'Morton's musings' always make me smile, and is one of my favourite parts of the Gazette. But, I am sure I am not the only person to have laughed at Mr Morton's recent faux attempt at political correctness in his musings (see [2005] Gazette, 20 January, 16). The reference to 'Mr Patel from Brick Lane...' is as funny to me as 'Mr Jones from Glasgow' might be to you, or 'Mr Murphy from Cardiff', or 'Mr McDougall from Belfast'. They are enough examples to make my point - Brick Lane is a strongly Bangladeshi area of London, and Patel is a Gujerati name. In fact, there are no Patels living in Brick Lane (according a search of BT's internet phone directory).


Gujerat and Bangladesh are separated by many more thousand miles than Glasgow and Cardiff, and could not be more different.



Kamran Rahman, Maples Teesdale Solicitors, London