Sir, – If a man walked out on his wife and did not want to appear a cad he would, indeed, pace Jim Stack (September 17th), not criticise her previous behaviour. However, if the same wife insisted on continuing to meddle in the man’s life he would be well justified in calling for her to desist.
As soon as the Catholic Church hands back the running of our national schools so that children from families of all faiths and none can receive a State-funded education without discriminatory entry requirements, in an environment that is not shot through with the propaganda and artefacts of that religion; as soon as the church guarantees that it will not attempt to influence the laws and Constitution of this country so that its precepts effectively stand between a doctor and his or her patient; as soon as we have a situation where the Catholic Church does not continuously impinge on my life unless I wish it to, then Mr Stack and each and every one of his co-religionists can proceed without a word from me. I will in fact, to paraphrase Voltaire, defend, to the death, his and their right to do so.
– Yours, etc,