30 1GM Saturday September 5 2020 | the times
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor should be sent to
[email protected] or by post to
1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GFpromising to restrain employees’ use
of social media to present opinionated
and politically charged messages.
May I suggest that Tim Davie singles
out Gary Lineker, who rants on every
subject imaginable on Twitter but
especially Brexit and immigration?
His tweets have become tiresome but
are often widely reported. Mr Lineker
should be told to stick to his day job
of being a football presenter. If he is
unhappy with that he should be
shown the red card.
Dr Alistair A Donald
Watlington, OxonSir, You report the comment of the
new director-general of the BBC that
“We must move away from any sense
of a BBC type and not hire in our own
image” and his emphasis on the
importance of impartiality. I think we
ought to be more specific as to what
constitutes a “BBC type” in relation to
employment in news and current
affairs. In my assessment the BBC
type believes the following to be
doctrinal statements that are
self-evidently true: Brexit is a mistake
caused by ignorant xenophobes; Islam
is an entirely peaceful religion and
only Islamophobes cannot accept this;
any concern for the unborn is theTheatre v film
Sir, Mark Rylance (Times2, Sep 4)
says that theatre trumps the movies.
I’ve enjoyed fine theatre over many
years but it was never anywhere close
to Lawrence of Arabia, Sunset
Boulevard or Aguirre, the Wrath of
God. Not even close, frankly.
Richard Foster
Angmering, W Sussexmark of the callous and reactionary;
the British Empire was an evil with no
mitigating factors, and any defence of
any aspect of it is a symptom of
fascism; voting Conservative is
antisocial and little short of
psychopathic; protesters in left-wing
causes do no wrong whereas a
right-wing protest is in itself a wrong;
“free speech” is a synonym for causing
offence to minorities and should be
curtailed so as to avoid this affront.
This creed could be extended.
Paul Simmons
TwickenhamSir, Further to Bruce Parker’s letter
(Sep 4) on political interviewing on
the BBC, it was not only MPs who
were unnerved by Robin Day. Sitting
in the Question Time audience in 1980
I was pleasantly surprised that my
question on the desirability of
proportional representation was
chosen as the warm-up before the
show started. The panel having duly
discussed it, I was thrown when Mr
Day asked for my opinion on the
subject; his reaction when I said that I
didn’t really have one changed forever
my definition of the verb “to wither”.
Tom Stubbs
Surbiton, SurreyLion sleeps tonight
Sir, It is not only dogs, chimpanzees
and elephants that respond to human
yawns (“How the elephant caught its
yawn”, Sep 3). On a visit to the
Cotswold Wildlife Park we spent
some time watching a single male
lion, and he watching us. Eventually I
staged a yawn, wondering if he would
respond. He gazed intently and, after
several yawns from me, reciprocated.
We tested this a few times, and with
each yawn of mine he responded —
a strangely stirring experience.
Felicity Wood
Newbury, BerksHS2’s business case
Sir, You report “No turning back now
as HS2 building work begins” (Sep 4).
But if working from home becomes
mainstream and large companies
close their offices permanently, where
does that leave the case for HS2? I am
working remotely from my holiday
home in Spain for as long as I can.
Alan Geoffrey Barrett
Javea, AlicanteOpen to experience
Sir, I have come to enjoy James
Marriott’s refreshing views on life
(“Why a closed mind is key to a happy
life”, Sep 3, and letter, Comment,
Sep 4). Openness to experience,
which he distinguishes from
“open-mindedness”, is one of the most
important qualities in a human being.
It is said that this attitude decreases
with age but I have found since the
lockdown that my desire to try new
things has increased considerably. I
am 72, live alone and am seriously
considering buying a motorhome. I
have purchased a wetsuit and have
made plans for some wild swimming,
and think it is high time I tried some
paddleboarding on the Thames.
Joanna House
Teddington, MiddxUltimate accolade
Sir, For years I have yearned to fill the
bottom right-hand corner on the
letters page of The Times. I have
had a lead letter and a content letter
but never the short, pithy last one.
Listening to Times Radio I realise
that the bar has been raised. My
ambition now is to bag the bottom-
right slot and have it read out or sung
by the letters editor on Thursday’s
Times Radio morning broadcast.
