LETTERS
The Taki effect
Sir: Taki does not seem to realise just how
famous and influential he really is (High
Life, 16 September). In his column of
9 September he urged readers to obtain my
book Facing the Persians. It deals, among
other poems, with the minds of his revered
Spartans at Thermopylae. Within days it
had sold out, requiring urgent reprinting,
with requests coming both nationally and
worldwide, from Germany to western
Canada. Unrecognised indeed!
Ian Olson
AberdeenA fat lot of good
Sir: I write to disagree with Theo White’s
proposal that government should interfere
in any way with people’s choice of food
(Letters, 16 September). In 1979, a report
came out which suggested that we should
cut down on sugar, cut down on salt, cut
down on saturated fat, and increase fibre in
our diets. Professor John Yudkin also wrote
a book, Sweet, White and Deadly, which set
out how bad sugar is for us. It was widely
publicised, and as a nutritionist I had to
write a review of it when at university.
I concluded then as now, that sugar is the
culprit for many of our woes. Our enemy
is sugar.
But do I want a sugar tax? No. People
have to make their own decisions and take
responsibility for themselves. Did either of
these or any other books and articles make
a scrap of difference? Not a bit. Despite
plenty of research and reports, the public
take notice of either what suits them, or
what suits the media. In the case of salt and
fat, subsequent research has shown that all
the hype about cutting down on saturated
fat and salt was misguided.
In the case of sugar, Professor Yudkin’s
book has been swept under the carpet and
the result is the massive increase in obesity
and Type 2 diabetes. Until we get away
from lobbyists and fad diets, and start to
believe the results of proper research, we
will never improve our eating habits.
Dy Davison
Rothbury, NorthumberlandSovereign territory
Sir: Any of the 1,600 inhabitants of
Barbuda who take The Spectator will
be surprised to read that it is a British
overseas territory (‘Portrait of the
Week’, 16 September). Barbuda, along
with its sister island Antigua, became an
independent country in 1981.
Jeremy Stocker
Willoughby, WarwickshireChristians betrayed
Sir: Michael Karam’s article (Ya Allah!,
16 September) is timely. Many Westerners
seem to be unaware that there is such a
person as a Christian Arab (a Christian
who speaks Arabic as their first language),
yet there are millions. At the time of the
Crusades, Christians were a majority in the
Near East. In 1914 about 25 per cent of the
Near and Middle East was still Christian.
The percentage is now much lower because
events have forced massive Christian
emigration, especially to North America.
The serious consequences of this
ignorance were not only felt by the
Christian Iraqi removed from a flight
after another passenger heard him
speaking Arabic. The West’s ill-thought-
out interventions in the Arab and wider
Muslim world have had dire repercussions
for the Christians of the region, who have
become targets of Muslim revenge.
It was clear to me at the time of George
W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq that President
Bush and Blair had no idea that there
was a Christian community in Iraq, nor
that it would be put in extreme peril
once the invasion started. Today it has
almost disappeared. The final betrayal
has been the inadequate response of the
West to the plight of Christian refugees
from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. In justice
they should be given priority as genuine
asylum seekers; instead, politically correct
immigration authorities seem to be
prioritising Muslims and the Christians are
in danger of being forgotten.
Alistair Kerr
Louth, Lincolnshire
The Mass in Maltese
Sir: Michael Karam is quite right to point
out that the Arabic word for God is shared
by all major faiths represented in the
Middle East. But one doesn’t have to travel
outside Europe to hear that designation
used hundreds of times daily, and by non-
Arabs. In very Catholic Malta and Gozo,
there are more than 1,000 masses a week,
most in Maltese. As a first-time visitor last
year I was delighted to listen to the familiar
forms recited in that fascinating language
and to join with the people saying: ‘[I
believe in] Alla.’ It felt good to do so.
Dr Clare Hornsby
London SW1
Out of the race
Sir: Visitors to any British town centre will
have no trouble spotting all manner of
thriving businesses built up by immigrants.
And anyone working in the private
sector will doubtless encounter high-
flying second- and third-generationers as
colleagues and managers.
Yet why does much of the public sector
still feel so different? By veering into
mental health and crime statistics, Munira
Mirza (Theresa May’s phoney war, 16
September) risks missing the point. While
institutions are not necessarily racist (or
sexist or homophobic for that matter), they
are often ossified after years of dominance
by narrow cliques disconnected from a
fast-changing wider society. If Mrs May’s
race ‘audit’ can begin to tackle this, it will
achieve something worthwhile.
Sanjoy Sen
AberdeenData Roman
Sir: Every week I turn to ‘Ancient and
Modern’ in the hope that the Roman
soldier who heads the column will have
been issued with a smartphone. He will
never conquer the barbarians with such
outdated technology. Perhaps Peter Jones
could put a word in Caesar’s ear?
Alison Sproston
London SE16