The Times - UK (2022-05-23)

30 Monday May 23 2022 | the times

Letters to the Editor

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Sir, Your leading article (“Greased

Piglet”, May 21) says that adoption of

the single transferable vote would

“effectively oust a Tory government

for a generation”. More than that, it

would prevent any single party from

taking total power on a minority vote.

Countries such as Germany and

Ireland have been governed perfectly

well for decades with coalitions, and

without the incessant confrontation

that increasingly dominates British

politics. Any politician who values

democracy above power for his or her

own party should support some form

of proportional representation.

Alan Pavelin

Chislehurst, Kent

Sir, Your leading article asks whether

Boris Johnson’s survival is in the

interests of his party, but surely more

important is whether it is in the

interests of the country. There will

obviously be different views on which

political party should be in power, but

while the Tories are in government it

is in the country’s interests to have a

prime minister who inspires trust in

their integrity and their competence.

Tory MPs know this. The real

question is whether they will act in

what they believe to be their own

self-interest, or put country before

party. If they do not do the latter they

do not deserve to be MPs.

David Essex

London SW20

Sir, First-past-the-post worked for the

UK for a long time because party

leaders were chosen by MPs who had

an eye to the middle ground, and who

perhaps took seriously their duty to

represent all of their constituents.

Recently, party members —

self-selecting groups with strong

views — have had far more say in

choosing both Labour and Tory

leaders. The polarised outcome was

Corbyn v Johnson, and the latter won

a “we can do whatever we want now”

majority with only 43.6 per cent of

the vote cast. Labour and the Liberal

Democrats together won 43.7 per cent

but got only 214 seats between them,

against the Tories’ 365. A progressive

electoral pact would almost certainly

have improved the working of our

democracy. A coalition government

resulting from such a pact could, by

making permanent changes, ensure

that our “elective dictatorship” would

reflect the will of the majority.

Adrian Cosker

Hitchin, Herts

Summing up

Sir, I seem to remember that 67 years

ago, when I was a mere five years old,

that I did “sums” rather than maths or

numeracy (letters, May 18-21), and

had the times tables dinned into me.

Like most of my contemporaries, I

suspect, I can do mental arithmetic to

a reasonable standard without

resorting to my mobile phone.

Mike Connor

West Molesey, Surrey

Sir, I propose GCSE Mathematics

(Numeracy) for everyone and GCSE

Mathematics (Further) for aspiring

engineers, scientists etc. This would

also help businesses that might still

want to ask for GCSE Mathematics. I

suspect GCSE Mathematics (Sums)

might be a step too far.

Gillian Fogg

Surbiton

Big and beautiful

Sir, Ben Macintyre writes about the

“excessively fat” Venus of Willendorf,

venerated in her time for her bodily

shape. I am reminded of Jack Crabb,

the hero of Little Big Man, who lived

for long periods with the Cheyenne.

According to him, the value in

ponies of a larger unmarried woman

would rise steeply in cold winters

thanks to the prospect of extra

warmth being radiated under the

matrimonial blanket.

Tom Stubbs

Surbiton, Surrey

Allotment lists

Sir, In our stone-built Yorkshire

terrace we grow new potatoes, runner

beans and broad beans as well as

tomatoes — all in tubs and bags. One

does not need an allotment to

produce food. The real issue in the

shortage of allotments is that they are

too big (“Allotment waiting lists keep

growing,” May 21). Splitting vacant

plots into three would go some way

to solving the problem.

Ian King

Hipperholme, W Yorks

Sir, I inquired about having an

allotment when we moved into our

present house, in 1981. I’m still waiting

for one to become available.

Peter Sergeant

Loughborough

Flying visitor

Sir, I had to smile when I read that

bats were on the increase (“Bats

return as rules to protect species bear

fruit,” May 20). I had just found one

on my kitchen floor. I managed to

open the outer door as it scuttered

towards me — and I scuttered far

more quickly to fetch my husband. By

the time we went back into the

kitchen the bat was on the doormat,

and it soon flew off in best Dracula

fashion. My husband was intrigued to

see this visitor — I was less so!

