CHRISTOPHER Lee wants to retain the requirement for history lessons to teach a few dates and events from British history (TES, September 17). What an outrageous suggestion!
He is clearly completely out of touch with the needs of children and of society as a whole. His is the sort of bigoted view one expects from pupils, parents, grandparents, football supporters, netball teams, vegetarians, omnivores, the bloke on the Clapham omnibus and extreme right-wing neo-fascist groups.
I am appalled that The TES provided a platform for Mr Lee to promote such eccentric and dangerous ideas. Three cheers from the history teachers for New Labour and Mr Blunkett. They have had the courage of their convictions and hammered the final nail in our national identity.
By the way, Mr Lee incorrectly reports me as stating that only 20 hours of pre-20th-century history is taught in many schools. In fact, the national curriculum requires that only about 20 hours of 20th-century history has to be taught.
Chris McGovern
Windover
Heathfield, East Sussex
