Letters

The Ashes & Diamonds exhibition will be on show at Wortley Hall, see www.wortleyhall.org.uk from November
7th – 12th.

From the leaders of the labour
movement, in particular the Labour Party, the idea that the Tory cuts
are “ideological” is often put forward. The idea is that the Tories are
doing this out of ideological commitment against the welfare state. This
is misleading. The cuts are a product of the crisis of the Capitalist
system.

In ancient Rome, when things got a bit tricky, the Emperor would splash
out on a series of games complete with gladiators, mock battles, lions
eating Christians and other fun for all the family, The idea was to
distract people from the realities of life and keep them happy – at
least until the Goths arrived for their annual  bout of pillaging,
sacking and raping. Nowadays, such carnage is not possible – even on X Factor. So we have the next best thing, yet another royal wedding.