The Times - UK (2021-11-25)

36 Thursday November 25 2021 | the times

Letters to the Editor

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Sir, There is one big reason for the

lack of scientific knowledge that

Dame Kate Bingham laments, and it

is called A-levels. For decades

A-levels, which were originally

designed by universities as their

method of selection, have forced

pupils to choose three subjects and

thereby to specialise at the age of 16.

This has meant that for many pupils,

especially those who study humanities

and go on to read, for example,

Classics or PPE, their last experience

of maths and science has been sitting

GCSEs at the age of 16. There is much

talk of abolishing GCSEs but the real

problem in education is A-levels and

the failure to face the truth that a

broader education beyond the age of

16 is essential.

John Claughton

Former chief master, King Edward’s

School, Birmingham

Sir, When governments mention the

industrial experience of their

backbenchers they are generally

referring to non-executive directors of

banks, country solicitors and PR

hangers-on whose experience of

manufacturing (and particularly

complex and export-led industry) is

almost non-existent. I know that MPs

Foster carer’s kudos

Sir, My wife and I have fostered for 12

years (“Fostering shortfall will leave

95,000 children in care”, news, and

leading article, Nov 23; letter,

Nov 24). In most cases fosterers are

the people with the greatest

knowledge of the children in their

care. This expertise and

understanding must be put to good

use when trying to reintroduce

children back to their birth families.

The care system is not broken but

needs to be more flexible in its

approach, and wherever possible

foster carers should be used as bridges

between families. For this to happen

foster carers must be regarded as

professionals within the carer system.

Iain Dyer

Woodford Green, east London

try to rectify this problem with

industrial visits within their

constituencies but the timeframes of

complex manufacturing are

completely different from those of a

professional partnership.

Peter M Brown

London W2

Sir, Dame Kate Bingham’s exposure of

the woeful practices that bedevil our

465,000 civil servants is long overdue.

Industry in all its forms is hampered

by the closed thinking that personifies

this layer of government. Pragmatism,

entrepreneurial thinking and the

urgency essential to survival in the

engine rooms of our economy are

foreign to civil service culture.

The civil service is also averse to

reasoned solutions: argument is

avoided by cut-and-paste replies. At

best you are given shameless,

oxymoronic excuses and a referral to

yet another grandly titled and

overpaid official. Deadlines of their

own making pass without excuse. I

have found the threat of a judicial

review to be the only spur that brings

them to the table.

Sir Michael Gooley

Founder and executive chairman,

Trailfinders

Passport to Pimlico

Sir, I have obviously been a lot more

fortunate than David Byers

(Thunderer, Nov 24). My passport

was sent to TNT Express within three

weeks of my application being

received by the Passport Office. There

the efficiency ended; on the tracking

app I was given six changes of

delivery date, with my passport being

“out for delivery 8am to 8pm” on two

dates before being returned to the

delivery centre. There were no

responses to my several (very polite)

emails, but I eventually received my

passport a week after the original

delivery date. I have yet to receive my

old passport, being sent separately. I

am surprised that, with an American

parent company, TNT does not

expect tips as a reward for its service.

Sue Fleckney

Colsterworth, Lincs

Tardis on whe els

Sir, Further to Matthew Parris’s

recollections of his family’s

adventures in an Austin 7 (Notebook,

Nov 24), my grandfather used to take

the whole family of two adults and

five children to Brighton in his one.

The whole car was just over 4ft wide.

Mike Roberts

South Cheriton, Somerset

Very trusted trader

Sir, Unlike Philip Moger’s wife (“Clean

as a whistle”, letter, Nov 24), I take the

opposite view. The detritus on the

dashboard of a van indicates that the

driver does not lob rubbish out of his

window. I’d hire him on the spot.

Julia Squier

Balsham, Cambs

Goodnight Vienna

Sir, The problem of hinting to guests

that it was time to leave in our house

(letters, Nov 23 & 24) was solved by

our African grey parrot shouting

“Night, night thank you” when he felt

it was getting late. It always worked.

