The Week - UK (2020-09-12)

29

Revelryinapandemic

ToTheGuardian

Forthefirsttimeinsixmonths,

mywifeandIventuredinto

CardiffcitycentreonSaturday

night.Walkingtoourrestau-

rant,wehadtododgehordes

ofyouthfulrevellersweaving

theirwayfrombartobar,

noneofwhomwerewearing

facecoverings,complyingwith

socialdistancingorfollowing

theone-waysystemfor

pedestrians.Insidethe

restaurantfeltlikeasafe

environment,butonthestreets

therewasminimalchangein

behaviourfromthedaysbefore

thecoronavirus.

Ifourexperienceistypical

ofnightsoutacrosstheUK,

wecanexpecttoseesignificant

risesinpeopletestingpositive,

withlittlehope ofturning

thingsrounduntilthereis

genuineacceptancethatwejust

cannotcarryon asbefore.

MikePender,Cardiff

Mocking those in power

To The Times

Authority isthenatural

enemy of comedy,which

rightlyquestionsand ridicules

thosewithpowerover us,

especiallyifthey are abusingit

ordoingalessthanadequate

job(“New BBC bosspledges

to curbleft-wingbiasin

comedyshows”). Hencethe

preponderance ofjokesonthe

BBCaboutTories, Brexitand

Trump.Corbyngot hisfair

share ofitwhile heledthe

LabourParty andhoped

to becomePM.Rightnow,

LabourandtheDemocrats

arenotabusingtheirpower

becausetheydon’thaveany.

IfBBCbosseswant more

comedy directedat Sir Keir

Starmerand Joe Biden, they

should firsthelp them toget

elected. Then, when they screw

up, theyshould go forit.

Jonathan Lynn, co-writer,

YesMinisterandYes,Prime

Minister,US

Let the Scots decide

To TheDailyTelegraph

IamaCaledonophile and

staunch Unionist,but Iamalso

ademocratwhobelieves in the

fundamentalrightofself-

determination.

AsecondScottish

independencereferendum

seemsinevitableand the sooner

we acce pt this,the morelikely

the Unionwillprevail. We

mustnotrepeatthemistake

thatsuccessivegovernments

madeinrelationtoEU

membership,byattempting

to disallow theexpression of

free will.

Unionistsshould concede

that amajorityforthe SNPat

nextyear’s Holyroodelection

will facilitateasecond

referendum before the expiry

of theScottish parliamentin

2026 .Scotland’sfutur eshould

thenbe determ ined by the

people wholivethere.

Philip Duly,Haslemere,Surrey

Darwin detested slavery

To TheTimes

As theNaturalHistory

Museum examineshow

racially offensive Charles

Darwin’s collections, made

during thevoyage of HMS

Beagle, might be, itis to be

hopedthat Darwin’s views

on slavery willbe given due

prominence.Inhis autobio-

graphyhe recordsaquarrel

with theexpedition’s leader,

Captain Robert FitzRoy, that

was so fierce hefearedhe

mightbecompelledtoleave

the ship: FitzRoy“defended

and praised slavery,

whichIabominated”.

Havingbeen horrified

by what hesawof

slavery for himself, as

he left Bahí ainBrazil,

Darwin wrote: “I

thankGod,Ishall

neveragain visit a

slave-country... It

makes one’sblood

boil, yet heart

tremble,to think

that weEnglishmen

andour American

descendants, with

theirboastfulcryofliberty,

havebeenandaresoguilty.”

PeterSaunders,former

curator,SalisburyMuseum

Notridingtherails

TotheFinancialTimes

Astheprimeapologistsforthe

failedideologicalexperiment

thatisourover-subsidised,

financiallybankrupt,

hopelesslyinefficientand

ludicrouslyexpensive

privatisednationalrailsystem,

thisGovernmentisgoingto

finditveryhardindeedto

persuadevastnumbersof

Britishofficeworkerswho

usuallycommutetostop

workingfromhome.

Thereasonissimple–

onlyanidiotwouldprefer

tospendasmallfortune

commutingtowork,fighting

thousands ofothercommuters

togetaseatonatrainthat

willprobablybelate, ona

railnetworkthatcostsmore

permiletouse thanvirtually

anyother intheworld,when

theiremployer,for various

reasons, isquitehappy tolet

themworkfromhome.

Fordecades,commuters

wereheldtoransombythe

privatised railcompaniesand

theiroutrageous,government-

backed overpricing.Butthe

Covid-19pandemic hasput

an end toall that, andone

effectof it(alongwitha

hugefallin inner cityoffice

andshop rents)willbethat

asensible, comprehensive,

non-ideological renational-

isationofour entirerail

systemis inevitable inthe

very nearfuture.

And,if itisstillin power,

poeticjusticedictatesthat

it will be aConservative

government that will have

to grit its teethand do the

renationalising.

Stephen Porter, London

12 September 2020 THE WEEK

LETTERS

Pick of the week’s correspondence

©THE OLDIE

“Oh, all right... could you mime exactly

what happened on the night in question?”

●Letters have been edited

Exchange of theweek

The case for ID cards

ToTheTimes

Ifinditincomprehensiblethatanyonewouldobjectto

carryinganidentitycardunlesstheyarehereillegally.Asingle,

comprehensiveIDcardwouldmeansimplicitywhenbeing

askedforproofofaddress,age,eligibilitytovote,etc.There

wouldbenoneedtoprovideadrivinglicenceorutilitybill.

Itcouldalsohelpbyhavingdetailsofbloodgroupandany

majorhealthissues,tospeeduptreatmentinanemergency.

IhadtocarryoneinSouthAfricainthe1960s.Ithelped

withflathunting,workandunionrequirements,evencrossing

borders.Itwassimplyacardthen,butanymodernIDcard

couldcarryanabundanceofhelpfulinformation.

RichardMadin,Buxton,Derbyshire

ToTheTimes

SoDominicCummingswantstoendowmewithyetanother

numericalidentification.Ialreadyhaveanationalhealth

number,anationalinsurancenumber,apassportnumber,a

drivinglicencenumber,auniquetaxID.Willthisnewdigital

IDbeyetanotheronelayeredontop?Iagreethatweneed

onesingledigitalID,whichshouldremain with usforlife,to

remove allthevarious differentways wehaveof identifying

ourselves,butthisneeds tobesafeandsecure. The systems

thatuseitneedtobesimilarly safe topreventwholesale

hackingand identity theft.Therecord ofpublicandprivate

bodiesinthismatteriswoeful.Inaddition,therecord of

government-initiatedITsystemsisabysmal,withfailureto

deliver ontimeor budgetor withtherequiredfunctionality.

Unless weaddresstheseissues, MrCummingswillbe

presiding overyetanother costlywhiteelephant.

CathySnarey,Reading

ToThe Guardian

Thetrialsandtribulationsofthe Windrushgenerationin

attemptingto obtain“indefiniteleavetoremain” status

illust rates,yetagain,theneedforanat ionalidentitycard.It’s

time wefellin linewiththe continent byhavingsuch asystem.

Needlessto say,sortingoutthestatusof EUresidents,come

our definitivedeparturefromtheEU, willprovetobe an

almightyadministrativenightmare.

YugoKovach,WinterborneHoughton, Dorset