The Week UK 21.03.2020

25

Thecentre’sweakness

ToTheGuardian

Inhisarticle,ProfJan-Werner

MüllerblamesHungaryand

Polandfortheinabilityof

Europe’smainstreamparties

tomeet voterdemandsand

developeffectivepolicieson

anarrayofpressingissues.

Hesays“mainstream

conservativeshavecapitulated

totheauthoritarianismofthe

far-right”,when,infact,it

wasEurope’scentre-right

thatvoluntarilyabandoned

itstraditional,Christian

democraticvaluesandadopted

anincreasinglyleft-liberalview

ontopicsthatmattertothe

voters.Contrarytowhatthe

authorsuggests,political

partiesdon’tbecomepopular

overnightandwithoutreason.

Ifonepartywinsmorevotes,

that’s generallyanindication

ofpopularsupport forwhat

thatparty standsfor.

Could itbethecase that

the recentdeclineofEurope’s

so-calledmainstream

conservatives is,therefore, a

signthatvotersdon’t like their

drifttowards Europeanleftists

andGreens?Müller forgets

thatallthose hecallsoutfor

“authoritarianism” havebeen

democraticallyelectedinto

office. Andtheywerefor

goodreason:in contrasttothe

centre-rightmainstream, these

partieslistentothepeople,

standupfor themandfollow

aclearpolicydirection.

Zoltán Kovács, spokesperson

of the Hungariangovernment

IlDuce, health official

To TheSpectator

NicholasFarrellwrites

thatMussolinibannedthe

handshake, believing itto be

unhygienic andbourgeois,

encouraging insteadthe

Romansalute. AsFarrell

undoubtedlyknows,

Mussolinialso triedtoban

useofthe wordLei,the

formalandpoliteformof

“you” singular, andreplace it

withVoi,acapitalised version

of “you” plural.Hebelieved

Leito beabarbarismof

Spanish origin.

Patrick West,Deal, Kent

Chip or bogpaper?

To TheGuardian

Ihave just returned from

thesupermarket, andhave

witnessed the emptyshelves.

Isuggest that for the

immediatefutureyoupublish

TheGuardianin long,

narrowstrips.

David Napier,Lewes,

East Sussex

Filthy lucre

To The Times

FurthertoJaniceTurner’s

Notebook, thereisahistoric

caseof“dirtymoney ”and its

remedy.During theplague of

1665 ,the disease wascarried

from Londonto thevilla ge

of Eyam in Derbyshire.The

villagers, led by theirrector,

whorecognisedthe sacrifice

that thiswouldincur, choseto

“self-isolate”the entire village.

The residents ofEyam acquired

vitalsupplies from the

neighbouring village of Stoney

Middleton. The coinsrequired

to purchasetheseitemswere

left in ahollow stone atthe

parishboundarybetween the

two villages.The hollow was

filled with vinegar.The disease

was containedwithinthe

village,where many died.

The villagershad therefore

recognisedthatthedisease

couldbespread bycontact

with objects.Itwasalso

recognisedthatthecontagion

wasreduced byavoidingclose

contactbetweenpeople. The

church wasshut andservices

heldin theopenair.

Judith Fowler,Culmstock,

Devon

Pani ceating

To The Telegraph

Willthe nation’sobesity crisis

get worse when panicbuyers

try to eat all their food before

the “use by” dates?

Brian Senior,Slindon,

WestSussex

Amb ridge is utopia

To The Telegraph

Anyone wantingto

escape not onlythe

risk of contracting

coronavirus, but also

anymentionofit

whatsoever, should

consider movingto

Ambridge.There, the

only big news storyis the

explosionat Grey Gables.

Therehasbeenno signof

panicbuying inthevillage

shop, and Iimagineevenloo

rollisstillavailable.

KarinProudfoot, Fawkham,

Kent

School’s in for spring

To The Guardian

While theGovernmenthas

beenpersuadedtochange its

adviceonmassgatherings,let

ushopeit does notrescind its

decision tokeepschoolsopen,

at leastforthe timebeing.

Theimmediateeffectof

closures wouldbeto endanger

grandparents,manyofwhom

willbeaskedtocare for

school-agechildren,despite

thefactthattheseolderpeople

aremostatriskofharm.The

secondeffect willbetoforce

manyadults, withoutrelatives

to turnto,tostayawayfrom

work.Canwe affordtolose

thecontributionofhundreds

of thousandsofworkersinthe

NHS,thecare sector,the

policeforce,andthe transport

andfoodindustries?

Finally,manywell-meaning

adults, who canafford totake

timeoff,willvolunteertocare

forfriends’childrenintheir

ownhomes.Theymaywell

look afterlarge groupsof

children,withthe result that

thevirus continues tospread

amongthem, but they willnot

be givensuchgood care as

theygetat school.

At theheightofthe

pandemic, suchclosures might

be necessary butlet’snotdo it

before wehaveto.

AnnabelFerriman, London

Aheadofthe curve

To The Times

Inote that aCabinet minister

is self-isolating.InWales we

call thispractice“farmin g”.

HelenNakielny,Talley,

Carmarthenshire

21 March 2020 THE WEEK

LETTERS

Pick of the week’s correspondence

©THE OLDIE/PETER RIGBY

“Have you tried turning it off

and back on again?”

●Letters have been edited

Exchange of theweek

Age concern

ToTheTimes

At 83 andstillthefull-onexecutivechairmanofTrailfinders,

Ifeelcompelledtoquestionthedisproportionatemeasures

adoptedtotrytocontainCovid-19.Werethisvirussingling

outinfantsandchildrenthennomeasurecouldbetoo

draconian.Butalmostallthefatalitiesrelatetohasteningthe

endofverylonglives.Deathissadandunwelcome,butnature

preparesusyearbyyearforthisinevitableoutcome.

Veryunhelpfullythisvirusisbeingpoliticised,andleaders

arechoosingtooverreactforfearofcriticism.Themeasures

adoptedareundoingmuchofthegoodofglobalisation;the

damagethreatenstoeclipsethatwhichthevirusitselfwould

haveinflictedgivenmorerestrainedmeasures.

MikeGooley,London

ToTheGuardian

Thestigmaattachedtooldage(feebleness,incapacity,frailty,

dependency)haslongbeencondemnedbyolderpeople

themselves,aswellasgerontologistsandpolicymakers,who

havemadeeveryefforttoshowthatthecategory“theelderly”

isasvaried aseveryother generationalonebelow it.Inone

fellswoopthe Government hasunderminedthoseefforts.

Surely itisthose ofanyageexhibitingevidence-based,“at

risk”characteristicswho shouldqualify forseclusion.

Gillian Dalley,London

ToTheDailyTelegraph

Idon’tconsider myselfelderlyat 72, butevidencesuggeststhat

thoselikemeare atgreaterriskofcomplications whichwould

needhospitaltreatment.Soit seemseminentlysensible ofthe

Government toaskus toself-isolate. Inthisway wewillbeless

likelytorequire such treatment,so freeingupresources.We

needtogetlocal(younger)friends toaddusto theirshopping

lists. Wehavealreadyhadonesuchunsolicitedoffer.

WilliamBlake,Clun,Shropshire