IN relation to the new “hate hurts” campaign by the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (Echo, Mar 4), I find the whole “hate” business, as in “hate speech”,“hate crime” etc, a bit of a joke.

First, why is “hate speech” limited to insulting someone on account of their race, religion, sexual orientation or disability? Insulting someone because of their ugly face or lack of IQ or age is just as hurtful isn't it? So why not just make all insults illegal?

Second, “hate speech” has in effect been extended to criticism of religion, which is totally wrong. That is, there is no earthly reason why those who believe in a god up in the sky should not be mocked. Put another way, religion in general or any particular religion should be just as open to criticism as a political party.

If I wish to say all Tories or Christians are idiots, I am free to say so. But I’m on dodgy ground if I said all Muslims were idiots.

So the “hate speech” laws get very near to being a form of racial discrimination: exactly what the politically correct promoters of “hate speech” legislation claim to oppose!

Ralph Musgrave, Durham