The Week UK - 04.04.2020

27

Aperilouswalk...

ToTheTimes

Coronavirushasledtomany

gooddecisionsmadeinhaste

andmanypoorones.Mylocal

councilhasveeredtowardsthe

poor.Hammersmithand

Fulhamcouncilclosedallits

parksattheweekend.Ifyou

wishtodoyourdailyexercise/

walkthedog,younowhave

onlypavementstodoso,

makingitimpossibleto

maintainsocialdistancingif

someoneiscomingtheother

way.Astheparksarenow

closed,invariablysomeoneis

approaching.Thecouncilhas

managedtomakewalking

more,ratherthanless,

dangerous.Inotethatthe

trafficwardensarestill

workingandgivingouttickets.

Todayonmypavementwalk

(andhellotoallthose Ipassed

far tooclose)Inoticed one

waitingoutsideapharmacy,

readyandpoised.Peoplewho

had driven there were

presumablytryingtoavoidthe

fullpavements.Itisshameful.

EdgarMorse, London

...is better than driving

To The DailyTelegraph

Ifearpeople aremissingthe

pointregardingthesafety

ofdrivingtoanicedeserted

areaforexercise.Whileitis

unlikely thatthey willcatch

the virusin such places,if they

haveanaccident onthe way,

or falland breakaleg,they

willbedivertingourstrained

emergencyservices.

DioneRoberts,Worcester

Aroyal prerogative

To The Guardian

I’m sorrytohearthat Prince

Charleshas tested positive

forthe coronavirus, buthow

come therichand privileged

canbetested whilevital health

workers cannot, andinstead

have towaste precious

working time toself-isolate?

MariePaterson, Nuneaton,

Warwickshire

Kindness of strangers

To TheSunday Telegraph

We have beenoverwhelmed

by thekindness of complete

strangersduring this crisis.

On Thursdaymywife and

Ivisite dour localsupermarket

forprovisions.There was a

queueoutside,and when we

walked around the corner we

saw that itstretchedalong

wayback.Therewasabiting

wind, sowe decidedthatitwas

toocoldforus,at ourage, to

standaround, and resigned

ourselvestoreturninghome

empty-handed.

Aswe walked back along

theline, complete strangers –

muchyounger–beckoned us

to join the queuenearer the

frontandwouldnottakeno

forananswer.We werethen

usheredtothe frontby

successiveshoppers.

Theirkindness brought tears

to oureyesand strengthened

our faithinhumannature.

FrankVickers,Woking, Surrey

Climbing Everest

To TheTimes

Our house has24steps from

the entrance hall to thetop

bedroom. Eachstep hasarise

of seven-and-a-halfinches.

My wife (who is 74) andI

(83) climb this “NorthFace”

20 timeseachmorning

beforebreakfast, and repeat

the exercise at some time in

the afternoon.

On 18 March, wetopped

out on BenNevis.We expe ct

to reach thesummit of the

Matterhornonthe afte rnoon

of 4April.Ifthe present

conditions continue, weshould

celebrate the conquest of

Everestsometimeon 25April.

AlanPhillips,London

PlagueonShakespeare

To the FinancialTimes

DuringShakespeare’sLondon

career(1588-1613)therewere

at leastthreeclosuresofthe

playhousesforplague,each

lastingbetweenoneandthree

years.(In 1 592 ,15,0 00

Londonersdied –7.5%ofthe

population.) Addpolitical

closures,andhalfthat career

was spent“dark”,to usean

anachronism. So he diversified,

writingtwo narrativepoems,

one abestseller(Venusand

Adonisin 1593),soldoff his

earlysonnets (1609) as well as

investinginland andproperty

forincomeandproduce.

The actorscouldalways

tour to plague-freetowns and

to rich patronswithcountry

house boltholes.The monarch

providedexgratiasubsidy,

Jamesmore generouslythan

Elizabethsince the companies

provided courtentert ainment.

But with al lperforming

outlets todayin ef fect closed

down,foralessruthlessva riant

ofwhattheTudorscalled

“thesweatingsicknesse”,

Shakespeare’ssuccessorsare

inamoreparlousposition,

iflikelyshorter-termand

hopefullyaone-off.

ChrisCrowcroft,Elst ree,

Hertfordshire

Closingourchurches

ToTheTimes

Itisextraordinarythatforthe

firsttime sincePopeInnocent

IIIplacedEnglandunderan

InterdicttoadmonishKing

Johnin 1208 ,ourchurches

andcathedralsareclosed,even

forprivateprayer–thistime

bytheedictofourownarch-

bishops.Todeprivethose

whoseeksolaceatatimeof

pestilenceisbothadisturbing

assertionofexecutiveauthority

andanabdicationofspiritual

leadership.

LordCormack, Lincoln

Howtostop an elephant

To The Economist

Conflictbetweenhumansand

elephants remainsaproblem

inmanypartsoftheworld,

including SriLanka.There isa

verysimple andcost-effective

naturalsolution: beehive

fences.Elephants areterrified

of beesandwillfleeat eventhe

soundofthem.Beehive fences

involve wires strungbetween

hives; ifelephantswalk

through thewires theyirritate

thebees,whichswarmoutand

chasethem away.LucyKing

developedtheconcept andit is

now used widely ineastAfrica.

Notonlyisit aneffectivedeter-

rent,farmerscan also make

moneyfromsellinghoney.

RichardMilburn,King’s

CollegeLondon

4April 2020 THE WEEK

LETTERS

Pick of the week’s correspondence

©MATT/THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

“Loo roll for sale,

£350,000. Comes with

two bedroom flat”

●Letters have been edited

The banks are no help

To The DailyTelegraph

Iamabusinessadvi ser with clients across the North West.

Four of my clients–all well -run businessesand financially

sounduntil the coronavirus struck–have approachedtheir

banks for supportunder the initiatives recently announcedby

the Government.Withoutexception,theywere turneddown,

but the banksoffere dthem alternativeproducts,which in

some casesinvo lved 22% interestrates, exorbitant

arrangement fees andpersonalguarantees.

I’m afraid to say the banksarenot helping at all. Indeed,

theyareseeking toprofit from the situationbytyingdesperate

business ownersinto punitive dealsthatwillcreate hardship

and,in some cases, bankruptcy–the exact opposite of the

Government’s objective.

David Lee, Wistaston, Cheshire

To TheSundayTelegraph

My businessemploys 64peopleand hasaturn over of £10m.

Ihave just furloughed59staff.Many have madesignificant

salarysacrifices. Even so, we will runoutofmoney. Before

this happens,Iwill beforc ed to startlaying staffoff.

The Chancellor said that good businesseswill getaloanon

favourable terms (“whateverit ta kes”). ButIwaswrong to

think thatthe government-backed loanwastosupport small

business.It’s not: it’s amoney-maker for thebanks. Weare

asked forpersonal guarantees,proofoffutureincomeand

cashflow models–andoffered usurious termsandinterest

rates in return.

Theseloansshouldbeinterest-free,andmadeavailableto

any profitablebusiness immediately. The onlyquestionlenders

shouldbeasking is:how much doyou need?

Peter Moore, London