28 Tuesday May 24 2022 | 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 9GFdepartments and not to seek to
second-guess them. In terms of the
reorganisation of the centre of
government there is one specific area
of responsibility — intelligence and
national security — that it would be
unwise to move. Intelligence issues
are far better managed under the
auspices of the Cabinet Office and
reporting through that route to the
prime minister. To do otherwise
would run the risk that there could be
political interference in the work of
intelligence gathering, its assessment
and interpretation. Such a risk is best
avoided. One only need recall the Iraq
dossier, and the damage done to its
credibility because of the perception
that there may have been some
political meddling in its findings.
Alun Evans
Head, Strategic Communications
Unit, Prime Minister’s Office, 1998-
2000; CEO, British Academy, 2015-19Sir, The comments of Rob Behrens,
the parliamentary and health service
ombudsman, regarding people who
complain being viewed as a nuisance
resonate with me (“Officials accused
of ‘fobbing off’ public”, May 23).
However, this culture is certainly far
wider than Whitehall: unlikeparliament or the health service,
sport still has no ombudsman. This is
despite Baroness Grey-Thompson’s
independent report to the
government in 2017, “Duty of Care in
Sport”, and her recommendation of
an ombudsman. The failure to listen
to complainants is commonplace in
all areas and unless complainants
have the time and energy, and enlist
figures who cannot be ignored, most
people just give up. This means that
the real level of concern is hidden.
Dorothy Muir
Chagford, DevonSir, You report (“Gray expected to
condemn top civil servant”, May 23)
that after the release of the Gray
report the prime minister will address
the House of Commons and then a
meeting of the 1922 Committee
behind closed doors. This smacks of
someone who is desperate to save his
own skin and indifferent to public
accountability. It is the public whom
he should be addressing, directly, as
he so frequently did during the
lockdown, to offer an apology at the
very least. His resignation is too
much to hope for.
His Honour Simon Tonking
Abbots Bromley, StaffsJoy of Chelsea and
pest-free gardens
Sir, Max Hastings’s delightful article
on the Chelsea Flower show captured
the spirit of amateur gardening
(“Never underestimate the power of
the flower”, May 23). Those of us who
potter around in our small plots take
great delight in the often messy but
always colourful displays at this time
of year. However, there is one cloud
on the horizon: the slugs and snails in
my part of the world seem to have got
the memo about the banning of slug
pellets and they are partying like
there is no tomorrow. Lobelias and
phlox are being massacred every day.
I accept Hastings’s point about using
fewer chemicals in our gardens but
remain at a loss about how to deal
with these voracious pests.
Nigel Adams
Wallington, SurreySir, Max Hastings writes that “the
traditional English border is
imperilled by climate change”. This
may be so but the building over of
gardens by rapacious developers is
also a significant factor in the decline
of our small oases of biodiversity.
Dr Elaine Smith
London NW4Ultra clean moths
Sir, My late mother clearly believed
that soap deterred moths (letters, May
16-21). When we cleared her wardrobe
and chests of drawers we found
neither moths nor moth damage. We
did find plenty of soap, though: the
record was 42 bars in one drawer.
Tim Goldsack
Newbury, BerksBat cave
Sir, Janet Cowie should have no fear
of bats (letter, May 23). We have a
nursery roost of at least 50 pipistrelles
in our cellars. They like to hang out
above the freezer and washing
machine: they peel off the ceiling in
formation and fly into the next cellar
every time we turn the light on. None
of us bat an eyelid.
Marie-Helene Robinson
Lovington Mill, SomersetCorrections and
clarifications
6 We said the restaurant L’Enclume
had nearly trebled the price of a
tasting menu (news, May 21). In fact
L’Enclume has discontinued its shorter
£100 lunch menu, and raised the price
of its full tasting menu from £195 to
£250. We apologise for the confusion.
6 The port of Klaipeda is in
Lithuania, not Latvia as we wrongly
stated (News, May 23).
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 should be sent
by email to [email protected]
Online child safety
Sir, The Online Safety Bill offers a
rare opportunity to protect children
and enable them to flourish online.
We support the government’s
ambition to make Britain the safest
place to be online through the bill.
