My ancestors not to blame

Once more Tony Blair goes out of his way to humiliate this country in the eyes of the world. His latest hobbyhorse is the slave trade. Not the slave trade which over the centuries has been practiced throughout the world and certainly not that adopted by indigenous Africans between warring tribal groups or indeed by Muslim nations (for example the Ottoman Turks) against Christians.The practice has been and still is terrible and inhumane, but we cannot take this out of its historical context. But the politically correct thing to do is to imply that the British and the British alone were slavers, all part of apologising for that evil British Empire so beloved of the modern day chattering classes.

Tony, if you wish to wear sackcloth and ashes, do this in your own name. It may well be that your well-heeled ancestors involved themselves in the slave trade, but I can assure you that mine didn't. My ancestors were dying of starvation in Ireland or being worked to death in the mills and mines of Lancashire.

I dare say that this will provide Two Jags Prescott with something to do. I envisage picture opportunities for him on visits to junior schools where the children have spent months drawing friezes of the insides of slave ships.

Taken to its logical conclusion, as we are now part of Europe, should we not be demanding an apology from the Italians for the enslavement of the Celts or the French for being nasty to the Anglo Saxons? What about those Norsemen, raping, pillaging and enslaving?

Oh dear, I've just realised, to my eternal shame my name is of Anglo Saxon origin. Should I immediately head for Wales and apologise to every Welshman I see for what my ancestors did to them?

Alan Etheridge, Catholic Lane, Sedgley.