Section:GDN 1J PaGe:6 Edition Date:190807 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/8/2019 18:59 cYanmaGentaYellowblac
- The Guardian Wednesday 7 August 2019
6 Letters
As an Englishman living in Scotland,
I was shocked by Conservative
candidate Ryan Henson’s comments
about England being “better
off without Scotland” ( Report ,
theguardian.com, 4 August). As a
prospective parliamentarian, is
he aware that his party’s offi cial
name is the Conservative and
Unionist party? Unfortunately,
both sides of the independence
debate appear affl icted by the
same short sightedness; not so
long ago both UK and Scottish
parliaments were dominated
by a centrist Labour party.
Nowadays, Tories complain about
“socialist” SNP policies while the
SNP decry the “austere” Tories,
as if these conditions have been
around forever.
Nevertheless, it has always
been the SNP’s stated mantra to
break away – the ConservativesFace up to the severity
of the climate crisis
Have the Tories missed their
chance to preserve the union?
Seldom have I read an opinion
piece with such incredulity as
Suzanne Moore’s laying the blame
for mass shootings and the rise of
Donald Trump at the feet of men
( G2 , 6 August). The overwhelming
majority of men are non -violent,
law -abiding, and decent.
To describe white supremacy and
mass murder as male violence is
deeply off ensive. And as for Moore’s
apparent argument that men alone
have the power to lobby for change
to combat gun violence and racism- has she heard of Ivanka Trump? Of
Kellyanne Conway? Of Senator Joni
Ernst, who declared that, although
Trump’s attacks on Democratic
congresswomen were indeed racist,
she supported him anyway? I fail
to see how tarring all men with the
same brush as Trump and mass
murderers is going to solve anything.
Daniel Peacock
Manchester
Male violence and
US mass shootings
Lightning
reaction
‘When I heard
the thunder , I
scrambled out
of my pyjamas
and threw on
my waterproofs
to head over
to St Mary’s
lighthouse,
Whitely Bay.’
Taken on
4 August
SAM BELL/GUARDIAN
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these pagescompeting for dwindling resources,
especially in countries that contribute
least to global carbon emissions.
By 2050, populations in low
and middle income countries are
expected to more than double to
1.7 billion – and off ering women real
choice in contraception to empower
them to determine their futures in the
face of the climate crisis is something
that can no longer be overlooked.
Simon Cooke
CEO, Marie Stopes International- You write that “Poorer countries,
which broadly speaking are the
least to blame for the climate crisis - emitting less carbon dioxide per
capita – will suff er most” ( Editorial ,
1 August ). As overseas development
charities like Cafod witness every
day, there is no “will” about it. Poor
people in poorer countries have been
suff ering the eff ects of climate change
for many years. A 2013 DfID -funded
paper found: “ This analysis provides
evidence that a drought in East Africa
such as seen in 2011 has become more
probable as a result of anthropogenic
climate change.” The drought
aff ected 10 million people in Ethiopia,
Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan and
Uganda. Many of whom would have
migrated, some possibly to Europe.
David Murray
Wallington, Surrey - There is a silver lining to the dark
cloud of the insulting and off ensive
comments made by Andrew Bolt
about Greta Thunberg ( Thunberg
hits back at columnist who mocked
her autism , 3 August).
saying Scotland is short of people
and even shorter of taxpayers.
But does she genuinely want
more English in Scotland who
may well vote against her teenage
independence dream?
Martin Redfern
Edinburgh- Nicola Sturgeon is being
disingenuous when she talks of
the electorate in the 2014 Scottish
independence referendum as
being highly informed. Yes, we
were engaged, but none of my (well-
educated, politically aware) friends in
favour of independence seemed able
to give logical or factual reasons as to
why it should happen, other than “if
we don’t do it now, we never will ”.