Digital technologies have the
potential to inspire children, inform
them and unleash their creativity. We
do not wish to see them locked out of
the digital world but their safety and
autonomy online must be protected.
The bill should ensure that the tech
sector creates services that are
age-appropriate by design and default
and companies must be accountable
when they fail to do so.
We urge the government to amend
the bill to ensure protection for
children wherever they are online;
mandatory standards of privacy,
security and efficacy of age-checking;
a standalone set of safety duties to
children set out in a single binding,
enforceable, code of practice; explicit
mention of children’s rights; and
access to data in the case of a child’s
death or incapacitation. The faith
communities and the children’s sector
are united in supporting a kinder
digital world for children.
Baroness Kidron, founder, 5Rights
Foundation; the Most Rev Stephen
Cottrell, Archbishop of York; Dr
Deesha Chadha, Hindu Forum of
Britain; Zara Mohammed, secretary-
general, Muslim Council of Britain;
The Rev Sonia Hicks, president,
Methodist Conference; Rabbi David
Mason, Muswell Hill United
Synagogue; Rabbi Charley Baginsky,
CEO, Liberal Judaism; the Right Rev
Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham
Plus a further 17 signatories at
thetimes.co.uk/letters
Following cuckoos
Sir, Further to the letter on the
migration of cuckoos (May 19), we
have just returned from a three-week
drive from Caen to Siena and back,
outward via Geneva and return via
Gap. From our first morning at
Pegasus Bridge we heard a cuckoo
call every day of our journey through
France and Italy. It was a joy to hear,
though none was seen.
Michael Whistler
Broadmayne, Dorset
Whitehall power grab and ‘fobbing off ’ public
Sir, Clearer responsibilities in the
centre of government would be a
good thing (“PM takes direct control
in Whitehall power grab, May 20).
However, it is not obvious from the
sketchy details available that the
prime minister’s proposed changes
will make that happen. A loss of
confidence from ministers in the
centre as an honest broker will only
damage decision-making, and so
would a weaker government
modernisation and reform unit, or
indeed a national security secretariat
under the direct control of No 10
officials. The cabinet secretary, not
Downing Street, must maintain a
central leadership role in the civil
service. And in any case we should
not expect changes to organisational
structure to alter this administration’s
character — that comes from the
prime minister and is set for the
duration of his time in office.
Alex Thomas
Institute for Government; former
principal private secretary to Sir
Jeremy Heywood, cabinet secretarySir, Lord Butler of Brockwell is spot
on (“Whitehall power”, letter, May 23)
in emphasising that the role of No 10
should be to draw on the expertise ofSir, All decent teachers from the
private sector will be bristling at the
insinuation of immorality in their
conduct of examinations, in an
endeavour to improve their pupils’
grades (“Good grades can often be a
question of morality”, Notebook,
May 24). Does Helen Rumbelow not
consider that state school teachers
might be equally immoral, and possibly
more so? Her comments show the
danger of listening to a small selection
of people from one sector then going
on a biased attack. Of course, some
teachers from either group may cheat,
and that is shameful, but the best way
to prevent this is to stop the possibility
of teacher interference. For example,
the oral exams could be conducted by
an external examiner, just as they used
to be. I fear that the increased use of
teacher involvement in exams is down
to cost-cutting by the exam boards.
Jan Norris
Former head of modern languages,
Roedean School; Broadwas, WorcsSir, I read Helen Rumbelow’s
comments about private school
teachers giving unfair advantage toMorality of exams
their pupils in exams with some
frustration. In my work at three
independent schools I never once
witnessed this practice, and I know
that the staff would have been
horrified at the suggestion. But I do
recall the time that I was conducting
a GCSE French oral examination: a
magpie landed on the ledge outside
the window just after I had asked the
candidate “As-tu un animal
domestique?” She looked at the bird
for several seconds and replied: “Oui,
j’ai un hamster.” Some time later she
saw me in the corridor and said that
she had remembered the word oiseau
when the magpie appeared but didn’t
want to be accused of cheating.
