Dear Secretary of State,
We, the undersigned, write to you on the matter of hate and its place in public policy. We write as ordinary citizens. We hold, between us, no formal qualifications in policy, law, biology, sociology, ethics, or any of the other fields commonly invoked in this debate. We consider this a strength.
We believe that hate has been overlooked in the formulation of public policy. This is, in our view, an oversight. We are writing to ask that it be corrected.
We do not consider this a complicated request. We are aware that some will consider it complicated. We have addressed those people in our other publications (see Hate Library). We have not, in writing this letter, addressed them again.
We ask that the Government:
We acknowledge that the Government will be required to consider a range of views on this matter. We have considered those views. We have addressed them. We are available to address them again.
We trust that you will give this letter the consideration it deserves.
Yours sincerely,
In the order of receipt.
The Department's reply, in full:
"Thank you for your letter of 14 October. The Secretary of State has noted its content. The Department will respond in due course where this is appropriate."
We considered this reply. We considered it carefully. We have written again, twice. We have not received a substantive response. We note this. We continue to consider thirty-one a strong mandate.
Footnote 1: Four of the thirty-one signatories are Hate Matters trustees. We have been asked, on occasion, whether this affects the strength of the mandate. We have considered this question. We have concluded that it does not.
Footnote 2: An additional eight signatures were received after the publication date. They have been added to a list which we maintain internally. The published version of this letter remains at thirty-one for reasons of consistency.