It is sad but a fact of life - the Queen Mother is dead. The end of Empire, the end of an era - but ... it's the 21st Century now.

Nicholas Soames' monumental appreciation (The Argus, April 4) emotionally reminded us of the quality of her life - privilege par excellence, a better life in every possible respect than anybody you or I will have known.

Sensibly, The Voice Of The Argus balances Nicholas' emotion with down-to-earth realism. It is time to draw a line and move forward, as The Argus comments.

In today's globalised world, conflict and suffering abound. As our Parliament was recalled to recite anodyne accolades, Israel and Palestine were embroiled in a terrible conflict with hideous hand-to-hand fighting in Manger Square, Bethlehem - the very cradle of Western, Christian civilisation.

Yet epithets take Parliamentary priority over human suffering. This cannot be right. Norman Baker, alone among local MPs, showed the courage to question Parliament's recall.

It is clear people are starting to question the place of tradition, royalty and the social inequality it represents. Why have but a handful of Brighton and Hove residents troubled to sign books of condolence?

Britain's prosperity is falling ever further behind our European partners. We need to look forward to an equal society, not back to division, inequality and privilege.

May I quote Rudyard Kipling in dedicating this to the Queen Mother's memory?

If I have given you delight, By aught that I have done. Let me lie quiet in that night, Which shall be yours anon: And for the little, little span, The dead are borne in mind, Seek not to question other than, The books I leave behind.

Now let's move forward towards a more equal, fair and just society for everybody, not just the privileged classes.

-Keith W D Jago, Uplands Road, Brighton