the times | Thursday April 28 2022 31
Leading articles
inflationary whirlwind for some time, and those
on fixed incomes, including many pensioners, will
suffer most acutely. Nor do the pitiful retail rates
available to savers offer any refuge.
Until this week much of the political debate over
short-term solutions lacked the seriousness and
urgency a crisis on this scale demands. For that
reason, the prime minister’s decision to initiate
discussions in cabinet on additional measures to
drive down domestic bills was a welcome first step.
It is also encouraging that ministers are engaging
constructively. But they will need to do more than
debate the merits of tax cuts and more house-
building. They should instead adopt a ruthless
focus on measures that will rapidly ease the finan-
cial pain businesses and consumers face in the
immediate term.
Relaxing rules on MoTs so that cars require
them only every other year, as suggested by Grant
Shapps, the transport secretary, would be one
sensible step. So would the prime minister’s prefer-
ence of easing staffing regulation in childcare,
cutting costs for working parents. That there must
be one member of staff for every three children
aged under two, and one adult for every four two-
year-olds, is one reason why the cost of looking
after children in Britain is higher than in any otherEuropean country. Modest though they may
seem, these are policies with the potential to make
an incremental but material difference to the bal-
ance sheets of millions of people who face immi-
nent hardship.
Yet there is scope for ministers to think more
radically and to do more. It cannot have escaped
Rishi Sunak’s notice that government revenues
are increasing, in spite of the otherwise gloomy
economic context, even before the increase this
month of a combined 2.5 percentage points in em-
ployees’ and employers’ national insurance con-
tributions. The Treasury’s tax receipts reached a
record £718 billion in the last financial year.
This was in no small part a consequence of the
freezes on income and inheritance tax thresholds
imposed by the chancellor earlier in his tenure.
The former in particular has already dragged sig-
nificant numbers of taxpayers into higher bands.
Mr Sunak has made prudence his watchword. He
would doubtless say that such fiscal headroom
should not be eaten into unless in the event of a
severe economic shock. That, however, is precise-
ly what many households are already reckoning
with. Standing by and hoping the storm will pass
is not enough. Mr Johnson and the cabinet must
match words of sympathy with action.Nato has so far mainly confined lethal aid to light
weaponry, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft
missiles, and spare parts. In heeding President
Zelensky’s pleas for tanks and aircraft, Ms Truss’s
proposed course blurs the distinction the govern-
ment made earlier in the war between defensive
and offensive weaponry. Yet while Nato has no
wish for fighting to extend beyond Ukraine’s bor-
ders, it is casuistical to debate the type of weapons
Ukraine’s armed forces need when they are the
ones doing the fighting.
The first requirement of a defensive strategy is
to give Ukraine what it needs in weapons, training
and cyber-capabilities. Much debate has been
invested in whether Nato should impose a no-fly
zone over Ukraine at the risk of entering direct
conflict with Russia. Nato’s pragmatic reluctance
to do so has encouraged Putin to intensify his
bombardment of Ukrainian civilians. Escalation is
not inevitable if Nato clearly defines its goals and
provides armour and planes for Ukrainian forces
to provide their own air defence.
Ms Truss is right too that Nato governments
need to commit themselves to higher defencespending. The United States promised a $14 billion
aid package to Ukraine last month and the Euro-
pean Union has agreed to an arms programme of
€1.5 billion since the start of the conflict, but this is
greatly outweighed by the continued revenues
Russia has received from its energy exports. And
while the German government has acknowledged
the need to provide Ukraine with armour and
heavy weapons, it has not so far provided them.
It is vital that the West pulls together to aid the
legitimate government of Kyiv. There will be
further bluster and yet more threats from Mr Putin
during this conflict and Nato members must be
prepared to up the ante. Instead of reassuring the
Kremlin about what they will not do, they should
convey a message that their military support for
Ukraine and sanctions against Russia’s economy
will continue until Kyiv considers its war aims
achieved.
In resisting Russian imperialism, for that is what
it is, Ukraine’s people and armed forces ensure
that Nato’s eastern flank in the Baltic states is also
protected. The very principles of a civilised inter-
national order, governed by law, rest on their fight.Admirable as such community-minded initia-
tives are, it should not fall to elderly people, even
rock stars, to ensure that Britain’s roads are kept in
good repair. Yet those bodies charged with main-
tenance, both public and private, are failing in
their duty. The RAC says breakdown call-outs
related to pothole damage increased by 19 per cent
last year compared with 2020. Admiral, the insur-
er, says claims for damage caused by potholes rose
by almost 30 per cent between 2016 and early 2021.
Any canvasser involved in the forthcoming
local elections will report that the proliferation,
and apparent permanence, of potholed roads is ofgreat concern to many voters. This is hardly
surprising. Although it may be the polar opposite
of a “Westminster bubble” issue, the humble pot-
hole causes daily grief to millions, frustrating
commuters, delaying deliveries, impeding emer-
gency vehicles.
And if potholes are a menace to anyone on four
wheels, they can be fatal to those on two. A gov-
ernment serious about cycling should recognise
that dangerous surfaces are a deterrent to saddling
up. An estimated £12.6 billion is required to fully
smooth out the roads of England and Wales. It
would be money well spent.Curbing Costs
New thinking on policies to help support household incomes is welcome but must
be matched with action as tax revenues bounce back from the pandemic
Ministers have woken up to the pre-eminent
domestic issue exercising voters. This week Boris
Johnson asked his cabinet for “innovative” solu-
tions to the intensifying pressures on living stan-
dards. It has become increasingly clear that a
generation which has known only low inflation
and low interest rates is in for an almighty eco-
nomic shock.
