The Times - UK (2022-01-03)

24 V2 Monday January 3 2022 | the times

Letters to the Editor

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regularly putting up with verbal abuse

from politicians who would be better

advised to first “remove the beam in

their own eye”, he continues to serve

the nation with total dedication and

no obvious rancour. It may be a

crumb of comfort to him to know

that tens of millions of his fellow

citizens deeply appreciate his calm,

straightforward messages to us.

Dr John Lander

Barton Stacey, Hants

Sir, Chris Whitty and Jonathan

Van-Tam and others have been

awarded knighthoods because of their

work and advice during the pandemic.

A public inquiry is due to take place

this year to examine the management

of the pandemic. Surely such

knighthoods should not be awarded

until the inquiry has reported.

Julian Moss

Sywell, Northants

Sir, The service personnel involved in

the UK’s nuclear weapon testing

programme in the 1950s and 1960s

Too many ministers

Sir, You have recently published

reports on ministerial plans to cut

taxes and the number of civil

servants, demonstrating a

determination to reduce the size and

reach of the state (news, Dec 28). I’m

surprised that none of the contenders

to succeed the prime minister have

extended their ambition to addressing

the size of the government itself.

The new governments formed in

Germany and the Netherlands have

cabinets less than two thirds the size

of our own, with a handful of junior

ministers. The UK government is

Vaccine supply

Sir, Waiving intellectual property rules

(letters, Jan 1) would compromise the

integrity of vaccine manufacture and

supply chains. More practical is Sir

Jeremy Farrar’s proposal to reform

the WHO to give it the continuity

and finance to oversee regional

laboratories and manufacture. This

would also provide a framework to

cope with future pandemics.

Financing companies in a wide

spectrum of situations is a matter for

subscribing governments to negotiate.

Dr Peter Foster, FIChemE

Sheffield

were once again refused the award of

a medal by the advisory military

subcommittee. It has said three times

that a medal should not be awarded;

each time it stated there was not

enough risk and rigour. If standing in

the proximity of a nuclear blast does

not fit the criteria I don’t know what

would. French and US nuclear

veterans were awarded medals by

their governments last year. I hope

the prime minister does the

honourable thing and finally awards

the British veterans the medal they

deserve.

Colin Moir

Hatton, Aberdeenshire

Sir, I looked in vain in the honours list

for any award recognising the bravery

of Folajimi Olubunmi-Adewole, the

young man who dived into the

Thames in an effort to save a woman

who had jumped or fallen in. He

drowned. Surely he should have been

given a posthumous George Medal.

Michael Perkins

Hockley Heath, W Midlands

Peace for our time

Sir, Ben Macintyre suggests Neville

Chamberlain’s aim in entering into

the Munich agreement was to buy

time further to rearm to withstand

the Nazi onslaught (“History should

be kinder to Chamberlain”, comment,

Jan 1).

In doing so Macintyre charitably

implies Chamberlain’s motive for the

1938 pact was to prepare the UK for

war, for which there is little evidence,

and which is substantially refuted by

his comment “I’ve got it” and

emphasised in his reference to “peace

for our time” on returning to

Downing Street, a statement he

subsequently regretted.

The fact that war was delayed for a

year was a happy coincidence and not

the objective Chamberlain sought.

Robert Bieber

Visiting research fellow, department

of war studies, King’s College,

London

Drivers and cyclists

Sir, You report a concern that

motorists are not sufficiently aware of

cyclists and that they are unlikely to

be aware of relevant changes in the

Highway Code (Dec 30). Were

able-bodied applicants for provisional

driving licences first required to pass

a cycling proficiency test and, better

still, navigate the interchange

between the A40 and the North

Circular on a bike, they would be far

more aware of cyclists sharing the

road with them.

