Bully points

During 35 years working in higher education, I made many decisions that some found not to their liking. According to your coverage of bullying ("Bullying rife across campus", September 16), this would appear to make me a persistent bully.

Some individuals are bullied, but a self-selected survey of people saying they feel bullied, with no attempt to evaluate their claims, does not provide reliable evidence of the scale of the problem. To say that X per cent feel bullied is not the same as saying X per cent are being bullied. It is at best a starting point for serious inquiries.

This survey appears to have given scope to respondents to call any grievance bullying. In one case study, much of the complaint is about HR departments doing things "by the book" and concludes: "I don't know how people in HR... sleep at night." Sounds a bit like bullying to me.

Ray Angel, retired, Reading