Daily Mail, Thursday, August 29, 2019 Page 65
DEBATE
THE G7 leaders, with their army of advisers
and the world’s media, flew to France from as
far away as Canada, the U.S. and Japan to
convince us air travel endangers our planet!
Brian Christley, abergele, Conwy.
BRAZILIAN President Jair Bolsonaro, 64, has
been disrespectful about the age of French
first lady Brigitte Macron, 66. Who does he
think he is: the boy from Ipanema?
Diane silVa, Bournemouth, Dorset.
THE British Army has been accused of
sexism for calling sewing sets housewives’ kits
(Mail). I’ve noticed that during road
resurfacing, the signs no longer say ‘raised
manhole covers’ signs, but ‘raised ironworks’.
niCK WOOttOn, Wallasey, Wirral.
THE biggest mistake Jamie Oliver made was
not putting enough food on the plate.
P. harrisOn, leicester.
NHS HOSPITALS are quick enough to make
cancer patients pay for car parking, but can’t
find a way to charge health tourists who have
no right to free treatment.
neil JOnes, ruardean, Glos.
MOST irritating person on TV (Letters)? It’s a
three-way tie between Naga Munchetty,
Susanna Reid and Nish Kumar.
GrahaM DiXOn, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.
HAS Amazon signed up the Harlem
Globetrotters as delivery drivers?
JOhn UPtOn, Bexleyheath, Kent.
SO, IT would be so good if all TV interviews
didn’t start with the word so.
Peter rUstOn, skegness, lincs.÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷Straight to the
POINT
FOR permission to copy cuttings for internal management and information
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101, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1WX. Tel: 01892 525273. e-mail: [email protected]Should Marie Stopes buffer zone be allowed?
THE decision by the Court of Appeal
to support the 100-metre exclusion
zone around the Marie Stopes
Centre in Ealing, West London
(Mail), is a dangerous precedent.
It is a denial of freedom of
expression and free speech.
The decision could be used so that
other places would be free to
create buffer zones to prevent
groups offering good advice or a
warning. Without this, individualsmight go ahead with a decision,
such as having an abortion, they
later regret, but can’t change.
J. lOnGstaFF, Buxted, e. sussex.
ANTI-ABORTION activists who
have lost their fight against
Britain’s first buffer zone need to
realise this is not about interfering
with religious beliefs or the right
to freedom of expression.
It’s about access to a legal
healthcare service. Whatever yourviews on abortion, it is aggressive for
protesters outside a clinic to shout
‘murderer’, throw holy water into a
woman’s path or shove horrible
photos in her face.
In this age of the internet and social
media, you don’t need to yell at
people in the street if you want to
get your view across.
Show some empathy and leave
these women alone.
eMilie laMPlOUGh,
trowbridge, Wilts.Farewell to VAR
LET’S hope the football
authorities act on the wise
words of Peter Crouch on VAR
(Sportsmail) before the game
is seriously damaged. Fans love
goals, not technical wizardry.
The first problem to address
is the offside rule. For a great
goal to be disallowed because
someone’s big toe is offside is
ludicrous and could spark
violence on the terraces.
There is a simple solution —
a player should be ruled off-
side only if his whole body is
beyond the last defender.
PaUl MarstOn, Walsall.Roads vs rail
CAR journeys are quicker
than going by train, but the
discrepancy is much greater
than suggested (Mail) because
a train can only transport you
from a place you are not in,
the departure station, to
somewhere you don’t want to
be, the arrival station.
High fares plus a massive
subsidy make rail hideously
expensive while roads offer
point-to-point service at a
fraction of the cost and with
no possibility of strike action.Forget HS2 and other rail
projects. Improving the
infrastructure at a bearable
cost must mean building more
and better roads.
rOlF riCharDsOn,
henley-on-thames, Oxon.Bat for Brexit
WHAT a marvellous victory by
England’s cricketers in the
third Ashes test against all
the odds and forecasts. This is
the same attitude that is
needed with Brexit.
The British have defied the
odds many times before and
can do it again if our politicians
grow a backbone, even at this
late stage.
ian VerDOn, Watford, herts.
RATHER than complainabout the possible lack of
fruit and vegetables after
Brexit, wouldn’t it be better
if we all just changed our
eating habits?
I bought some rock-hard
nectarines imported from
Spain. Two days later, when I
tested them for ripeness, they
were rotten.
We have plenty of fruit in this
country to enable us to get
our required five a day, but we
are allowing tons of apples,
pears and plums to rot on
the ground.
British farmers are paid
to leave their land unculti-
vated when they could be
growing vegetables.
If we are insistent on
becoming independent from
the rest of Europe, then weneed to show that we can
survive without them.
rOlanD GriFFiths,
nantwich, Cheshire.Feedback fee
I HAVE a tip for Mark Palmer,
who hates being bombarded
with customer feedback
surveys (Mail).
I received a request from
British Airways to complete a
survey, which they said would
take nine minutes.
I replied that as a self-
employed person charging £95
an hour for my time, I would
be pleased to respond to their
survey on receipt of £15.
Strangely, I haven’t heard a
word from them since!
tOny GrOOM, hythe, Kent.WIN our Letter Of The Week Magic Mug, courtesy of
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Week design when hot. To create personalised photo gifts
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Write to: Daily Mail, Letters, 2 Derry Street, Kensington,
London, W8 5TT, email [email protected] or fax onLETTER OF THE WEEK
020 7937 7493, including
your full postal address
and telephone number.Is this what the
doctor ordered?
DESPITE the previous input of Loyd
Grossman, Albert Roux, Heston
Blumenthal and James Martin, which
appears to have had little lasting effect
on the quality of hospital food, yet
another foodie celebrity, Prue Leith,
has been recruited in an attempt to
improve what is served up to patients.
I do not question her knowledge,
skills or experience. The reality is
that the Government advises us to eat
five pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables
each day, an attainable target, though
some experts claim that nine would
be ideal.
We are also urged to eat oily fish twice
a week and to drink two litres of water
each day. The best advice suggests
wholemeal is better for us than white
bread and the World Health
Organisation makes suggestions on
the daily intake of seeds and nuts.
All of this should form the foundation
for the composition of hospital food.
There would also be an opportunity to
introduce patients to healthier options
they may not have tried before.
And post-Brexit, the NHS could
ensure hospital meals are based on
produce grown or produced in the UK.
niCK atKins, swindon, Wilts.
HAVING worked in NHS catering for
33 years from apprentice to manager, I
have to ask why is there the need to
ask another celebrity for input when
others before her have failed?
In my experience, patients do not want
posh food. Many have little appetite on
admission, after an operation or becausethey are elderly. There is also a budget
to stick to. Regenerated frozen food is
not the answer. Hospitals cooking
from fresh need top quality staff who
care about the product and the people
they are catering for.
Gone are the days when I was part of a
team who cared about quality and
presentation. Today, for many hospital
caterers it is just a job and a wage.
J. neWMan, ashington, northumberland.
PRUE LEITH is wasting time and
money trying to improve hospital
meals. Things will never change aslong as the meals are brought in rather
than cooked on site.
I have been in several hospitals over
the years and have never had a
nourishing meal. On one occasion, I
was given a burnt jacket potato. Would
something so unappetising help a
patient’s recovery?
DOris WarD, Birmingham.
THE latest shake-up of hospital food
could be a success as long as Prue
Leith leaves the garlic, onions, spices
and chilli at the back of the cupboard.
Mary FOster, newbury, Berks.Picture: ITV/REX
Hospital food: Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques in Carry On Matron