the times | Friday March 18 2022 31
Leading articles
easy targets for ambushes, communications
system failures have enabled Ukraine to target
Russian officers, killing four generals, while three
weeks into the campaign, Russia has so far failed
to gain control of the skies.
Of course these battlefield successes have come
at a desperately high cost for Ukraine. As Russia’s
military advance has stalled, so Mr Putin has re-
sorted to ever more brutal tactics in an attempt to
terrorise Ukrainians into surrender. The bombing
on Wednesday of a theatre in Mariupol that was
being used to shelter hundreds of children, and
had been clearly marked as such, was the latest in
a series of atrocities against civilian targets that
included last week’s attack on a maternity hospital
in the same city. Ukrainian officials say that about
90 per cent of the buildings in Mariupol have been
destroyed or damaged. Across the country,
Russian forces have destroyed 400 schools,
110 hospitals and 1,000 apartment blocks.
There is little doubt that Russia has committed
war crimes. Sadly, there can also be little doubt
that as the morale of his armed forces continues to
slump and Ukraine launches counteroffensives in
territory Russia has occupied, Mr Putin will resort
to ever greater levels of depravity, as he did in
Chechnya and Syria. Western intelligence agen-cies assess that Mr Putin may be preparing to use
chemical and even tactical nuclear weapons. And
while Mr Putin’s increasingly unhinged tirades
about the need to “cleanse” Russia of “traitors” and
“fifth columnists” who are to be ”spat out like flies”
may point to the scale of opposition to his war
among many Russians, there is little evidence that
it yet poses any risk to his grip on the country.
The only way to end these horrors is to swiftly
defeat Mr Putin militarily. A ceasefire will not
bring peace because so long as Russian forces
remain in Ukraine, Ukrainians will continue to
resist and Mr Putin would in any case would use it
as an opportunity to reset. The West has rightly
drawn the line at any intervention that might lead
to Nato forces directly engaging Russian forces.
But there should be no red lines on the quality and
quantity of military aid. President Biden’s decision
this week to provide a further $800 million of
equipment, including 100 “kamikaze” drones and
800 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles is welcome, even
if it should have come three weeks ago.
The Ukrainian armed forces have shown they
have the courage and commitment to inflict a
defeat comparable to that of Finland over the
Soviet Union in the Winter War of 1939-40. Now
they must be given the tools to finish the job.Frustrated drivers, including care workers, inva-
lids, and those driving lorries and emergency vehi-
cles, were unable to find out what was happening.
Calls were automatically cut off or were answered
by call handlers struggling to cope with the influx
of complaints. Some were instructed to tell drivers
that the wait would be six to ten weeks even
though many would wait longer. Even MPs
proved unable to sort out the mess.
An investigation by The Times, using an under-
cover reporter to document the mayhem, revealed
toxic industrial relations at the DVLA. The Public
and Commercial Services union, representing the
staff, argued that the offices had not been made
Covid-secure and that infections were well above
average. It took action, leading to 58 days of indus-
trial action over almost six months last year. On
some days more than 1,000 staff were on strike,
adding some 400,000 cases to the backlog. Even
as the Covid rules in Wales were relaxed the union
insisted on restrictions limiting staff numbers.
The DVLA was one of the first government
agencies to be set up outside London, intended to
showcase automation as a way of speeding up itswork and reducing bureaucracy. Online applica-
tions, now the majority, have mostly gone through
smoothly. But there are still large numbers that
cannot be computer-processed, sent in by older
drivers, those with particular needs or falling into
categories not covered by online options.Without
a licence, many cannot get insurance or permis-
sion to drive. Some disabled drivers have become
almost prisoners in their homes.
The situation is a disgrace. Grant Shapps, the
transport secretary, has promised a swift investi-
gation. The DVLA says it understands the impact
the delays have had, but has tried to blame the
NHS for not dealing with medical issues during
the pandemic. This is a lame excuse. It is, sadly,
typical of local bureaucracy and government
departments that have tried to pare back costs and
rely on inadequate computer systems. Trying
to sort out almost any problem has become a
Kafkaesque nightmare of circular ring-arounds.
A driving licence is essential to the livelihood of
millions. The present blockage is a shameful and
unnecessary hold-up to all attempts to recover
from the pandemic. It must be resolved now.racial disadvantage. It instead elicited denuncia-
tion from campaigners with an interest in depict-
ing Britain as a dystopia. This week the govern-
ment published its own response, which wisely
replicates the practical ethos of the report itself.
Dr Sewell acknowledged the extent of racial dis-
parities but sought to explain rather than merely
lament them. Some relate to issues of family struc-
ture within ethnic communities, which are not
directly attributable to racism in wider society.
Hence the government undertakes, among 70 ini-
tiatives, to overhaul police powers and reduce the
number of young black men sent to prison for first-time drug offences. It also pledges to overhaul his-
tory teaching, to spread a better understanding of
the complexity of Britain’s past.
This is a nuanced approach of removing causes
for communal tension and improving education.
It promises to do far more good than repeating the
complaints of campaigners about micro-aggres-
sions and white privilege. Racial disadvantage is a
social evil but, unlike original sin, it is not destined
to be always with us. The Sewell report is an empir-
ical rather than dogmatic contribution to policy.
The government has responded thoughtfully to it.
British society will be the better for both.Defeating Putin
The Ukrainian armed forces have shown they have the courage and commitment to
win the war against Russia. Now the West must give them the tools to finish the job
Against all the odds and contrary to most expert
opinion before the invasion, it is no longer fanciful
to imagine that Ukraine might win its war against
Russia. The US government assesses that in the
first three weeks of the conflict at least 7,000 Rus-
sian soldiers have died, more deaths than the US
suffered in 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq, while
Ukraine puts the Russian death toll at more than
14,000. Kyiv also reckons its forces have downed
more than 80 fixed-wing aircraft, including ten
more yesterday, 100 helicopters, more than 400
tanks and hundreds of other military vehicles.
