I refer to the letter, Echo Wed. 15 July ‘Imperialist Palmerston’.

Whilst the majority of us deplore the event in the U.S that sparked off this statue pulling distraction; it is just that, a distraction whipped up by a militant minority aided by social media.

This distraction needs to be kept in proper perspective and all of us need to resist temptation to disinter our history and pick over the entrails to judge our past by today’s standards.

We are not responsible for the sins of our fathers.

History is there to remind us and not to be forgotten.

The mindless complacency and gross hypocrisy of a minority, who choose to ignore what is going on in society today, knows no bounds.

I read a report recently which estimated that there are 100,000 slaves in this country today; nearly 200 years after it was made illegal.

That attracts no attention in their angry demonstrations.

Clearly it involves just too much effort, whereas history is a sitting target, where these types can pick and choose their topic at will.

We all need to accept that we are where we are and attend to the present and look forward not backwards and resist the temptation to air brush our history from our minds and surroundings.

SG Prince

Southampton