Janet Cowie

Helensburgh, Argyll & Bute

Name-dropping

Sir, At a passport counter recently I

was told I’d spelt my middle name —

Charles — wrong on the application

form as it didn’t match what was on

my existing passport. I would need

my birth certificate and another

form of ID to get it corrected. I asked

if we could just keep the misspelling

and was told, “sure!”.

Hugo Chares Moore

London, W11

Corrections and

clarifications

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Energy windfall tax

Sir, The popularity of a windfall tax
on the energy industry (“Tough
Times”, leading article, May 20)
highlights public misunderstanding of
its purpose. Inflation is caused by
excessive demand. If a windfall tax is
used to increase public expenditure, it
will further fuel demand. On the
other hand, if it is used to reduce the
public-sector borrowing requirement
it may be seen in a contrasting light.
Geoffrey Howe imposed a windfall
tax on banks in his 1981 budget — or,
to put it more precisely, he raised
£400 million via a 2.5 per cent levy on
their non-interest-bearing deposits.
He did this solely to reduce the
deficit, not to boost government
spending, during a period of
dangerous inflation.
Unfortunately, the record of the
present government, and the noises
from many parliamentary supporters,
indicates that a windfall tax on the
energy industry would be used to
raise public spending and soften the
cost-of-living problem. This would, of
course, fan the flames of inflation.
Lord Ryder of Wensum
London SW1

Sir, An alternative to a windfall tax
might be a “windfall loan”. This would
require energy companies to lend the
government amounts equivalent to a
windfall tax, to be repaid as and when
they demonstrate incremental
investment in green energy.
John Belton
Marlow

Sir, The question, if a windfall tax is
imposed, must be how it is spent to
have the most effect. I am not in
favour of giving money to households
or individuals, as with the winter fuel
allowance. A more sensible approach
might be to find a way for companies,
instead of paying the cash to the
government, to reduce the bills they
send to customers.
John Marriott
Lincoln

Whitehall power

Sir, Moves to make our government
more effective deserve support (“PM
takes direct control in Whitehall
power grab”, news, May 20). The
role of No 10 and the Cabinet Office
should be to lead and co-ordinate the
expertise and resources of all the
departments of state, not seek to
replace them with the necessarily
thin layer of capability available at
the centre.
Lord Butler of Brockwell
Former cabinet secretary

Lib-Lab pact could bring electoral reform

Sir, The most striking point made in

James Forsyth’s article (“Tories may

never recover if they lose in 2024,”

Comment, May 20) was that under a

single transferable vote system, the

2019 election would have left the

Conservatives 18 seats shy of a

majority. In that election the Tories

won 43.6 per cent of the popular vote

— and a ridiculous 80-seat majority.

In today’s world there are many

political parties addressing diverse

local and global issues, and a large

majority of democratic countries have

benefited by embracing them through

some form of proportional

representation. The UK’s first-past-

the-post system was developed when

there were only two political parties

— broadly, one for the upper classes

and one for the lower classes — and

that system now looks very

undemocratic and out of date.

Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour

Party have a unique opportunity to

change our divisive, unrepresentative

politics. The big question is whether

they have the courage to embrace PR,

and try to achieve it by tactical voting

co-operation with other opposition

parties in the next election.

John Hopwood

Chichester

Sir, It was fascinating to look back

100 years (Times archive, May 19)

at the conversation in Neville

Chamberlain’s government about

filling in canals and turning their

routes into roads. In the subsequent

decades, hundreds of miles were

indeed abandoned. However,

thanks to campaigners, restoration

groups and funders, many have

been restored.

Once the arteries of the industrial

revolution, today’s canals carry

more boats and are used for leisure

by more people than ever before. On

the doorsteps of millions, they

provide vital green and blue space

in towns and cities, tackling health

inequalities and improving wellbeing.

They bring nature, support

biodiversity and help to mitigate

the effects of climate change.

Caring for this extraordinary

250-year-old infrastructure requires a

substantial programme and secure

funding. This year, in the Canal &

River Trust’s tenth anniversary, we

are in crucial conversations with the

government to extend funding to

safeguard the future of the network.

