That does not mean to say that individual racism is not endemic in the force.If you want the right answer you must ask the right question.IAN K McKENZIEPrincipal LecturerInstitute of Criminal Justice StudiesUniversity of Portsmouth. Lost TV classics

Sir: Your correspondence on lost classic television shows hasn’t touched on the BBC TV archive’s musical deprivations.
In the mid 1960s we persuaded the great baritone Tito Gobbi to record (for BBC1, believe it or not) seven hour-long portrait studies of his finest roles. When Gobbi died 20 years later I suggested the obituary programme could quote from that series – but the cupboard was bare; all seven programmes had been wiped.I believe the same servants of the BBC accountants, for whom a recycled videotape was apparently more valuable than any programme it might contain, once went so far as to wipe a show before its first transmission. If, for instance, the height restriction for males for entry to the police service was 5ft 9in, which is approximately the median height for white Anglo-Saxon males, but the median height for people from a background in the Indian sub-continent is 5ft 5in, then the second group are discriminated against by reason of a policy. That is institutional racism.Bearing in mind the substantial policy changes (including removal of height restrictions) that have taken place in the Met since the 1980s, it is quite possible that institutional racism is minimal.

Police racism

Sir: The apparent discrepancy between the views of David Wilmot, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, and Sir Paul Condon, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, about whether or not their forces are subject to institutional racism may be a problem of semantics, not facts (“Police chief admits racism in ranks”, 14 October).
In 1981, when I was chief instructor at the Metropolitan Police Training School, Hendon, we used the racism definitions developed by Professor Judy Katz of the University of Oklahoma.In this model institutional racism is defined as racism which is embedded in the policies and practices of an organisation and is distinguished from endemic racism, in which the members of an organisation are seen to be racist. Adoption of this proposal would make it easier to distinguish between the different roles of Speaker and government minister in charge of a Bill.JENNY ROWEPrivate Secretary to the Lord ChancellorHouse of Lords. At present the Lord Chancellor does not wear wig and gown at Committee Stage, but does so on Second Reading, Report Stage and Third Reading. On important parliamentary occasions, he would continue to wear full ceremonial dress.In order to adopt a more consistent approach when the Lord Chancellor acts as the Government’s lead minister in the Lords (eg when promoting a Bill), he should be able to speak from the Front Bench with the advantage of the dispatch box on which to lay papers, and not have to wear his wig and gown. Not bad for someone who’s lost his grip on reality.Dior’s explanation, that it was due to a lack of space, was actually true, as anyone familiar with their Avenue Montaigne premises can confirm Not that there’s ever much space at fashion shows. All those competing egos expand into any available gap.PROSPER KEATINGParis.

…and Woolsack

Sir: Your article “Irvine tires of attire” (14 October) implies that the Lord Chancellor plans to cease wearing his traditional dress altogether and replace it with a lounge suit.
The proposals the Lord Chancellor made to the Lords’ Procedure Committee were that: when he was acting as Speaker on the Woolsack, breeches, tights and buckled shoes would be replaced with black trousers and shoes; he would continue to wear Court dress: wig, gown, waistcoat and top coat. She could have chosen from a long line-up of far more suitable targets.
If John Galliano is such a “fragile bird”, why hasn’t he had her “disinvited” or banned before now? For the past few seasons her reviews of his work have been rather withering Many people weren’t invited to the Dior show this season. I wasn’t and I’m working on a profile of John Galliano and his business, which saw a 137-per-cent leap in profits over the past year. It can be argued that the poor are subsidising the rich to get better deals.Trying to live on benefits means no contingency money and the food element of their budget is the only one that can be squeezed.MARJORIE SHEPHERDEdinburgh Community Food Initiative.

On the catwalk… Sir: Many of the charges levelled at the fashion industry by Tamsin Blanchard are entirely justified. But her vitriolic tirade (“The outfits Dior didn’t want you to know about”, 14 October) against a man widely recognised as one of the few decent blokes in an industry full of paranoid deviants and sociopaths needs to be challenged. A community cafe training and information pack gives advice on how neighbourhood cafes can offer low-cost nutritious food.The cost of living for the poorest in our society is greater than for the better off. It costs them more to do almost everything, including shopping. Credit terms are invariably fixed at higher rates of interest, Power Cards are on a higher tariff than regular meter charges. By providing a neighbourhood delivery service, reliance on public transport to out-of-town supermarkets is reduced, and more spending is generated in the local economy.

The project is developing individuals’ confidence and self-esteem through teaching cooking skills. Mr Flatley has noted that he and Mr Reid never had enough time together Well now they do. But really, you have to ask, is this any way for a sex god to behave?. Hungry Britain

Sir: Your report “The poor of Britain are going hungry” (15 October) struck a chord with us in Scotland.