Red-card racism

With the Football World Cup almost upon us, it seems that I must now brace myself for a further onslaught of racism. During the last European Cup, despite being a GP in Scotland, I suffered anti-English abuse from patients (something I had never experienced even as a prison doctor in Scotland).

Apparently it is considered "funny" for a kilt company to sell "Anyone But England" T-shirts during the World Cup, with even MSPs seeing the joke.

Yes, I am white, middle-class and middle-aged but attacking me for my Englishness is no different to racism involving the colour of my skin or my preferred language.

It is as funny to poke fun at the English as it is to poke fun at Pakistanis or Polish people. Anti-English "jokes" should be addressed by the Scottish Parliament, the police and the public without prejudice if Scotland is to be a mature and successful cosmopolitan nation.

DR A J ASHWORTH

Bonhard House,

Bo'ness