Michaela Baldwin was given stepfather’s supposed ashes before his remains were found at Legacy undertakers in Hull

The family of a man whose body was found in a Hull funeral home after he was supposed to have been cremated have said it is “easier to open a funeral directors than it is a sandwich shop”, as they urged the government to regulate the industry.

Michaela Baldwin said she had assumed funeral directors were subject to some regulation when her family used one in Hull after the death of her stepfather, Danny Middleton.

• Ex-Wimbledon champion wins 6-1, 6-2 in third round

• Raducanu admits: ‘I have a lot of work to do’

Emma Raducanu has spent the past few months diligently working on improving her game in order to more consistently irritate the best players in the world, but another meeting with one of the elite only illustrated how much more she has to do.

In what has become a painfully familiar experience for the British No 1, Raducanu was largely reduced to the role of spectator in her own match as she faced an imperious attacking performance from the 2022 Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina, who dismantled her opponent 6-1, 6-2 in 62 minutes to reach the fourth round of the US Open.

We are on the road to serious racial conflict, says Simon Rew. Plus letters from Paula Jones, Raj Parkash, Kevin Lloyd, Dr Ian Flintoff and Robert McNulty

You can see how it works. First, the case against asylum seekers is based on the impact on public services and the costs of accommodation. Then we have references to “fighting-age men”. Then we have Nigel Farage explicitly saying that asylum seekers are a threat to “our women and girls” and national security. It’s a short step from there to “vigilantes” being emboldened to harass anyone of colour in the vicinity of an asylum hotel or detention camp. Then the distinction between asylum seekers and immigrants gets blurred. This is the road to serious racial conflict. Just look at the example of Northern Ireland, where perfectly normal legal immigrants have been driven out of some areas by rightwing thugs.

And what is the Labour government’s response? Debunking Reform UK’s increasingly inflammatory myths about asylum seekers and immigrants? If only. Instead they call Farage’s plans impractical or unworkable. Besides the moral cowardice this displays, it’s also pretty stupid when the government’s own responses to the situation show every sign of failing to work.
Simon Rew
London

Dr Jac Common, Jo Palmer and Iain Forsyth respond to an article by Ana Schnabl

I’m an avid listener of heavy music, including the many subgenres of black metal. Ana Schnabl’s reflections on her adolescent draw towards black metal’s atmosphere and bleakness, and subsequent horror at the revelation of the politics and motivations of many of the musicians, resonated with me (Angst-filled black metal music became my identity, 25 August).

Although metal may reflect and intensify the antagonisms of society more generally (fascism, racism, misogyny and so on), the scene has been and is being reclaimed by the oddballs and outcasts for whom heavy music is not just a sanctuary, but a place to envision a fairer and kinder world.

Serbia’s deep engagement with Europe is hardly consistent with the idea of it as an ‘authoritarian’ and ‘malign’ outlier in the region, says the country’s president Aleksandar Vučić

I write in response to your editorial on Serbia (25 August). Over the past nine months, Serbia has experienced more than 23,000 unauthorised rallies. Most were small, sometimes just a few dozen people, but they disturbed daily life, brought government to a halt, and recently turned violent. More than 170 police officers have been injured. Despite this, police actions have remained limited and restrained, and have targeted only those who damaged property or assaulted officers.

The initial demands of student protesters late last year were met promptly. We opened investigations, released thousands of documents on the railway station renovation and boosted education funding, and the prime minister resigned, taking responsibility for youth clashes over the issue. Nevertheless, demonstrations continued, shifting away from seeking justice and toward overt political aims: the removal of the government outside democratic processes.

Julian Allitt backs the Lancashire resort, while Rev Ruth Cartwright stands up for Southend in Essex

How wonderful to read Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s panegyric on Blackpool illuminations (‘Where design gets to take its bra off’: Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen on his 20 years with the Blackpool Illuminations, 25 August). My mother was a Blackpool landlady, I grew up there, and – even after nearly 30 years living in Berlin – the resort still has a special place in my heart. Twenty million visitors a year can’t all be wrong.

Llewelyn-Bowen wonders why Blackpool’s unique appeal doesn’t seem to register with people living in the south of England. Look no further than the British Tourist Authority, whose budget is lavished on anywhere but Britain’s great seaside resorts, Blackpool included.