Michael Hodson
Spaxton, SomersetCorrections and
clarifications
We are
committed to
abiding by the
IndependentPress Standards Organisation (“IPSO”)
rules and regulations and the Editors’
Code of Practice that IPSO enforces.
Requests for corrections or
clarifications should be sent to
Fall of populism
Sir, We should welcome the report
that Germans are “turning their back
on populism” (World, Sep 4). The
trend does not apply only to
Germany. There is a sense that the
pandemic has reanimated a belief in
reason, a trust in experts and a
reaffirmation in the validity of
science. The superstition, irrationality
and conspiracy theorism that
populism rests upon has no answers
to Covid-19. Most people recognise
that we need efficient government,
well-funded public services, expert
scientific advice and social solidarity
in the face of the virus, climate
change and whatever other perils
confront us. As events in Germany,
the US and perhaps even the UK are
showing, this is a time for enlightened
centrism, not extremist populism.
Paul Richards
Eastbourne
Tim Davie’s vow to cut the BBC down to size
Sir, An organisation is judged by what
it does in the world outside and how
it behaves internally (“BBC should be
cut down to size says new chief”,
Sep 4). Tim Davie, the new director-
general of the BBC, is surely right to
curb the excessive salaries and
indulged personal egos of certain
BBC presenters, who seem to confuse
the fame confirmed by appearing on
television with superior personal
virtue. In doing so Mr Davie will also
regain the BBC’s reputation for
impartiality. But an equal priority
must be the radical delayering of the
cumbersome, jargon-ridden BBC
bureaucracy, long promised but never
implemented, which has clogged the
corporation’s creative arteries.
He might also demand that all his
senior executives communicate like
human beings rather than
management robots. The “jargonauts”
of the BBC’s own WIA have nothing
on their real-life exemplars. Power
should be given back to the
programme makers.
Sir John Tusa
Managing director, BBC World
Service 1986-92; London N1Sir, How heartening to read that the
new director-general of the BBC isSir, You report (“Rationing of tests
raises fears new outbreaks will be
missed”, Sep 4) that officials accepted
it was wrong to ask people to drive
hundreds of miles to testing centres
after complaints that they were
directed to centres in far-flung parts
of the UK. Even the proposed limit of
75 miles is a disincentive, given that
this would in reality be a round trip of
150 miles. I can only assume that
Baroness Harding of Winscombe, the
executive chairwoman of NHS Test
and Trace and head of the newly
formed replacement for Public Health
England, the National Institute for
Health Protection, which includes the
NHS Test and Trace functions, may
be using the same algorithm that in
March predicted more than 200,000
deaths from Covid-19, as well as
Gavin Williamson’s downgrading of
A-level results and Robert Jenrick’s
proposals for a new planning system.
Ministers and their officials should
read up on chaos theory before they
create even more mayhem.
Dr John Lloyd
Honorary vice-president, Institute of
Health Promotion and EducationRationing of tests
Sir, Matt Hancock appears to believe
that mass testing will enable the
spread of Covid-19 to be controlled.
Testing for Covid-19 with isolation
(Track and Trace) may help to reduce
spikes of infection but the coronavirus
will not stop circulating until a
majority of the community has
immunity. This immunity can only
come either from a vaccine or from
the natural immunity of having had
Covid-19. An effective population
vaccination programme may be a long
way off, so in the meantime we should
encourage those who are at relatively
low risk to get back to school,
university and work, acknowledging
that they may be exposed to the
coronavirus and thus develop
personal immunity. This would help
to build up community immunity
(and would reduce the “R” quotient).
Now that the NHS is well prepared
and has capacity for more effective
treatment of severe cases there is
much less need for quarantine,
lockdown and other disruptive
strategies with their great costs to the
social, health and financial wellbeing
of individuals and the nation.
Professor Sir Malcolm Green
Vice-principal, Imperial College
Faculty of Medicine 1997-2006Cromwell’s Day
Sir, The significance of the Battle of
Dunbar in 1650 (Weather Eye, Sep 3)
goes beyond that of the success of
Cromwell’s command. The next year,
on the same date, he won
comprehensively at Worcester, and
died on the same date seven years
after that. Little wonder that
September 3 is known by some as
Cromwell’s Day. Cromwell recognised
the symbolic significance of the date,
and under the Protectorate it was
kept as a day of thanksgiving for the
two military victories. It was written
into the new constitution, with the
date of the first Protectorate
parliament fixed as September 3.
