The Week 22Feb2020

27

TheBlitzandDresden

ToTheSpectator

Iaman82-year-oldLondoner

whoexperiencedtheBlitz.

Istillclearlyrememberthe

terrorofendlessnightsinthe

dripping-wet,bone-cold,dank,

smellyAndersonshelter.Iwas

surprisedneitherA.N.Wilson

norSinclairMcKay(“Was

Dresdenawarcrime?”)

referredtothecomparative

deathtollsinBritishand

Germancities.From

7September 1 940,London

wassystematicallybombedby

theLuftwaffefor 56 ofthe

following 57 daysandnights.

Morethan40,0 00 civilians

werekilledbyLuftwaffe

bombingduringtheWar,

almosthalfoftheminLondon.

AtthetimeofDresden,

Britain’scitizenshadbeen

sufferingsixyearsof

indescribable miseryat the

handsoftheGermanpeople,

notjustofHitlerandhis

ministers.There mayhave

beenanelementofrevenge,

butChurchill and“Bomber”

Harrisweretryingtoendthe

agonyinflictedonBritain and

Europetwicein 30years.

JonStone, BroughtonHackett,

Worcestershire

Gian tprojects

To the Financial Times

Thisisnotthefirsttimea

NorthernIrelandtoScotland

bridgehasbeensuggested.A

bridgewasactuallycompleted

bythe mythicalIrishgiantFinn

MacCool.Constructionbegan

atwhat isnowknownasthe

Giant’sCauseway inCo.

Antrim. Obstacles tocomple-

tionthen were notSecond

World Warmunitions,buta

Scottish giant–funnyhow

things come in roundabouts.

Mike Stone, London

Endoft he line?

To TheIndependent

We in theNorth shouldbe

waryofBoris Johnson’s

announcementthat ,while the

first leg of HS2will go ahead,

thesecon dfrom Crewe to

Manchester andLeedsis

under yet another review.

WhentheChannel Tunnel

was firstannouncedin the

1980s, parliamentarysupport

was only forthcoming because

an essentialpartoft he

proposalswas aplan to

operate high-speedrail services

throughitonboth sidesof the

EnglishChannel,enabling

passengersto geton atrain

inManchester,Glasgow,

Cardiffor Plymouthand get

offinParis.

Adepotfortheregional

Eurostar services wasactually

constructed atLongsight in

Manchester, withalarge

Eurostar-brandedsignattached

to the outside thatproclaimed

to passing train passengers, “Le

Eurostar habite ici”(French

for “The Eurostar liveshere”).

As we allknow, theplan

was never completed anda

parliamentary committee

declaredin 1999that “the

regions have beencheated”.

ColinBurke, Manchester

Independent thinking

To TheGuardian

RafaelBehr makesmany valid

points,andcorrectlydescribes

therisksofnationalism

going sour (“Nationalismis

winning–onboth sidesof

the border”). Buthe confuses

support for independence

with nationalism.

It is nothingtodowith

nationalismthatmakes a

growingnumber ofus want

to see anindependent

government atHolyrood –

whereScottishlegislators,who

sitinasemi-circlechamber

conducive tocompromise,are

elected through asystemof

proportionalrepresentation

which wasdesignedto

checkthe extremists ofany

oneparty (nationalist or

otherwise),and which allows

moreofthe electorateto feel

thatthey haveastakein

government.

Compare that withthe

adversarial, childish jeering

andmayhem that passes

for legislative debate in

Westminster’s chamber, where

an absurdwinner-takes-all

voting systemleaves millions

unrepresented. Westminster

is notthe enemy,it is an

anachronism. It is notacase

of “nationalistsrewritingthe

past ”–it is aboutwanting to

mov eforwardfromthe past.

Not in searchof utopia ,but

in searchof thegreaterself-

respect thatwill comefrom

beinggovernedunderasystem

fit for the 21st century.

Julie Darling,Rosewell,

Midlothian

Our green future

To The Times

Alice Thomsonraises questions

aboutthegreencredentials

of electricvehicles(EVs).

Althoughbatteryproduction

addstoemissions,these are

plummetingasnew technology

andcleanerwaysofpowering

factoriestakeover.IntheUK,

lifecycleemissionsofaNissan

Leaf areonlyathird ofthat

of aconventionalvehicle.

Not onlydo multiple

analyses confirmthatEVs are

greener,buttheywillbecome

moreso asthe grid decarbon-

ises.NationalGridsaysthatit

willbe able torun azero-

emissionselectricitysystemby

2025 andsupportanon-EV

phase-outdateof 2030.Rather

thanlookingforreasons notto

movetothefuture oftravel,

we shouldbe excited aboutthe

revolution aboutto takeplace.

Dr Jonathan Marshall,head of

analysis,Energy andClimate

IntelligenceUnit

If it ain’t broke, smash it

To The Guardian

Perhapswe shouldn’tbe

surprised byJulianSmith’s

sacking.Afterall,he only

played aleadingrole in

restoring the Stormont

institutions,washeldinhigh

regardby mostpartiesin

NorthernIreland and,as you

report, “was regardedas avery

good secretary ofstate witha

gripon complexproblems”.

Clearlynotthe sortofperson

BorisJohnsonwould wantin

hisCabinetwhenthe minor

issues ofleavingtheEUand

NorthernIreland’sfuture

statusareyettoberesolved.

DeclanO’Neill,Oldham,

Greater Manchester

22 February 2020 THE WEEK

LETTERS

Pick of the week’s correspondence

©GRIZELDA/NEW STATESMAN

“I’ve reduced the amount of

meatIadmit to eating”

●Letters have been edited

Exchange of theweek

Water, water, everywhere

ToTheDailyTelegraph

Asageophysicist,Ifinditfairlyobviousthatglobalwarming

meanstheAtlanticwillbeputtingfarmorewaterintothe

atmospherefromnowon.AsourweatherinBritainismainly

drivenbyAtlanticweatherfronts,floodingintheseislandsis

goingtobecomefarmorecommon.

TheflooddefencesbeingbuiltnowbytheEnvironment

Agencyonlyshifttheproblemdownstream–andwereanyway

designedforthelesserfloodsofthelastcentury.

IfBrunelwerealivetoday,we’dprobablyseeafarmore

long-termvision,suchasdivertingexcesswaterfrom

upstreamofthechokepointsthroughlargeunderground

tunnelsconnectedtothenearestestuarysuchastheRibble

orHumber.

Afterall,ourtunnellingexpertiseissecondtononeafter

theChunnelandCrossrailprojects.Whynotcapitaliseonthis

andthenexporttheengineeringskillstoothercountriesina

similarposition?

JohnHoward,Birmingham

ToTheDailyTelegraph

Forty yearsagoIwasemployedasageologistby an

aggregate companytodevelop gravelpits around the UK.

Under nocircumstanceswouldplanningpermission be

granted foranypermanentstructure onariver’sflood plain,

wheresand andgravelaregenerallydeposited.Any structure

thatmightrestricttheflowofwateracrossthefloodplain

was prohibited; not evenaPortakabin would betolerated.

Nowadays,entire housingestatesarebuilt onfloodplains.

Andpeople wonderwhytheyareregularlyfloodedoutof

houseandhome.

Jeremy Spencer-Cooper,Easebourne, West Sussex