Last updated 11:40, Wednesday, 07 May 2008

Personal abuse, be it racist, religious, ageist, relating to gender or sexual orientation, reduces abusers to the basest, most ignorant of levels.

Hurled only to hurt or humiliate, it backfires instantly and irrevocably to stain perpetrators with an immorality that is both ugly and crudely inhumane. There is no place for it in any society claiming to be civilised – no place for it in Cumbria.

A Whitehaven man suffering racist abuse for marrying a Filipino woman has called for more people to stand against racism. A Rastafarian student living in Carlisle is painfully exasperated by taunts and whispers that have led her to consider leaving the city in which she has chosen to study. Other people’s ignorance of her religious beliefs are at the root of her problems.

Cumbria has been fortunate in avoiding the grotesque racist and religious hatred used elsewhere in the UK to justify acts of appalling, hurtful torment and inexcusable violence.

That has been due largely to the commonsense, inclusive nature of Cumbrians who see past the idiocy of blinkered discrimination and intolerance.

It’s true this county’s population is far from cosmopolitan. But it soon will be.

Necessary growth and development will bring diversity. And only the instinctive intelligence and kindness of Cumbrians will reward the county with the rich friendships and cultural advantages that will bring.