Section:GDN 1J PaGe:6 Edition Date:190724 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 23/7/2019 17:57 cYanmaGentaYellowbla
- The Guardian Wednesday 24 July 2019
6 Letters
Timothy Garton Ash ( The time
is ripe for a fi ghtback of liberal
Britain , Journal, 23 July) suggests
Jo Swinson’s election as leader of
“the Liberals (to give them back
their proper name)” off ers her party
a chance to lead a fi ghtback for
liberal Britain.
Throughout the leadership
contest, both Swinson and Ed
Davey repeatedly referred to “we
liberals” and “our liberal values”,
having apparently forgotten
that their party was created by a
merger between the old Liberal
party and the SDP. The full name
of the new party at that time, the
Social and Liberal Democrats, was
initially abbreviated simply to “the
Democrats”. Only after lobbying
from the more dominant liberal
wing was the name changed to
its current incarnation. This was
possibly a mistake.A new prime minister
is forced upon us
Jo Swinson will need to broaden
appeal of the Liberal Democrats
The Crop Protection Association
(CPA) criticises the RSA Food,
Farming and Countryside
Commission report, Our Future
in the Land, for its absence of
science ( Letters , 22 July). As much
as they’d like us to believe it, they
do not have the monopoly on the
scientifi c arguments.
Good science is a rigorous
and critical process of inquiry: it
is far from perfect, neutral and
incontrovertible. It was science
that gave us DDT, thalidomide and
lead in petrol; and science told us
it would be fi ne to give antibiotics
prophylactically to intensively
reared livestock.
We should therefore apply the
precautionary principle more
carefully, given what we know
now about the misplaced claims
of science past. Scientifi c inquiry
can only ever answer the questions
asked. We are now becoming awareImperfect science
of intensive farming
intelligence, but it is wisdom that
leadership depends on. Aside from
his politics, instinctively to the
right of the Conservative party and
without conviction, and appearing
to represent little more than the
self -justifi cation of privilege,
Mr Johnson is not suitable for
high offi ce.
Dr Franz Schembri Wismayer
Dunkerton, Bath- On the morning of the result
of the Brexit vote three years ago,
the French newspaper Libération,
published a full front page
showing the familiar photo of Boris
Johnson dangling helplessly from
a zipwire waving two union fl ags,
under the headline “Good luck”.
With Johnson, as ensconced in
No 10, Britain is going to need
a lot more than luck.
Stefan Simanowitz
London - Family members and close friends
refer to our next prime minister as
Al for the simple reason that his fi rst
name is Alexander and Boris is a
persona he has adopted for public
consumption. I wonder if he will
be tempted to extend the hand of
friendship to the Queen when they
meet at the palace: “I can call you
Betty. And Betty, when you call me,
you can call me Al.” (With apologies
to Paul Simon.)
Mike Pender
Cardiff - I have just been to the newsagent’s
where I read the Daily Telegraph’s
the radical, progressive political
tradition of the Guardian.
Dr Jack Fawbert
Lakenheath, Suff olk- Jessica Elgot makes the most
perceptive comment on the
Lib Dems ( After Brexit, the party
loses the USP behind its resurgence ,
23 July). She is right to pose the
problem, for the party, but she
underestimates the electorate.
For the fi rst time in decades of my
experience in liberal politics, the
party gained signifi cant electoral
support on an issue of principle, held
by the party since 1955, rather than
on mending pavements or saving
post offi ces. Pro-remain voters
chose the Lib Dem s as the most
principled pro-Europe party.
I am optimistic that they can
now be persuaded to look at other
long-held liberal policies and see the
value in working with the party to
stand up against the reactionaries in
both major parties to create a more
sensitive and communal society.
Michael Meadowcroft
Leeds
Please can someone tell me that
I’m not mad, and that this really is
happening ( Boris Johnson elected
new Tory leader , theguardian.com,
23 July). The UK claims to be a
democracy. Our next prime minister
has just been chosen by the 92,153
members of the Conservative
and Unionist party, who voted for
Boris Johnson. The UK electorate
numbers 45,775,800 voters. The UK
population stands at 66,961,230.