Questions about the currency,
passports, border controls were met
with blank stares. There may have
been an 800-page prospectus, but
it didn’t translate for the person in
the street. Oh yes, now I remember,
there was that bit about using the
huge oil revenues...
Sally Cheseldine
Edinburgh
John Vidal hit the nail on the head
by linking Meghan and Harry’s
choice to limit their family size for
the sake of the climate to the lack
of access many women globally
have to services that would enable
them to make the same choice
( Having kids is bad for the planet.
So are the royal jets , 1 August).
Vidal highlighted that “many in areas
of high growth want fewer children
but cannot access contraception”,
and as CEO of a global organisation
providing women and girls with
access to family planning, I agree.
More than 214 million women
and girls worldwide are unable
to access contraception. Yet we
know that when they have access
to contraception and safe abortion,
they often choose, like Meghan,
to have smaller families.
Women are increasingly and
disproportionately bearing the
burden of the climate crisis. It often
falls on women to care for growing
families in worsening conditions.
Droughts mean limited access to
food and water. Rising sea levels lead
to fl oods. Humans and animals arepurportedly stand for union. They
should be doing all they can to
communicate pride in our artistic,
intellectual and commercial links
and to articulate their vision for a
shared future. They had a chance to
do this with a charismatic leader in
Scotland and an upturn in fortunes
in the last general election. With
Boris Johnson and his pals in power,
the moment may have gone.
Robert Cadbury
Aberdeen- Nicola Sturgeon claims she
wants English people to move
to Scotland ( G2 , 6 August). Yet
presumably she only wants the
right type of English voter north of
the border? It’s widely believed the
majority of Scotland’s 400,000-
plus English-born residents voted
against independence in 2014.
Yes, Ms Sturgeon is correct in
The fact that Bolt has resorted to
such a personal attack on her means
he has no credible arguments against
the substance and science of what
she is telling the world about the
seriousness of climate change.
Small comfort for Ms Thunberg
perhaps, but telling.
Harvey Sanders
London- Mark Carney is right to stress the
need for urgent action to tackle
climate change. However, his
assertion that the invisible hand of
the market will provide a fi x ( Report ,
31 July) ignores the central role
of capitalism in the climate crisis
itself: oil spills, land grabs, slash and
burn, intensive farming, resource
exhaustion, and unhampered
economic growth in a physically
fi nite planet. To borrow a phrase from
Audre Lorde, “the master’s tools will
never dismantle the master’s house”.
We need to square the challenge of
climate change with system change.
Oliver Taherzadeh
Cambridge - May I suggest that, as a climate
emergency now offi cially exists in the
UK, you reposition the regular item on
your Weather page entitled “ Carbon
count”? Currently the information
included under this heading – i e
the daily atmospheric CO 2 readings
from Mauna Loa, Hawaii, compared
against both a pre- industrial base
and what is judged a “safe level” – are
tucked away under the heading of
“Weather”. Not only is this rather
misleading as the information relates
to climate, not weather, but in the
current emergency I would argue
that this is the most important item
of daily news that you report in your
paper. Should it not be prominently
displayed on the front page?
Dr Colin Campbell
York- Suzanne Moore is right to
draw attention to the fact that a
signifi cant common denominator
of all of America’s mass shooters
is that they are male.
However, power of the kind
attributed to being male is not
intrinsically gendered but should
be challenged whoever is exercising
it. It is more the case that a warped
concept of masculinity plus lack
of any agency and access to guns
is the real danger.
Christine Crossley
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire - Hurrah for Suzanne Moore!
In the struggle for equality we
women thought that once our
historical position had shifted,
men’s position would also shift.
Men think that, because they
have included some women in
bits of their world, they can carry
on being what they have always
been: controlling, powerful
and demanding. The journey to
equality continues.
Linda Karlsen
Whitstable, Kent
- Suzanne Moore is right to
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letters-termsPoor people in poorer
countries have been
suff ering the eff ects
of climate change
for many yearsDavid MurrayРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS