I READ with disappointment recent letters about the balance of views in the International Slavery Museum (“Friends were right” Daily Post, January 27 and “ No explanation” Daily Post, January 28).

In 2007, the year that we commemorated the bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade, Liverpool led the way in opening this ground-breaking museum and, as a city, this should make us inordinately proud.

The museum is the first of its kind in the world to look at both sides of the story – not just the hard work of the abolitionist movement in this country, but the stories of the rebellion and bravery of enslaved people throughout the world.

This international perspective sheds new light on a history which has previously been kept quiet.

The role of Liverpool in the slave trade is not one the museum shies away from – whether it be the abolitionist movement or the role the city’s ship and slave owners played in supporting the trade. This balance is what has been missing from other debates on the subject, and what makes the International Slavery Museum so outstanding.

Visitor numbers to the museum support this view – over 600,000 people have been since its opening, including many personal friends.

The Molly Tomlinson Foundation is a funder of the museum and we are proud to support it.

Jo Bowen-Jones, Flintshire

Still popular

YOUR letter writer, Mr Ainsworth (January 28) was disappointed at the refurbished World Museum, but it seems he’s in a minority.

The museum is, as he says, attracting numerous schools, but it is also more popular today than it has ever been in its 150-year history.

In fact, it’s one of the most popular museums in Britain, with well over 750,000 visits in 2008.

The displays in World Museum cover everything from space rockets, to dinosaur bones, and from an Aztec calendar to live leafcutter ants.

They are built on the vision of Liverpool merchants, naturalists, poets, scientists and sailors.

They brought together really exceptional material from around the world over the last 200 years, and created some of the best collections in Britain.

That is what you see at the museum today.

We should take pride in their contribution to the city’s heritage and history.

The stories of the city itself are the preserve of the new Museum of Liverpool, which is now being built on the docks.

While the new museum’s being built, there’s a Magical History Tour exhibition at Merseyside Maritime Museum and The Beat Goes On at World Museum which are popular, successful and free foretastes of what’s to come there.

John Millard, Executive Director – Collections Management, National Museums Liverpool

Hunting laws

BEFORE the latest hunting legislation was passed, the pro-hunting lobby was claiming that, if hunting with dogs was banned, it would be a disaster for the countryside.

Thousands of dogs would have to be culled and hunts, tack shops, blacksmiths, vets, etc, would go out of business.

Well, the legislation was passed and none of this happened. In fact, there has been a marked increase in support for hunting.

Hunts are using the “drag hunting” technique. Foxes and other game are no longer torn to bits by dogs. Protesters no longer try to disrupt hunts and merely attend to ensure that the law is not broken. No hunts have had to cease hunting and those country businesses associated with hunting are still doing well. Why is this?

Could it be that, because the unnecessary suffering previously caused is no longer happening, people turn out to enjoy the spectacle of a hunt and give it their support?

It therefore follows that, if David Cameron wins the next general election, and turns hunting back to its cruel past, hunts will once again lose this popularity and protesters will return with a will. Surely no-one wants that.

Alex Black, Chester

Proud showcase

WE ARE being encouraged to buy British as we enter a bad patch in our country’s economic climate.

During my days as chair of the Birkdale BVP, I organised with the help of some fellow traders a St George’s Day celebration as a way of profiling the village.

We brought in entertainment such as fairground rides for the children and decked out the village in St George’s bunting and flags.

We used the day to remind the residents of Southport we are still there and to showcase our English products. We used it to promote what we thought was the best of English. It was a day open to all from any background and nationality. It was a day to come together and enjoy what was on offer.

In today’s conditions, most of us would love the chance to have a day to enjoy and to be proud of the best of our country.

In Southport and its villages, we have so much to offer and to be proud of. So why don’t we use the chance we have got coming to show what we have and our heritage that goes with it?

Cllr Terry Jones, Ainsdale ward

Pioneering artist

THE passing of the artist and broadcaster Tony Hart recently, at the age of 83, revived memories of a time when television was less confrontational.

Not only was Mr Hart a multi-talented draughtsman, but he was a pioneering artist.

I first remember seeing him on TV when I was a schoolboy in the 1960s, and he was a presenter of Vision On with Pat Keysell, where his artistic skill reached a wide young audience.

If Pat Keysell could be compared to a primly attractive school matron, then Tony Hart was the amiable beaming art master, his cheeks glowing with pride at both his own works of art and those of his young protegés. His talent as a broadcaster should not be underestimated. He never talked down or patronised his audience, exhorting the younger generation to persevere with their work and not to be disheartened if it did not come up to their expectations.

My abiding image of Tony Hart is of him crouched over his drawing board sketching at a furious pace, intermittently tossing his head back as his floppy hair fell over his eyes.

Martin Phillips, address supplied

Been here before

MAY I say how much I enjoyed Emma Pinch’s article on poverty, on Monday, January 26?

The Daily Post should print more on this subject during the present so-called credit crunch, it serves as a reminder that the people of this country have faced – and survived – far worse.

Doris Windsor is someone who can talk about “hard times”, most of the present generation don’t know they are born. This excellent article serves as a counter-balance to the BBC, who seem to be hell-bent on making the worst of a bad situation.

I cannot help but think that, had these people done this OTT stuff during the war, Churchill would have locked them up and thrown the key away, especially a certain Robert “Pessimist” Peston.

As they say in Lanky, “it wer a reet good read”.

C Roberts, via email

Broken promises

I HAVE received a leaflet through my letter box from New Labour on behalf of Andrew Miller MP.

This leaflet purports to say that New Labour has kept its promises.

New Labour has not kept its biggest promise – to have e referendum on the new EU constitution.

A recent poll, not connected with UKIP, showed a very large proportion of the population want a referendum. It is patently obvious that New Labour is completely ignoring the people of this country.

Of course, our all-wise Prime Minister says that the Lisbon Treaty is not a new constitution – but the leaders of every other country in the EU – and this includes Ireland – says it is .

Let us have our referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Or is New Labour too frightened to ask the people?

Henry Crocker, UKIP Wirral

More job cuts

GORDON BROWN keeps on telling us that Britain is better placed than most countries to deal with this recession.

Yet every day brings more news of job cuts across the nation. This week, Littlewoods Shop Direct workers were the ones taking home the devastating news to their families that they had lost their jobs.

One report I saw this week suggested that we might not be able to climb out of this economic black hole until as far off as 2029. If that is the case, just think how many people that could see out of work and the generation of young people that will grow up with little hope.

The sooner Gordon Brown does the decent thing and calls an election the better – he cannot fix this mess.

HJ, via email

Vital part

I TOTALLY agree with the anonymous lollipop man or lady in Wednesday’s Letters page.

It is ridiculous to assume that the only job of school crossing patrollers is to get children across the road.

They are so much more and are a vital part of the community that must not be lost.

Mrs T McPartland, Heswall