UNLIKE most countries, notably the USA, the UK does not have a written constitution. Probably it should.

Therefore, I was somewhat astonished that Stanley D Parr (You Say, Friday, October 15) said that Magna Carta should be regarded as more or less inviolate.

This "Great Charter" dates back to 1215 and an island in the Thames, called Runnymede. Of course, it related to England only. It had nothing to do with Scotland, Wales or the Six Counties.

Incidentally, we are constantly told that the NHS must change to suit modern conditions. The NHS was laid down 56 years ago compared to 789 years for Magna Carta.

Magna Carta was solely for the benefit of the nobility. It did nothing for the toiling mass of serfs and peasants. It appears to have been signed by King John under duress.

By the standards of the time the King was probably a good man, although, to use modern parlance, he has received a "bad Press".

Most likely his name was sullied for posterity by some of the civil elements around him.

Many of these nobles were, in fact, robber barons with their own little fiefdoms, not unlike some characters in Afghanistan today.

The colourful history of these islands is of immense economic benefit today. As a result we have a tremendous tourist industry, in spite of our awful climate.

However, we cannot live in the past. We have to legislate for the present and the future.

D E MARGRETT, Worcester.