Consumer prices are rising faster than at any
time since 1992. Surges in food, fuel and energy
costs drove annual inflation to 7 per cent in March.
Official projections suggest it will reach a 40-year
high of 8.7 per cent by the end of the year. Minis-
ters are right to think creatively in the face of such
fierce headwinds because practical mitigation is
needed before households and businesses are
pushed to the brink.
The squeeze on real incomes is unlikely to be
temporary. With rising commodity and petrol
prices aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,
markets will not see much downward pressure on
prices in the near term. Gazprom’s decision to sus-
pend exports of Russian gas to Poland and Bulgar-
ia sent prices higher still. It was an unwelcome
indication that the worst economic effects of the
war are yet to come as growth recovers from the
pandemic. British households look set to reap theUkraine’s Fight
Despite Russian threats of escalation, the West must step up military aid for Kyiv
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine two
months ago, its forces have killed thousands of
civilians, bombed hospitals and engaged in
murder and rape. For Sergey Lavrov, the Russian
foreign minister, to accuse Nato this week of fight-
ing a “proxy war’ in Ukraine and allude to the risks
of an escalation of the conflict is shameless eva-
sion. His rhetoric was reinforced by President Putin
yesterday with further threats against the West.
The fact is that peace could be established imme-
diately by the Kremlin abandoning its aggressive
designs. The surest route to that end is for the
western democracies to step up their support for
Kyiv’s war of self-defence.
That conclusion has been steadily impressed on
Nato by the resistance of Ukraine’s armed forces.
On the initiative of President Biden, more than 40
nations held a summit in Germany to co-ordinate
more arms supplies to Kyiv. In a speech last night
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, called for the West
to “double down” on support for Ukraine, includ-
ing heavy weapons, tanks and warplanes. It is the
right message, for it is crucial that democracies
not be cowed by Russian threats of “escalation”.Plagued by Potholes
Britain’s bumpy roads require urgent repair
Sir Rod Stewart, 77, popped up on Instagram last
month filling potholes near his home in Harlow.
Essex county council had not got round to doing
it and Stewart feared for his Ferrari’s suspension.
This week it emerged that Elizabeth Williams, 89,
became so fed up with the pitted state of her street
that she paid £4,000 from her own pocket to deal
with the problem. Craters on her private road in
Newcastle had been causing drivers to mount the
pavement. The company responsible for main-
taining the surface blamed a shortage of contrac-
tors. Mrs Williams obtained three quotes within a
week. The company has since reimbursed her.UK: Office for National Statistics releases
figures on energy trends and prices.
US: First-quarter estimate of GDP.
Europe: Europa League football semi-finals.
The yellowhammer
days are here again.
From now until
August, their
famous call will ring
through the lanes:
“a-little-bit-of-
bread-and-cheeeese!” And it’s not just the
yellowhammer’s call that is memorable.
Singing from a prominent perch at the top
of a hedge, bush or on a telephone wire, the
male’s plumage will instantly catch the eye
— he looks as though he’s just dunked his
head in a bowl of custard. When flying in its
characteristic bouncy undulations, the bird’s
long forked tail flashes white.
Yellowhammers weave their grass nests in
thick vegetation, often at the foot of a hedge.
They need to have three broods a year to
maintain their population.
jonathan tulloch
In 1884 the University of Oxford agreed to
admit female students to examinations, but
women were not to be awarded degrees.
Mike Brearley, pictured,
cricketer, England (1976-
81), 80; Jessica Alba,
actress, Sin City (2005),
41; Anita Anand,
broadcaster, Any
Answers? (BBC Radio 4),
and author, 50; James
Baker, White House chief of staff to
presidents Reagan and George HW Bush,
92; Prof Tim Congdon, economist, founder
and chairman, Institute of International
Monetary Research, University of
Buckingham, 71; Penélope Cruz, actress,
Volver (2006), 48; Jacques Dutronc, singer-
songwriter and actor, 79; Andy Flower,
cricketer, Zimbabwe (1992-2002), and
England cricket head coach (2009-14), 54;
Rev Nicky Gumbel, developer of the Alpha
course, an introduction to the Christian
faith, 67; Lord (Ajay) Kakkar, chairman, UK
Biobank, Judicial Appointments
Commission, The King’s Fund and emeritus
professor of surgery, University College
London, 58; Vernon Kay, TV presenter, All
Star Family Fortunes (2006-15), 48; Lauren
Laverne, DJ and presenter (BBC Radio 6
Music) and host of Desert Island Discs, 44;
Nicola LeFanu, composer, 75; Jay Leno,
comedian and TV host, The Tonight Show
(1992-2009), 72; Prof Sir Jim McDonald,
engineer, president, Royal Academy of
Engineering, principal and vice-chancellor,
University of Strathclyde, 65; Sir John
Madejski, businessman, co-founder of Auto
Trader and former owner of Reading
football club, 81; Ann-Margret, actress, Viva
Las Vegas (1964), 81; Ian Rankin, novelist,
the Inspector Rebus novels, 62; Steve Rider,
sports presenter, 72; Very Rev Prof Jane
Shaw, principal, Harris Manchester College,
Oxford, and pro vice-chancellor, University
of Oxford, 59; Lady Helen Taylor, first
cousin once removed to the Queen, 58;
Chris White, director, Institute for Industrial
Strategy, King’s College London,
Conservative MP for Warwick and
Leamington (2010-17), 55; Sir Bradley
Wiggins, cyclist, winner of the 2012 Tour de
France, five-time Olympic gold medallist, 42.
“The only reason people want to be masters
of the future is to change the past.”
Milan Kundera, Franco-Czech novelist,
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1979)
Nature notes
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On this day
The last word
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