Dean Jones should feel for remorse for his "terrorist" quip. And by all accounts he does. He should apologise to Hashim Amla. And he did. Amla should accept the apology. And he has. The public should know that this is the case. And we do. In the world I grew up in, that would have been the end of the matter. I'm sad that my children have grown up in a far less forgiving world. In today's climate of paranoia and litigation, "accountability" has taken on a punitive character it once happily lacked. Now we neither give nor expect forgiveness for indiscretion. Someone's head must roll. Blood sacrifice is back.

Bernie de Vries (Letters, 12/8) is right to highlight respect, but wrong to charge Jones with lacking it. But how did we get to this odd, and at times disturbing, disposition? "Tolerance" used to mean respecting people, whilst questioning what they said or did. Now it means validating everything they do. (Unless they fail at the new "tolerance"!) But then there's the new mantra, "zero tolerance". That means there are some people we'll never ever tolerate again, even if they say 'sorry' and amend their lives. I'll take the "old" tolerance, thanks.