These numbers cannot be verified but Moscow is
having to draw in reinforcements, having lost up to
a fifth of its pre-invasion force.
This success is largely because of the coura-
geous resistance put up by Ukrainian citizens and
their armed forces, whose determination to fight
for their country’s independence Vladimir Putin
grossly underestimated. Armed with western
weapons, including anti-tank systems supplied by
Britain, and deploying superior tactics they have
been able score remarkable victories over a Rus-
sian army that may have numerical superiority
but is suffering from a flawed plan based on mis-
taken intelligence, poor quality equipment and
low morale. Extended supply lines have becomeTraffic Jam
Strikes and apathy at the DVLA have held up millions of driving licences
When the government appealed last year for
heavy goods vehicle drivers to get back into the
cab to relieve the acute shortages of fuel and food,
army veterans and many who had quit their jobs
responded. The government ordered the DVLA to
issue licences as a priority. Since then, however,
thousands of other drivers have been thwarted by
a culture of indolence, indifference and apathy at
the national vehicle licensing agency. During the
first lockdown, more than half of the 6,200 staff
were sent home on paid special leave. In nine of
the past 24 months, more than 500 staff were
either on special paid leave or on strike. They were
not there to process licence applications. They
were not there to answer the phones. Drivers
across the country were grounded.
Tons of applications piled up at the Swansea
office. Some 60,000 pieces of post arrive each day.
But few extra emergency staff were brought in.
Union leaders insisted on coronavirus limits to
staff numbers that were stricter even than govern-
ment and healthcare guidance. By September the
backlog had built up to some 1.6 million applica-
tion forms and original identification documents.Racial Reforms
The Sewell report has prompted pragmatic proposals to eliminate disadvantage
Britain has made advances in recent decades in
narrowing racial inequalities. Acknowledging the
improvement is not equivalent to denying that the
problem exists at all. Yet that was the intemperate
and illogical accusation of some critics against a
report last year by the Commission on Race and
Ethnic Disparities, chaired by the educationist Dr
Tony Sewell. Based on the evidence, the report
concluded that “impediments and disparities do
exist, they are varied, and ironically very few of
them are directly to do with racism”.
The Sewell report ought to have prompted a
serious debate on measures to further eliminateUK: Boris Johnson is scheduled to speak at
the Scottish Conservatives’ conference in
Aberdeen; the first phase of the Homes for
Ukraine scheme opens for visa applications.
With 100,000 UK
breeding pairs, it is
easy to take
mallards for
granted. But when
you get a really
close look at
Britain’s most familiar duck you realise just
how beautiful they are. The drake’s dark
green head is highlighted by a bold yellow
beak and a white neck ring; his purple
brown chest gives way to a study of greys.
The female may be drabber but she makes
up for it with her voice, for she alone
produces that famous quack. The mallard
doesn’t always appear in the classic form.
Long since domesticated, the species has
evolved a range of different colours from the
pure white form to an all-black variety.
jonathan tulloch
In 1965 the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei
Leonov became the first person to walk in
space, for 12 minutes and 9 seconds.
David Lloyd, pictured,
cricketer, England
(1974-75), and
commentator, 75;
Alastair Balls, president
(chairman 2007-20), the
International Centre for
Life science village in
Newcastle upon Tyne, chairman,
Alzheimer’s Society (2007-13), 78; Luc
Besson, film-maker, The Fifth Element (1997),
Lucy (2014), 63; Prof Alexander
Boksenberg, astronomer, director, Royal
Observatories (1993-96), 86; Irene Cara,
singer-songwriter and actress, Fame (1980),
63; Joanna Cherry, SNP MP for Edinburgh
South West, 56; Jo Churchill, Conservative
MP for Bury St Edmunds, minister for agri-
innovation and climate adaptation, 58; Lily
Collins, actress, Tolkien (2019), 33; James
Conlon, conductor, 72; Peter Cowgill,
chairman, JD Sports Fashion, 69; Bill Frisell,
jazz guitarist, 71; Alex Jones, TV presenter,
The One Show (since 2010), 45; Peter Jones,
entrepreneur, Dragons’ Den panellist (2005-
22), 56; John Kander, composer, 95; Queen
Latifah, singer-songwriter, 52; Jean-Bernard
Lévy, chairman and chief executive, EDF,
67; John Lubbock, conductor, founder (1967)
and conductor, Orchestra of St John’s, 77;
David Mach, sculptor, 66; Prof Dame Linda
Partridge, evolutionary biologist at the
Institute of Healthy Ageing, University
College London, 72; Courtney Pine, jazz
saxophonist, 58; David Potts, chief
executive, Morrisons, 65; Reince Priebus,
White House chief of staff for President
Trump (2017), 50; Richard Russell, record
producer, co-founder of XL Recordings, 51;
Robert Shennan, group managing director
of the BBC, 60; Ingemar Stenmark, former
Olympic and World Cup alpine ski racing
champion, 66; Sir Nigel Sweeney, High
Court judge, 68; Katherine Tai, ambassador,
US trade representative, 48; Shaun Udal,
cricketer, England (2005-06), 53; Kitty
Ussher, chief economist, Institute of
Directors, Labour MP (2005-10), 51; Vanessa
Williams, actress, Ugly Betty (2006-10), and
singer, 59; Emma Willis, TV presenter, The
Voice (2014-20), 46.
“Every human benefit, every virtue and every
prudent act, is founded on compromise.”
Edmund Burke, politician and man of
letters, On Conciliation with America (1775)
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