John Pendray

Marseilles

Sir, A friend of mine used to get rid of

guests by playing an LP by Howlin’

Wolf. This worked well until one

visitor turned out to be a Howlin’

Wolf fan and stayed a further two

hours to discuss his work.

Tom Clelland

Lanark

Sir, In our family taking one’s time to

leave an enjoyable party is known as

“vestibulating” — spending too long

hanging about in the hall.

Penelope Elliott

Potterne, Wilts

Corrections and

clarifications

6 We said that a study published in
The BMJ found that mask wearing
reduced coronavirus infections by
53 per cent (News, Nov 1, and Times2,
Nov 22). We have been asked to make
clear that while the study found that
mask wearing was “associated with” a
reduction in risk, the limitations of
the research made it difficult for the
authors to draw a causal conclusion.

The Times takes
complaints
about editorial
content seriously. We are committed to
abiding by the Independent Press
Standards Organisation (“IPSO”) rules
and regulations and the Editors’ Code of
Practice that IPSO enforces.
Requests for corrections or
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Changing the way we think about science

Sir, Your leading article (Nov 24) and

Dame Kate Bingham’s Thunderer (Nov

23) are right to challenge the “lack of

skills and experience in science,

industry and manufacturing” in

government. Government alone is not

to blame: scientific leaders can do more

to encourage the exchange of expertise

between Westminster, Whitehall and

our research centres if we are to

“embed science into policymaking, at

every level of government”.

When opportunities are created,

policymakers and scientists engage

with one another enthusiastically.

This changes the culture on both

sides. The Forum at Imperial College

London has brought together civil

servants and scientists to tap into

emerging research and policy thinking

on data privacy, AI and health, air

quality, online harms, vaccines,

plastics and health resilience. The

Royal Society’s pairing scheme allows

30 research scientists to experience

the working lives of parliamentarians

and civil servants, and, crucially, puts

MPs and policymakers into research

environments. Such schemes fulfil a

fraction of the voracious appetite for

working together.

Professor Alice Gast

President, Imperial College London

Sir, I don’t disagree with the points

raised by Roger Boyes in his article

“West has a week to stop rot at

Interpol” (Nov 23) but one should not

overlook the significant contribution

that Interpol makes globally in

helping national police organisations

at the operational level. A good

example is the field of disaster victim

identification (DVI). As a result of

international efforts co-ordinated by

Interpol there are now universally

agreed procedures for the recovery,

handling and identification of the

dead in mass fatality incidents. This

includes the provision of

internationally recognised and

uniquely numbered documentation.

This helps to protect the integrity of

both the identification process and

scientific aspects of any criminal

investigation, regardless of where a

disaster occurs. Most importantly,

these procedures contribute to

reassuring families that their deceased

loved ones will be treated with

respect, accurately identified and

returned to them without undue

delay. In a globalised world the need

for international police co-operation

Intelligent Interpol

is paramount, and despite its inherent

political problems Interpol remains

the best vehicle to help to achieve this.

Mick Free, QPM

UK representative on Interpol

standing committee on DVI 2000-09

from the times november 25, 1921

LANDRU

MYSTERY

UNSOLVED

PMs with vision

Sir, Having watched the documentary

about Tony Blair and Gordon Brown

I agree with Melanie Phillips (“Do we

want preachers or pragmatists in No

10?”, Nov 23): their conviction and

zeal made for compelling viewing.

They were two politicians who really

cared, and it showed. Phillips is spot

on about our present prime minister

and his lacklustre cabinet. This

government appears to be tilting at all

the wrong windmills and then having

to perform ignominious U-turns. This

is not statesmanship, and as to the

PM’s speech to the CBI, Sir Keir

Starmer is correct that the joke is no

longer funny; the public are now

waking up to that indisputable fact.

Judith Daniels

Cobholm, Norfolk

Sir, Melanie Phillips states that

“When people realised where they

were with Blair they decided that was

emphatically not where they wanted

to be”. What evidence is there for

this? Blair won three elections and

never lost one, before making good

on his promise to stand aside for

Gordon Brown.

