In these uncertain times, am I the only one who thinks the moral standards of the world around us are not just being eroded but hacked away in great chunks?

Despite the council's valiant efforts, Brighton and Hove is a dirty, graffiti-stained and rubbish-filled city, like many others around Britain.

We hear far too frequently about young girls or women who have been raped and murdered all around Britain.

We go to war against the majority of the population's wishes and then watch it live on TV.

Now it appears, on the surface, there is more than a suspicion that the seaward end of the West Pier has been burnt down in order to prevent it being restored.

And with only pinpricks of humanity on the horizon, such as the British Army doctor who arranged for the small Iraqi child badly burned in a house fire to be flown to Britain for treatment, and with warnings of chronic water and oil shortages in the next 20-50 years, the film Mad Max looks more like science fact than science fiction as every day goes by.

-Martin L, Carden Crescent, Patcham