgate, London