Geoff Buckley
Chislehurst, Kentfrom the times may 24, 1922GARDENS
IN
CHELSEA
thetimes.co.uk/archiveWolf-whistle ban
Sir, I am sure Nimco Ali has the best
intentions but criminalising
wolf-whistles and similar will do
nothing more than “weaponise” the
very behaviour that she is pushing to
ban (Clare Foges, comment, May 23).
The acts of staring and wolf-whistling
will now become part of the arsenal
of those who speed up whenever they
see a sign saying “Please drive
carefully through our village”.
Fraser White
Bunbury, CheshireMinister for north
Sir, The red wall Tory MP Jake Berry
asks: where is our minister for the
north (news, May 23)? This raises the
question: where is the minister for the
south? The disparity of the economies
across the UK, not least those of the
devolved countries, seems to promote
the disingenuous “them and us”
mentality of British politics and itsattendant division. Since the
mid-20th century governments have
decentralised industry, offices and
indeed significant volumes of
Whitehall’s service away from
London, bringing economic benefits
to other regions and better economic
circumstances for those employees.
Rather than pandering to the “me
first” agenda, it seems to me that it is
about time that we pulled together.
Patrick Hogan
Beaconsfield, BucksNo lover of flowers and gardens who
has or can make the opportunity
should lose the chance of visiting in
the next two days the Spring Show
of the Royal Horticultural Society at
Chelsea. The addition of the
Ranelagh Gardens to the Royal
Hospital Gardens as the site of the
show has to some extent relieved the
congestion in the tents, and will thus
make more enjoyable than ever what
is always one of the most delightful
features of the season. Yesterday,
when the grounds were thrown open
to the public, after a preliminary
inspection by several members ofthe Royal Family, they were quickly
invaded by a large crowd of
devotees, which included many well-
known people who come, like the
exhibits, from all parts of the
country. Among them all —
professionals as well as amateurs —
there was but one opinion. This is
the best show, both of flowers and
miniature gardens, that the efforts of
the Society have ever got together.
There is something cheering in the
thought that this is the case.
Cultivated flowers and the gardens
in which they grow are essentially a
product of peace. The destruction of
them was one of the uglier
calamities of the war. The variety
and richness of the Chelsea Show
are, amongst other things, a sign of a
revival, of a return to the quiet joys
of other days. The existence of man
and woman on this earth began, we
are told, in a garden. It was from a
garden that they went out to face the
struggles and storms of life. In theirgardens, even if only the size of a
window-box, their descendants —
or, in the language of the Old
Testament, their seed — can follow
more closely than anywhere else the
miracle of growth, in communion, if
that be their bent, with the author
and origin of all life. And, if not, in
the enjoyment of gardens such as
these creations at Chelsea, they can
at least get away for a time from all
that is vile and ugly, and steep their
thoughts and senses in the beauty
and fragrance and purity of the
flowers of the earth.
The Royal visitors were escorted
round the grounds by Lord and Lady
Lambourne, the latter in a deep navy
blue cloth coat and skirt and a black
straw hat. Princess Mary wore a pale
hyacinth-pink silk dress with
flounced side panels and a cream
silk hat trimmed with pink flowers.Canal commotion
Sir, Good luck to the Canal & River
Trust as it negotiates funding with the
government (letter, May 23). With the
canal network busier than ever I do
not envy its job. In my experience
anglers hate boat owners, boat
owners hate boat holidaymakers, dog
walkers hate towpath cyclists and
cyclists hate stretchy dog leads.
Keeping the peace on the cut is a
tough job. Fortunately, however, such
tensions make an interesting setting
for my canal-based crime novels.
Andy Griffee
Author of Canal Pushers and River
Rats; Stanford Bridge, WorcestershireBells are not dumb
Sir, Further to your article “Pumping
iron: the real key to weight loss”
(Weekend, May 21), why use dumbbells
when you can ring real bells in
belfries? Those who ring them benefit
from the physical workout of turning
100 to 1,000kg (or more) of bell metal.
Campanology offers not only a means
of maintaining physical fitness but also
mental agility and social wellbeing;
many are still ringing in their eighties.
It is a skill that can be mastered to give
years of body strength, a sharp mind
and a cheerful soul.
Fiona Harrison
Chester