The Week - UK (2021-02-13)

27

PurityofSeoul

ToTheDailyTelegraph

Mydaughterhasjust

completedtwoweeksin

aquarantinehotelin

SouthKorea.

After 24 hoursinamedical

facilityattheairport,waiting

foraCovidtestresult,shewas

movedbyspecialtaxitoa

hotelinthesuburbsofSeoul.

Shewasgiventhreemealsa

day,leftoutsidethedoor,

whichwasalarmed.Shecould

onlyopenthedoor forthe

foodandat6pmeachnight

toputoutherrubbish.There

wasnocleaning.

Onherlastdayshewas

releasedafteranothernegative

test,totakeaCovid-approved

taxitoherdestination.I’mnot

convincedthatwecoulddo

thathere.

PatriciaMadge,Bentworth,

Hampshire

Thoughtless altruism

To The Guardian

It would benoble togiveyour

vaccine slottoothers(Letters),

butit wouldundermine the

rationalebehind the

prioritisationscheme.The

elderlyandvulnerableare

hugelymorelikelytoget

seriouslyillif theycatchCovid

and requirehospitalisation.

Thechiefaim ofthe strategy is

to preventtheNHSbeingeven

more overwhelmed. Soyour

morallyresponsiblereaders

would,aswellas forgoing

vaccination,alsoneedto

refuse hospitalisationshould

theycatchCovid.

Incidentally,that isalso

theunstatedcorollaryofany

“libertarian” strategy that

argues that thetollof

shutdownwill outweigh the

toll of unrestrictedCovi d. That

argument mightevenbetrue,

but only if youthink it is

acceptable for everyhospital

bed in thecountry tobe filled

with aCovid sufferer.Or,

more probably,think itwould

be OK to refuse hospital

admission to Covid sufferers

deemed to have had their

good innings.

John Main, GreatAyton,

North Yorkshire

Enraging petrolheads

To TheTimes

Abigger incentiveto

promote thesale of electric

cars than increasing grants

wouldbe to restrict petrol,

dieselandhybridsto 60 mph

(thusreducingpollution)and

to allow electriccars to

travel at 7 0mph–oreven

higher.Beingovertaken by

anelectriccarwouldirk

aconsiderable numberof

driversofconventionalcars.

ColinRankin, Rye, East

Sussex

Awasted defence

To The DailyTelegraph

Youreportthat thecostof

buying48F-35Baircraftis

£9bn. Thisamountstoan

incredible£187mper aircraft.

Theyaretobebased ontwo

aircraftcarriersthatshould

have cost£4bnbutendedup

at £6.2bn.

Thesearebut twoexamples

of the waste and inefficiency

that pervadeourdefence

spending.Two factors

perpetuate theproblem. The

firstisthat nooneins enior

positionsisever held to

account forthewaste.The

Government hasallocatedan

extra£16.5bn for defence

spending,yeteven withthis

increase thereremain sa£7bn

gap between the spending

plans of the Ministry of

Defence andthe money

allocated.The individualsin

charge allowed thisoverspend,

yet they remain in post.

Thesecondproblem is that

the parliamentaryoversight

committees appearpowerless

to deal with thewaste. In

recentyears theNationalAudit

Office hasidentifiedwasteand

inefficiency indefencespending

runningto thousands of

millionsof pounds.ThePublic

Accounts Committeeand

Defence Committeehave

instigatedinquiries thathave

confirmed thewaste,yethave

donenothingto remedythe

situation.What,then,is their

purpose?

StephenOrwell,York

Cuttin gback on coke

To The Guardian

In2019,theUKimported

2.177million tonsofcoking

coal,predominantlyfromthe

USandRussia.Itisused in

steelmakingand,toalesser

extent,in concrete

manufacture and heating.In

additiontoburningthestuff,

theremust be abig carbon

load in transporting such a

huge weight. The proposed

minein Cumbriais

purelytoproduce

coking coal, and

transport distances

are relativelyshort.

Thereare

alternatives for

heating,and we

should anywaybe

using far less concrete.

Blastfurna ces for

recycled steel canbe

electricand t he

reducing properties

of coke insteelmaking

canbecompletely

replaced byhydrogen.

There shouldbea

commitmenttousinghydrogen

onlyforsteelproductionby

2030 andlinkingthelicence

forcokeextractioninCumbria

tothistarget.Thishydrogen

requirementwoulddriveUK

investmentintechnologiesfor

alternativefuelproduction,

storageanddistribution.

Itissurelybettertoplan

acrosstheboardfora

sustainablefuturethantake

anarrowviewaboutasingle

aspectoftheproblem.

JohnDark,Hexham,

Northumberland

WhatManhathwrought

ToTheTimes

Asnewmeasuresareagain

imposedhereintheUKto

controlcoronavirusvariants,

youreportthatlifehas

returnedtonormalonthe

IsleofMan.Itsparliament,

Tynwald,whichclaims to

be the oldestcontinuous

parliamentin theworld,

rapidly imposedthestrictest

of meas ures.Theborderwas

immediatelyclosed,non-

islanders were excluded, those

arriving had tospend14 days

in self-isolation,withspot

checksmadeon them and

breachesof therules sometimes

resultingin prisonsentences.

OuryoungerUK parliament

shouldperhaps havefollowed

theexampleof Tynwald.

CarolineTayler,Nutley,

East Sussex

I♥NHS

To The Daily Telegraph

IwasvaccinatedonTuesday.

Thecalltoattend,thecar-

parketiquette,thevaccinator’s

patience, the kindness,the look

to the future–humanity isan

extraordinarything.

Sean McMillan,Woodbridge,

Suffolk

13 February 2021 THE WEEK

LETTERS

Pick of the week’s correspondence

©DAVID SIPRESS/THE NEW YORKER/CARTOON BANK

“The captain tempers justice with mercy”

●Letters have been edited

Exchange of theweek

Should we havevaccine passports?

ToTheTimes

Thepossibilityofofficial“vaccinepassports”toallow

holidaysraisesconcernsaboutfairness.Forthepastyear,

youngpeoplelikeme(Iam24)havecurtailedoursocial

interactionsandacceptedsignificantrestrictionsonourlives.

Wehavemadesacrificestoprotectthosemorevulnerablethan

ourselves.Itisrightthatolderpeoplearebeingvaccinated

first,butisitfairthattheywillregainfreedomsthatyounger

peoplewillcontinuetolivewithout?

Therehasbeenasenseofsolidaritybetweengenerations

throughoutthepandemicsofar;Ifearitmaybelostifvaccine

passportsareintroduced.

ChristopherDay,Eastbourne

ToTheTimes

IcanunderstandChristopherDay’sfeelingsonintergenera-

tionalfairness.However,allowingfreedomstothosewhohave

beenvaccinatedwillstimulatetheeconomy.Ifaresumption

ofnormaleconomicactivityisdelayeduntileveryonehasbeen

vaccinated,MrDay’sgenerationwillsuffermorethanmine.

Iam72.

RogerHowes,LeamingtonSpa