So about 0.001% of the population
have, in eff ect, selected Johnson.
In other words, 99.999% of the
population had no say whatsoever
in this matter. That, apparently, is
how our democracy works. I’ve just
one question: how diff erent would
the process have been if the UK
weren’t a democracy?
Emeritus Professor Chris Walsh
Hawarden, Flintshire- We seem to have moved from
the ridiculous to the malign; from
wheat fi elds and egoic rigidity to
thuggery, serial public infi delity and
pathological dishonesty. Much is
made of a dubious “cleverness” or
If this centre party is to attract
the social democrats it needs from
the Labour party and elsewhere,
declaring itself, as Garton Ash
suggests, as really a re-emergence of
the old Liberal party is surely going
to be problematic. P erhaps Chuka
Umunna’s self-description of “social
democrat with liberal values” may
serve the party better.
Brian Wilson
Glossop, Derbyshire- Timothy Garton Ash enthuses
about the election of Jo Swinson.
Would that be the same Jo Swinson
who, when part of the coalition
government, voted against a ban
on fracking, voted for the bedroom
tax, voted for raising student tuition
fees, voted to cut welfare spending
and voted to back a potential £100bn
renewal of Trident? Good to see
at least one columnist keeping up
headline, “Fantasist whose lies
should never have been believed”,
and for one delirious moment
I thought the paper had had a
last-minute conversion to sanity
on Boris Johnson’s unicorn world.
Of course, it referred to the other
damaged fantasist in the news.
Paul Wright
King’s Lynn, Norfolk- We should spare a sympathetic
thought for the talented and
honourable offi cials in No 10 and
the Cabinet Offi ce who now fi nd
themselves obliged to work for
Johnson ( Tory rebels warn Johnson:
ditch no deal or face fi ght for
survival , 23 July). They may have
dealt before with egocentricity,
mendacity or unreliability as
one-off s, but never when all three
are characteristic of the same
prime minister.
Robin Wendt
Chester - As a teacher of history I have
always tried to show my pupils
that in all leaders and historical
fi gures there is a balance of good
and less good qualities in all
of them. Are there any qualities that
Mr Johnson displays that I should
urge my grandchildren to emulate?
Nigel Reynolds
Haxby, North Yorkshire - May I remind Mr Johnson that
all political careers end in failure
and that he should consider
resigning while he is ahead.
Steve Oakes
Abingdon, Oxfordshire - To paraphrase Shakespeare’s
Malvolio: “Some have idiots thrust
upon them.” At least the American
electorate voted in their own idiot.
Maureen Tranter
Sheffi eld
of the impact of the chemical
cocktail in our environment –
synthetic chemicals used on and in
our foods; endemic micro plastics;
airborne pollution; medicines in our
water supply. We do not yet know
the full eff ect of these issues, since
scientifi c inquiry has been slow to
ask these questions. But it is now
And we should all be very curious
to learn more.
The CPA argues that intensive
agriculture enables us to use less
land, sparing more for nature.
Currently around two-thirds of
arable production is fed to animals.
Shifting towards sustainable
farming systems that do not rely
on growing crops for animal feed,
farmers could grow more of the
fruit, vegetables, nuts and pulses
that make up a healthy diet, with
pasture-fed livestock on grassland,
and as part of a carbon sequestering,
soil improving rotation on arable
land. We would not need more land
to do this.
Sue Pritchard
RSA Food, Farming and Countryside
CommissionWe do not
publish letters
where only an
email address is
supplied; please
include a full
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may edit letters.
Submission and
publication of all
letters is subject
to our terms
and conditions:
see gu.com/
letters-termsMay I remind Boris
Johnson all political
careers end in failure
and he should consider
resigning while aheadSteve OakesFull steam
ahead
‘The 7903
Foremarke
Hall locomotive
is captured
in the spring
sunshine passing
Didbrook on the
Gloucestershire
Warwickshire
Steam Railway
on 29 March ’
MARTIN CREESE/
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