SIR – One has to admire the sheer cheek and bravado of Chris Fleetwood the spokesman for the developers of the proposed Worcester Woods shopping development.
In one of his latest quotes he has stated: “It is vital that this development goes ahead so that Worcester can compete with the new Birmingham CENTRAL (my capitals) shopping plaza”
The fact of the matter is that the new development in Birmingham was built so that Birmingham could stand up to competition from the very out of town developments that his company is proposing. Birmingham was fortunate that they had a central location to redevelop.
To have the nerve to use this to justify the Worcester proposal is beyond belief. I say again refuse this application and save the retail vitality of Worcester city centre.
CLIVE SMITH
Malvern

A woman’s body is not for the desires of men
SIR – Will Richards (Worcester News, September 9) asserts that “rapists already know that it is both morally wrong and against the law to rape, so reminding them will have a negligible impact” he then continues to blame women for being raped. That attitude is precisely why people, whether they are rapists or not, need to be reminded that a woman’s body is her demesne and not a plaything for fulfilment of men’s sexual desires.
According to the CPS, in the sixteen months between January 2011 and May 2012 there were 5,651 prosecutions for rape. In that same time period there were only 35 prosecutions for making a false allegation of rape. Which is the larger issue Will? Rape, or the false allegation of rape?
Has Will never started eating a meal, only to find that it didn’t quite suit his taste buds? Perhaps he’s started a book, only to find that he wasn’t enjoying it? What has he done under those circumstances? Completed the meal despite it being truly awful? Finished the book despite the dreadful way it’s been written? I sincerely doubt it. Why then, should a woman be blamed for simply changing her mind?
We live in a society where a woman’s right to do with her body what she wants should be respected, without holding her responsible for a man’s inability to go along with her wishes. Quite frankly, Will should stop victim blaming and join the calls for all rapists to be held responsible for their actions.
ROBYN NORFOLK
Worcester

Teachers choose what is taught of the EU 
SIR – I read in a pamphlet published by the Campaign for an Independent Britain entitled Generations Betrayed that there seems to be a spectre haunting classrooms across Europe – that of ignorance about our continent’s history. 
A new group called Historians for Britain has warned of textbooks across Europe promoting the false notion that the unification of Europe has been a long-term enterprise. They point out that this is a misuse of history for Europhile objectives that flies in the face of historical facts. Fears that British children are being subject to influences that further  European integration are well founded. 
The main obstacle to pupils being provided with a fair and balanced account of thE EU is a lack of knowledge caused by school curricula in the UK  that promote so-called “skills” at the expense of knowledge.   The effect of this method is to dilute content and knowledge.  These skills are based on the notion that all history is ‘provisional’  and are supposed to equip pupils with the ability to ‘deconstruct’ existing narratives.  They focus on the evaluation of ‘evidence’. If necessary teachers are free to go as far as faking evidence in order to teach the ‘skills’.
A survey published in 2009 showed a lack of knowledge extending to undergraduates.  A previous government showed that at the 50th Anniversary of  VE-Day  the Dept. of Education sent a video to all schools which allocated only 14 seconds at the end about Churchill;  people thought that he had helped to end the war in Britain. By contrast Hitler was  mentioned 16 times.  
Pupils’ knowledge of the EU will be dependent on the ‘evidence’ that a teacher chooses to present. It may be genuine or fake but it will certainly be evidence that has been ‘selected’. 
Baroness Blatch expressed concerns about the stranglehold that ‘political correctness’  has in schools. Many pupils have little knowlede of  our former prime ministers, landmark events such as the Seven Years’ War and other wars, and the Magna Carta. 
Instead she found that pupils are provided with a feminist study of Victorian prostitution, STDs, lesbianism, being trapped in a wrong body. 
He concludes that a lack of  knowledge not least of historical knowledge poses a potential threat to the democratic process.
For me it goes back to what we consider to be ‘the Common Weal’.  
 WENDY HANDS
Upton-Upon-Severn

New student crossing is morning mayhem
SIR – Has anyone else noticed the increase in traffic queues along The Tything/ Castle Street/Croft Road around 9am? This has only been since the return of the students to the university. 
The crossing by Croft Road is the cause of this mayhem! With students crossing in ones and twos, the traffic does not get a chance to move down the road. Please will someone put lights on this crossing to enable the traffic to get a fair chance of movement.
GLYNIS POSTANS 
Worcester