The Week - UK (2022-05-28)

25

In praise of bureaucrats

To the Financial Times

The Government’s decision to

cut 90,000 civil servants from

its payroll is a mistake. It will

lead to a switch from in-house

expertise to outsourced

management consulting firms.

In 2021, the Government spent

£2.5bn of taxpayers’ money on

management consultants. This

would have paid for 50,000

civil servants for one year at

an average salary of £50,000.

Over decades, Whitehall

departments build up expertise

that is retained for the country.

Governments come and go.

Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-

Mogg appear to view “small

government” as big payouts to

management consultants.

Amanda Goodall, associate

professor, Bayes Business

School, London

Wake up, Bill Gates!

To The Guardian

Your interview with Bill Gates

showed him to be a very well-

informed man. However, he

continues to propagate a myth

about the cause of climate

change. He says: “Most of the

emissions are from middle-

income countries.” That’s

largely true, but only because

these countries manufacture

goods for the “developed”

nations – we import goods and

export our emissions.

He also picks on population

growth. Climate change is not

being caused by population

growth in Africa. The US

historian Howard Zinn said

that in his lifetime he would

use up the resources of a whole

Indian village. Surely Gates

understands that we are

heading for climate catastrophe

because the economic system

that is spreading worldwide

tells us that the good life

depends on excessive material

consumption. Perhaps he needs

to wake up so that he can see

that the “American dream” has

become a nightmare.

Eileen Peck, Benfleet, Essex

How to beat the Bank

To The Daily Telegraph

There has rightly been criticism

of the Bank of England’s weak

efforts to control inflation.

Ironically, the Bank’s staff are

largely immune to the effects of

inflation, being members of

one of the most generous

pension schemes in the country.

BoE pensions are linked to

growth in the retail prices

index, so no matter how high

inflation soars, employees’

financial security is protected.

Given that the Bank’s remit

is to keep inflation down to

2%, perhaps the interests of

their directors and staff should

be aligned with those of the

rest of the country by capping

their pension inflation increases

at that same 2%. This might

bring a sense of urgency to

their handling of the crisis.

Vincent Phillips, Naburn,

North Yorkshire

Making maths amusing

To The Times

Further to your report “Give

maths a less scary name”,

“maths” is intimidating and

“numeracy” sounds boring.

My daughter’s school once

introduced a lunchtime maths

club. No one turned up.

The school then introduced

a lunchtime puzzle club.

Everyone came.

Sharon Footerman, London

Dying to save the NHS?

To The Daily Telegraph

Allison Pearson (“A modest

proposal to save our beloved

NHS”) writes satirically of the

advantages of “putting to

sleep” up to 5,000 patients a

month. But satire has always

had a prophetic role. The late

Baroness Warnock wrote that

“if you’re demented, you’re

wasting the resources of the

NHS”. Jacques Attali,

ex-president of the European

Bank for Reconstruction and

Development, said: “As soon as

he gets beyond 60 or 65, man

lives beyond his capacity to

produce, and costs society a lot

of money... euthanasia will be

one of the essential instruments

of our future societies.” As the

debate on legalising assisted

dying progresses, Ms Pearson

perhaps inadvertently reminds

us that not all of its advocates

are motivated exclusively by

feelings of benevolence.

Neil Scolding, emeritus

professor of clinical neuro­

sciences, University of Bristol

Pay me now, not later

To the Financial Times

UK households, to cover

energy bills, are increasingly

relying on credit cards, payday

loans and “buy now pay later”

schemes to make ends meet.

Monthly payroll became

popular for many reasons –

greater predictability of cash

flow, reduced administration,

reduced costs and later, the

efficiencies of digital pay. But

all of the benefits favour the

employer, not the employee.

People should be able to

freely access their money and

be paid when they want it. This

will enable them to have more

control over cash flow, thus

reducing the need for payday

loans and debt. Against the

backdrop of the current crisis,

isn’t it time we drop the

concept of monthly pay?

David Brown, London

Covid and obesity

To The Times

Your article “Overcoming

obesity” is right that obesity

has huge and costly medical

consequences. The most topical

one is that it is by far the most

important preventable risk

factor for a Covid death (being

old is the most important one,

but time machines defy the

laws of physics).

If Covid had struck in 1966,

the year in which the brilliant

electron microscopist June

Almeida discovered human

coronaviruses, its impact

would have been at least an

order of magnitude less, not

only because there were

many fewer old people, but

because the obesity epidemic

had not yet begun.

Hugh Pennington, Aberdeen

28 May 2022 THE WEEK

LETTERS

Pick of the week’s correspondence

● Letters have been edited

Exchange of the week

Should the suspect be named?

To The Times

Your argument that the identity of the MP recently arrested

(but not charged) on allegations of serious sexual offences

should be disclosed is plausible, but likely to lead to dreadful

unintended consequences if implemented. That is because the

mere fact of the allegation (even if the man is never charged)

is likely to lead to the mob action that we have often seen: his

family will be trolled, his children jeered and bullied, and his

home may well be attacked. This is irrespective of any

onslaughts on the man himself, who is presumed to be innocent

(but not by the mob). If the man is eventually charged, then the

public interest will of course require his identification,

irrespective of the effects on him and his family. But unless and

until he is actually charged, his identity should not be revealed.

Robert Rhodes QC, Outer Temple Chambers, London

To The Times

One problem with the support of Robert Rhodes QC for not

naming suspects is that in today’s world, such details cannot

be kept secret. Refusing to name a suspect means that we will

not discover his identity from responsible outlets such as The

Times and the BBC. But sadly, those who want to engage in

abuse and trolling don’t need responsible outlets. They usually

have little difficulty in finding what they need online; this is

their home territory. Often, an identity can be deduced from

circumstances. A suspect who is an MP is the perfect example.

The pool of candidates is limited and gossip flourishes. The

right approach must be to follow basic principles. Our criminal

justice system is, and should remain, in the public domain.

Rhodes is quite right in saying that not everyone recognises the

presumption of innocence. But the answer to that must be for

the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and everyone

concerned with a case to remind the public of it often and

loudly, not to try to hide that which cannot be hidden.

Peter Murphy, ret’d circuit judge, Huntingdon

“I’m intrigued to know

what the first symptoms of

monkeypox might be...”