"DARE to be a Daniel," we used to sing at Sunday School when I was a lad. "Dare to stand alone, fighting with a purpose true, dare to make it known."

It is not easy to stand alone against an organised majority but a few have managed it in my lifetime. Mahatma Gandhi, much ridiculed and scorned worldwide was able to bring the mighty British Empire to its knees with his peaceful protests.

Nelson Mandela, after years in gaol, emerged triumphant to lead his country. At a local level we had Francis Reynolds who defied the entire legal profession and countless committees to bring justice to a few individuals.

Now we have Nellie Copson, fighting against legislation that did not have her peculiar circumstances in mind when it was framed. It could all have been resolved long ago by some junior official exercising discretion and commonsense but that is not the way with British bureaucracy.

Instead, the buck is passed back and forth from one department to another because of a reluctance to take a decision - even when it involves the health and well-being of an 80-plus-year-old lady.

And I remember that the leader many of us profess to follow was himself crucified by a howling mob with official connivance.

JOHN HINTON, Worcester.