Since its creation over 80 years ago
the Cromwell Association has sought
to hold a service of commemoration
on Cromwell Day, and by permission
of the Speaker of the House it is held
by the magnificent Thorneycroft
statue of Cromwell overlooking
Parliament Square.
John Goldsmith
Chairman, the Cromwell Association
from the times september 5, 1920
FOOTBALL.
GOOD DAY FOR
HOME TEAMS
Cottage weigh-in
Sir, As a retired building surveyor I am
curious to know how Airbnb (report,
Sep 4) will provide “personalised
support” to ensure its 100kg-plus
guests “do not feel discriminated
against” when staying in a 15th-century
cottage with vulnerable old oak beams.
Brian Waring
London SE27Sir, The owners of Bobbit’s Lair in
Sandwich, Kent, have my sympathy. I
once invited a couple of long-lost
friends to lunch: they turned out to be
so big that they broke my sofa.
Valerie Moyses
Bloxham, Oxonthetimes.co.uk/archive
Denial of heritage
Sir, I am deeply disappointed that my
alma mater, Sir John Cass’s
Foundation Primary School, thinks it
is necessary to deny its heritage by
changing its name to the Aldgate
School (“School changes its name
over founder’s links to slavery”, News,
Sep 3). Such a change is reminiscent
of the Stalinist practice of deleting the
likes of Trotsky from historic
photographs because his presence did
not fit the prevailing view of history.
If the City of London Corporation
is to follow this misguided practice it
must not overlook its own name:
“London” perpetuates the Roman
name Londinium and thereby
commemorates a society that
embraced slavery as an essential
norm. As an alternative, the
corporation might like to consider
“Woke on Thames”.
Stephen Lockwood
Deganwy, ConwyJarndyce moment
Sir, The Duchess of Sussex has
launched yet another legal action,
thereby drawing attention to matters
she presumably wishes to remain
private (“Meghan sues over photo of
Archie taken at park”, News, Sep 4).
When I advised clients who wished
to start legal proceedings I used the
warning that Charles Dickens in
Bleak House said should be given to
every potential litigant: “Suffer any
wrong that can be done you rather
than come here!”
Alex Rae
Hucknall, Notts
The feature of the League Football
on Saturday was the small amount
of success obtained by visiting clubs.
In 33 matches only five teams won
away from home, and, while 12
avoided defeat, 16 were beaten.
Some results were surprising,
upsetting the form shown when the
same teams met a week before, and
the general effect is that only two
clubs in the three divisions of the
competition can now claim full
points for the games played. The
clubs with three victories to their
credit are both in the First Division.
Bradford City have scored 10 goalsto 1, while Huddersfield Town have
gained each of their victories by the
only goal scored. Fine weather again
favoured the games, which attracted
almost as large crowds as on the
opening day of the season, the
aggregate attendances amounting to
about 700,000. The largest crowds
were in London — 42,000 being
present at Chelsea and 45,000 at
Highbury, where Aston Villa, the
cup-holders, were a great attraction.
No fewer than six of the First
Division matches were drawn, and in
six games the results were the same
as when the teams met before.
Manchester City reversed a defeat
they had suffered at Liverpool, and
Sunderland improved on their draw
at Sheffield, while Tottenham
Hotspur, in drawing at Blackburn,
did better than when playing at
home. On the other hand, Bolton
Wanderers and Oldham Athletic,
playing at home, drew with
opponents whom they had defeatedwhen playing away. West Bromwich
Albion, the League champions,
played their third drawn game.
Chelsea unexpectedly had to play
Linfoot, formerly of Lincoln City,
and Dale on the right wing, and this
led to weakness in the attack, which
was largely responsible for the side
failing to beat Derby County at
Stamford Bridge. The play was fast,
and many shots were sent in, but
they were mostly from long range.
Quantrill played well at outside-left
for Derby County, and Burton, the
inside-right, was very clever in his
dribbling and passing. The two goals
came in quick succession, just before
half-time. Burton headed through a
centre by Quantrill to put Derby
County ahead but, directly
afterwards, Linfoot placed the ball in
front of goal, and Cock had no
difficulty in beating Maskery.