Peter Inson

East Mersea, Essex

The real Winnie

Sir, Christopher Milne’s teddy bear,

originally Edward Bear, was renamed

Winnie-the-Pooh (“Pooh Bear’s

money pot is opened”, Jan 1) after a

Canadian black bear cub brought to

England by a member of the Fort

Garry Horse regiment who hailed

from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The

mascot, named after the soldier’s

home town, was too lively to go to

war and was left at London Zoo for

the duration of the First World War,

where she was often visited by

Christopher and his father. Having

inspired AA Milne’s stories, Winnie’s

popularity convinced her owner to

leave her in London.

Judith Steiner

London N6

Special delivery

Sir, As a footnote to Brexit may I add

that to my chagrin, living in France, I

found over Christmas that Fortnum

and Mason, who were able to send

their wares to the trenches during the

First World War, are no longer able to

send items to Europe. I think even the

most ardent Leave voters may have

reconsidered had they realised such

serious implications.

Jeremy Gee

Bertric-Burée, Dordogne

Corrections and

clarifications

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India visa deal

Sir, Your front-page headline (Jan 1)
reports government plans to “lure”
India into a trade deal with
concessions on visas for young
Indians. This could well call into
question the veracity of the prime
minister’s response during an
interview in early December 2019,
just before the last election. When he
was asked whether “taking back
control” of immigration did indeed
mean reducing it he replied, “Yes”.
The government has already
significantly lowered both the salary
and qualification requirements for
work visa applications from the whole
world and has also abolished the
annual limit. The effect of these
changes has, so far, been concealed by
the impact on travel of the Covid-19
crisis but the government is on thin
ice. Recent YouGov polling (Dec 27)
showed that the share of all
respondents who say that the
government is handling immigration
badly had reached 79 per cent. For
their part, over half of Conservative
voters consider immigration and
asylum to be one of the top issues
facing the country. They are right.
Lord Green of Deddington
President, Migration Watch UK

New year knights and the honours system

Sir, Tony Blair joined forces with

George W Bush in a misjudged

international policing act, an invasion

of Iraq where there was no

convincing evidence of “weapons of

mass destruction”. The Middle East

was set ablaze and thousands are still

being killed. The knock-on effects in

Libya spread throughout most of

north Africa, including Syria and

Lebanon, and turmoil remains to this

day with the consequence of mass

migration across the Mediterranean

and on to our shores via the Channel.

It makes a mockery of our already

tarnished honours system to reward

such a man, particularly with a

knighthood in the Queen’s gift. Had

he insight into the perception of him

held by the majority of the populace

he would have refused to accept.

Dr Robert Leeming

Balsall Common, W Midlands

Sir, If ever a knighthood has been

deserved, it must be the one awarded

to Professor Chris Whitty. Despite

suffering physical assault and

bloated by comparison, with about 30

ministers around the cabinet table

and some 70 others in support. Each

has their own private office, with a

swelling army of special advisers.

Can we hope that the chancellor

will follow through his call for a cull

of officials with a ministerial cull? The

Treasury has six ministers, heading

one of the smallest government

departments in terms of personnel. A

proportional reduction to four

ministers would set an example.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

House of Lords

Lifelong learning

Sir, Lord Rees is right to call for
innovations in higher education, and
for the government to implement the
Augur recommendation on credit
transfer (comment, Dec 31; letters,
Jan 1). But to achieve what Lord Rees
seeks, the government needs also to
implement recommendations by the
Centenary Commission on Adult
Education. This called for universities
to embrace lifelong learning, but in
collaboration with business and local
authorities, and with the government
providing strategy and funding.
Jonathan Michie
Chairman, Universities Association
for Lifelong Learning; president,
Kellogg College, Oxford University

Sir, I was astonished by Lord Rees’s
view that “little would be lost if the
big lectures were videoed rather than
live”. As someone who spent his first
year of undergraduate studies in front
of a computer screen, I have found
the experience of live lectures in
grand lecture theatres filled with
hundreds of fellow students
exhilarating; the glorified YouTube
videos we were asked to watch last
year could never compare with that.
Max Minkin
Philosophy and politics student,
Durham University from the times january 3, 1922

AIR EXPRESS

SMASH IN NEW

YEAR GALE

Teenage killings

Sir, In spite of all the pious

statements, nobody in power seems to

care very much that the number of

murders of teenagers in London is the

highest since records began (news,

Jan 1). Extensive lobbying has kept

hospitality venues open in the

pandemic with enormous subsidies,

but youth services spending has been

cut by three quarters in a decade,

with about half of London youth

clubs closed. London borough council

funding for sport has fallen by more

than a quarter in the past year, with

facilities closed or taken over for

other uses. It’s time those in power

put their money where their mouth is.

