Letters: Pardons dilemma

IN the midst of our dishonouring frenzy, the Manchester MP John Leech has put down an early day motion calling for a posthumous pardon for the computer genius Alan Turing.

I have no objection to Turing being pardoned but he is widely revered, both within and without academia, and his conviction for homosexuality is a complete irrelevance. On a more general note, I am a little uneasy with the idea of giving posthumous pardons to people who have been properly convicted simply because of their achievements.

There should be clear evidence of a miscarriage of justice or that the law was wrong and all those convicted under it should be pardoned as with the executed First World War soldiers.

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But if the conviction was sound under the laws in force at the time, executive pardons for extraneous reasons are simply reminiscent of the lamentable tokenism of Tony Blair.

(Dr) John Cameron

Howard Place

St Andrews

If the chief executive of RBS is so smart a manager, why did he fail to predict the public, press and political furore over his bonus? It was entirely predictable.

Historical note: what we now know as the Clearances were at the time known by the lairds as “Improvements”. Plus ça change.

Neil Sinclair

Clarence Street

Edinburgh