John Grossman

Northwood, Middx

thetimes.co.uk/archive

Johnson’s chaotic

style of leadership

Sir, I can only agree with Daniel
Finkelstein’s argument (“It’s absurd to
imagine Johnson will change”, Nov
24) but it does raise a deeply worrying
question about democratic
government. In the UK we have
tended to congratulate ourselves on
the maturity and good sense of voters,
especially when compared with those
in the United States. Yet if people can
be encouraged to vote for someone
who is careless, disorganised,
impervious to public reactions as well
as sound advice, what does it say
about the gullibility/vulnerability of
voters to being wooed by such
inadequate leaders?
Bill Jones
Former professor of politics and
history, Liverpool Hope University

Sir, It is sad that politicians such as
William Hague cause themselves
such anguish by believing they can
stay in power for ever (“There’s still
time for the Tories to get a grip”, Nov
23). One day there will be another
Labour government. The Tories have
been in power a long time, they are
tired and the public is increasingly
tired of the same old faces. A change
is not only inevitable but, unless one
believes in the desirability of eternal
one-party rule, quite right. Hague
should reflect that one day he, too,will
benefit from this natural cycle.
James Dixon
Stanningfield, Suffolk

Sir, Daniel Finkelstein is right to say
that Boris Johnson will never change.
Theresa May’s excruciating party
conference speech came from the
misfortune of a cough and a
collapsing stage set. The shame of
Johnson’s speech to the CBI was
entirely of his own very nature:
disrespectful, lazy and empty. Surely
his party, and the electorate, can see
that Britain deserves better.
Tony Rowe
Bristol

Parcel firm failures

Sir, Andrew Ellison’s report highlights

the failures of the package delivery

industry (“ ‘Tougher rules needed’ to

make parcel firms deliver”, Nov 24).

Two parcels entrusted to Hermes, one

lost and the contents of the other

smashed, cost me more than £300.

After weeks of battle I received £25

compensation. I don’t understand

why, having paid for a parcel to be

delivered, one is expected to pay a

further amount for insurance to get

the service that one has already paid

for. Your report ends with the news

that the companies were asked for

comment but did not reply. Perhaps

the replies were lost in transit?

Neville Landau

London SW19

Letters to The Times must be exclusive
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The Landru trial at Versailles

entered a new stage this afternoon.

Now that the evidence directly

concerning “Bluebeard’s” relations

with his many fiancees has been

taken, the prosecution and defence

are coming to closer grips over the

methods he may have employed in

the murder of his alleged victims,

and over the circumstantial evidence

as to the burning of the fiancees’

bodies at Gambais. M Gilbert, the

presiding Judge, made it clear that

the prosecution admitted that it was

obliged to restrict itself to

hypotheses. “Firearms, poison,

strangling — nobody actually knew”

he said, “but witnesses have noticed

arms, suspicious-looking phials, and

books on poisons and their antidotes

in the Gambais villa.” There was the

question whether Landru might not

have strangled his guests, for he had

described the hanging of three dogs

as the “gentlest of deaths”. “Oh, yes,

for dogs,” answered Landru, wholly

self-possessed. “The phials contained

nothing but photographic materials.

And as for books on poisons, does

one poison people with books?”

Further witnesses, continued M

Gilbert, would speak of evil-smelling

smoke and suspicious lights coming

from the villas at Vernouillet and

Gambais. Others would establish

that human bones and fragments of

women’s apparel had been found

among the debris. One witness

would declare that Landru had left

home by motor-car late one night

and had thrown heavy objects into a

pond. “I should like to know at what

‘psychological moment’ a normal

light or a smell becomes suspect,”

asked the accused. “I am not

troubled by what these witnesses

assert. A great deal of gossip goes on

in country districts.” A minute later

he exclaimed, “Hypotheses, nothing

but hypotheses. Ten women have

disappeared. You have found none of

them, either whole or in little bits.”

Further prosecution witnesses were

then heard. A woman of 75, who

lived in Vernouillet near Landru’s

former retreat, thought that he

might be a German spy, but the local

policeman had not attached much

importance to her surmises. Another

peasant woman mentioned an old

trunk like a coffin which Landru

burned in the garden. It smelt “pas

bon”. “It would not smell like roses,”

remarked Landru impatiently; “I was

simply burning old clothes.”