Or perhaps the issue is that young

people do not have the vote.

Don Macdonald

Founding chief executive, Foyer

Federation; London SE22

thetimes.co.uk/archive

Subpar subtitles

Sir, Carol Midgley is quite right to

highlight the frequently humorous

inadequacy of television subtitles

(“Stop your mumbling and get off that

worktop”, notebook, Jan 1). I wonder if

she shares my recollection of seeing

the former Libyan leader Colonel

Muammar Gaddafi being renamed by

subtitles on BBC News as “Curly Moo

Mark Duffy”.

David Sherman

Chelmsford, Essex

Raab’s responsibility

Sir, The justice secretary’s comment

that it is a widespread practice for

defence lawyers to encourage their

clients to wait until being in court

before pleading guilty or not guilty

(report, Dec 31) is simply untrue.

A defendant arrested by the police

can admit his offence there and then,

if he committed it. Many do and plead

guilty at the first opportunity. They

are then given a greater discount on

the sentence than those who delay

their guilty plea until trial.

If Dominic Raab is to make a

greater success of this role than he did

as foreign secretary, he needs to

understand how the criminal justice

system works and ensure it is properly

funded. Many court buildings are

unfit for purpose and cuts to legal aid

have led to scores of junior barristers

giving up on criminal work. Mr Raab

needs to face up to his responsibilities

rather than seeking to spread the

blame where it does not belong.

David Ticehurst

Circuit judge, 1998-2020; Winscombe,

Somerset

Letters to The Times must be exclusive

and may be edited.

The Grimsby trawler Fressia

foundered yesterday off the west

coast of the Orkneys, after striking a

rock. Nine men, including the

skipper, lost their lives. The mate

and the third hand were saved.

Four members of the crew of the

British steamer Portgwarra, which

ran aground near the Maas lightship,

have been drowned. The rest have

been landed at the Hook of Holland.

Six miles from Ostend the steam

trawler Ibis picked up a boat

belonging to the Spanish steamer

Mar Caspio, of Bilbao, in which was

one seaman who showed signs of life

but died shortly afterwards. Much

wreckage was also found. A Lloyd’s

message from the North Foreland

reported that the Mar Caspio had

sent out an SOS, stating she had lost

a lifeboat with five men, and was

drifting west of the Wandelaar

lightship. The vessel, of 3,080 tons,

was built in 1919 and owned by the

Compauia Maritima del Nervion.

A British air express en route from

Paris to London was compelled to

land at the aerodrome at Berk (Paris

Plage) during the weekend, owing to

the gale. After the passengers had

descended, the wind threw the

aeroplane, a twin-engined Handley

Page, first on to one wing and then

on to the other until it became a

total wreck. A second machine

attempted to land and pick up the

passengers, but the pilot, deciding

that it was safer to travel on to

London, put both his engines full on,

and the gale carried his machine

straight into the air like a lift for

3,000ft. In the Channel the gale was

so severe that both the pilot and his

mechanic had to put their full weight

on to the controls to prevent the

machine from becoming

unmanageable.

During the gale the East Goodwin

Sands Lightship was torn from her

moorings and driven some two miles

north of her proper position.

At Wrexham on Saturday an old

man named Stephen Williams was

picking coal on the spoil bank at Plas

Power Colliery when he was blown

down the bank, fell under some

moving coal wagons, and was killed.

Elizabeth Newitt, 80, a widow, of

Leicester Street, Northampton, was

blown down by the wind on Friday

and died from her injuries. A man in

Royal Air Force uniform was blown

on to the railway line at Aberavon

and run over by a passing train.