Future of canals

The conversations from 1922 echo

down the years as we make the

case again for the sustainable future

of the nation’s waterways and

prepare for the next chapter in their

remarkable history.

Richard Parry

Chief executive, Canal & River Trust

from the times may 23, 1922

SALE OF WEST

WYCOMBE

PARK

Fall of Mariupol

Sir, With the fall of Mariupol, Putin

has won his war by the means he has

used so often: comply or be destroyed

(“Russia ‘liberates’ Mariupol as last

defenders surrender,” May 21).

His early miscalculation about the

Ukrainians’ willingness to cave in was

counterbalanced by his devastatingly

accurate assessment that a veiled

threat to use his nuclear arsenal

would deter meaningful engagement

by the West. This supposedly

deranged dictator has our number,

and all the combined forces that

could have blocked his invasion are

left by reluctant leaders to watch as a

whole country is destroyed. “The

Ukraine war” is now a spectator

sport. History will show that the West

has, through inaction, been guilty of

collusion in Putin’s rampage across a

friendly and essential country. It is a

shameful episode and the damage will

be hard to undo — indeed, it will be

impossible for the millions of

Ukrainians whose homes and families

have been destroyed.

Sierra Hutton-Wilson

Evercreech, Somerset

thetimes.co.uk/archive

Railway strikes

Sir, The RMT and TSSA unions

threatening strike action should think

carefully about the consequences of

any disruption. Grant Shapps, the

transport secretary, said: “People have

got a choice of literally not travelling,

and working from home.” But for

many people, getting to work by train

is a necessity, not a choice. If there is

a strike, many jobs will be on the line.

David McCarthy

Dacre Banks, N Yorks

Sir, The looming railway strike

emphasises the need for investment

in and early transition to train

automation. We must plan for a

future in which train drivers cannot

so easily disrupt the life of the nation.

Brian Martin

St Albans

West Wycombe Park, for sale by

order of Sir John Dashwood, by

Messrs Giddy and Giddy, exhibits

the influence of, if not an actual

design by, Robert Adam. Like many

other notable country estates, West

Wycombe was at one time held by

an Alderman of the City of London,

Thomas Lewis. In 1698 he assigned it

to Francis Dashwood, who later, as

Lord le Despencer, became one of

the chief spirits in originating and

carrying on Bacchic festivals, devil

worship, and mockery of religion at

Medmenham Abbey. The

strangeness of his tastes is seen in

the neighbourhood of West

Wycombe, where he rebuilt the

church in a weird style, and had

caves excavated in the chalk with

something more than the

elaborateness necessary if to get

chalk was the only object. Another

eccentric character contrived to

preserve the memory of his name at

West Wycombe by bequeathing

money for a mausoleum — namely,

George Bubb Dodington. There,

also, another of the Medmenham

“monks” is commemorated, Paul

Whitehead, whose epitaph by

Garrick may raise doubts as to

whether all that has been alleged

against the Medmenham

brotherhood can have been true, for

Garrick wrote: “Here lies a mean

misfortune could not bend, Praised

as a poet, honour’d as a friend.” It is

hard to think evil of one of whom

Garrick could thus write.

The clue to the Medmenham rites

is, perhaps, given in the fantastic,

rather than vicious, incidents just

after Whitehead’s death. He willed

his heart to Lord le Despencer, who

had it buried with a mock funeral

service, attended by the Bucks

Militia. Dr Arnold set to music an

incantation about “A heart that

knew no guile.” The heart was

enclosed in lead, and was always

readily shown to visitors. In 1839 one

of them, animated, maybe, by the

spirit of the Medmenham motto,

“Fay ce que voudras,” popped it into

his pocket. Perhaps that explains its

disappearance. West Wycombe is a

stately mansion, high on the

Chiltern Hills, 26 miles by road from

London. It is of moderate area, the

grounds, adorned with temples, and

the park and other residential

portions being of only 340 acres.

Messrs Giddy and Giddy are

preparing for the auction in July.