Census sense

Perhaps if the BNP's official newspaper letterwriter Alastair Harper (Letters, 12 July) was a little more clued into the zeitgeist, his party would appreciate why the census is an expensive waste of time belonging to an antediluvian age - rather like the BNP itself.

This is 21st-century Britain, where councils and other official organisations gather and disseminate massive amounts of socio-economic data.

There is no need for a round-the-doors census that's out of date by the time of compilation when governments can have 99 per cent accurate data any time they like at the touch of a button. What purpose does the census now serve, other than to give wallies old enough to know better the opportunity to declare their religion as Jedi?

MARK BOYLE

Linn Park Gardens Johnstone, Renfrewshire

Alastair Harper is correct to be concerned about the possible scrapping of the National Census, but he misses an important point.

As it has been past and present government policy to encourage immigration, and to offer comfort to asylum seekers, the absence of a census will deprive the government of information from which to judge the success of those policies.

To suggest that similar information could be obtained from the electoral register is nonsense, as for some reason many of the UK population have chosen to remove themselves from all public records, starting - of course - with the electoral register.

MALCOLM PARKIN

Gamekeepers Road

Kinnesswood, Kinross