SIR – This morning, I read with a mixture of humility and great pride, reports of the award of the Military Cross to Private Alex Kennedy – a 19-year-old soldier serving in Afghanistan.
Half an hour later, I was standing at the checkouts of our local supermarket reading a notice telling customers that anyone below the age of 25 would not be permitted to buy alcohol without proof of age.
Many ‘older’ citizens seem reluctant to accept that courage, responsibility and commitment are present in most young people.
Having myself been a 19-year-old conscript some 55 years ago, I feel it is an insult to the like of Pte Kennedy that shop managers everywhere lack the same courage.
If they did, they would respect his and his comrades’ dignity and ignore the risk of possible prosecution for the inadvertent sale of alcohol to someone under the age of 18.
Brian Holmans, Langley Road, Bingley
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