SIR – Vladimir Putin has lost his strut and now looks anxious and hunted.
It’s good to see, but when he is removed from his post – as he surely will be soon – we have to be prepared for his replacement to be even worse.
Mick Ferrie
Mawnan Smith, Cornwall
SIR – In late 1941, as Operation Barbarossa reached its peak, a rampaging Wehrmacht army of 940,000 fought within 10 miles of the gates of Moscow.
Stalin held on, remaining in the city, which did not fall. He continued to lead the USSR until his death 12 years later.
By contrast, when a small forward unit of the Wagner Group’s motley 25,000 men was still 250 miles from Moscow, Vladimir Putin reportedly deserted the city and fled to St. Petersburg.
One wonders what this implies for the longevity of his tenure as prime minister.
Gregory Shenkman
London SW7
SIR – Let’s not fall into the trap of thinking that Putin is now finished. An injured animal is a dangerous animal.
John McLaren
Farnham, Surrey
SIR – President Emmanuel Macron’s reported rejection of Ben Wallace’s nomination as NATO’s next Secretary General, coupled with his request that the post be given to an EU national, is not just a confronts Britain, but also threatens to neutralize the alliance that has kept our continent secure for nearly 80 years.
As Minister of Defense responsible for our relations with the EU, I have witnessed firsthand both the determination to create the EU’s “defence identity” expressly for political purposes – and non-military – and military incompetence.
President Macron, who does not like the influence of the Anglosphere, clearly wants the EU to be designated as the European arm of NATO, which would marginalize Britain (still, despite everything, the military force most powerful in Europe); come to the aid of those in the United States who are outraged by the disproportionate contribution of their country’s taxpayers to the security of Europe while America looks west; undermine the value of Five Eyes intelligence sharing; and deeply weaken the alliance as it faces its most serious challenges in 30 years. Who knows what crazy reaction the actions of the Wagner Group will provoke from Vladimir Putin?
That distinguished Falklands commander, Major General Julian Thompson, is quite right: the EU is trying to sideline Britain from the defense of Europe and must be fought with all the diplomatic force we can muster. .
Sir Gerald Howarth
Chelsworth, Suffolk
The Brexit saboteurs
SIR – I doubt anyone who voted for Brexit could have foreseen the chaos that followed – in the form of Remainers who refused to accept that we lived in a democracy.
How could we have predicted the actions of the former Speaker of the House of Commons, for example, or the judiciary?
On top of that, of course, was the appalling nastiness of the rest of the EU. The French and the Germans were determined to make us an example to deter any other country from withdrawing. They always do that.
No, I’m afraid I didn’t see it coming. Besides, and contrary to popular opinion, I voted as I did for the future of our grandchildren, and not for selfish reasons. I don’t regret having done it.
Valerie Currie
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Northern Arts
SIR – After three days of enjoying various arts in the North (Letters, June 23), can I put a cap on Wakefield as a rival to Leeds?
In this beautiful, historic but neglected town, and surrounding area, are the following: Priory of Nostell, a stunning 18th century house with a collection of Chippendale furniture actually made for it; the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, with its Henry Moores, Barbara Hepworths and, currently, an exciting exhibition by Erwin Wurm; then, in the city, the Hepworth Wakefield. This inspiring building, designed by David Chipperfield, houses the finest collection of Hepworths and others, displayed in perfectly lit spaces.
There is also a beautiful cathedral, which throughout the year puts the evening chant of transcendent beauty, followed by a voluntary organ.
With leveling work seemingly at a standstill (although heavily advertised), I suggest something is urgently done to restore the historic fabric of the town and promote its new cultural life.
Donald R Clarke
Tunbridge Well, Kent
Glastonbury Overload
SIR – On Saturday, the BBC covered the Glastonbury Festival on BBC One for one hour, on BBC Two for seven hours and on BBC Four for seven hours.
I thought such programs were what BBC Three was for. Those of us who don’t like Glastonbury don’t have much to watch.
Alex McAllister
Bath, Somerset
Zero Net Realities
SIR – We have been paying for wind farms and solar panels for years using the green levy attached to our energy bills.
Did this translate into clean, cheap energy when the crisis started? No. Britons are being forced to follow the path to net zero at great cost, while currently being plagued by runaway inflation.
The government and other political parties must realize this reality.
Karen Sherliker
Bristol
SIR – The government should not massively subsidize hydrogen production (report, June 24).
Whatever lobbying has been done, the fact is that hydrogen manufacturing, transportation and distribution are mature industries. Hydrogen has been used in US space programs since the 1960s and is a major ingredient in many basic chemical and food processes. As a domestic fuel, it is at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s projected 100-mile linear city along the Red Sea, and 125-mile hydrogen pipelines have been in service in mainland Europe for many years.
In Britain, hydrogen was used to sweeten coal gas, as distributed to domestic customers, for many years, until the advent of natural gas removed the need. Whether we should use it again as a constituent of our piped household fuel is a separate question. But it makes no more sense to subsidize hydrogen than any other basic chemical, like ethylene or chlorine.
Professor Stephen Bush
University of Manchester
NHS review
SIR – I lived in France for 16 years, but before that I worked for the NHS for 30 years. I think the service as currently funded cannot survive.
Developments over the past 50 years have made it impossible for any government to fund the NHS through taxation alone. The British model is not copied anywhere else. If we adopted a European system, with people taking out private insurance (not compulsory in France), and independent practitioners, things would improve.
I remain convinced that the medical expertise, nursing and general care of the NHS is superb, but the model certainly is not.
Marguerite Baker
Juvigny les Vallees, Manche, France
Benefits of retirement
SIR – Richard Youens (Letters, 24 June) may be interested to know that the 25p per week over-80 pension bonus was introduced in 1971 and has not changed since.
In 1971 he purchased a color television license for one year. Not anymore, I’m sorry to say.
Marcus Croome
Truro, Cornwall
SIR – Checking my last grocery bill I couldn’t find an item that would buy 25p: the cheapest buy was loose mushrooms at 48p.
Joyce M Whiteley
Ilkley, West Yorkshire
feathered thieves
MONSIEUR – Your report (June 24) on the cherry-stealing blackbirds reminded me of the tree in our old garden.
When the cherries started to ripen and change color, my husband shielded as many of them as possible with old pantyhose. The birds got the ones we couldn’t cover, but the ones that got saved were delicious.
Phyllis Jones
Bedford
The decline and fall of design and technology
SIR – Amanda Spielman, the director of Ofsted,’s response to the dearth of children choosing to study design and technology at GCSE level is that of the typical bureaucrat: the choice must be taken away from them.
She better wonder why this topic doesn’t fire the imagination of children. Is it because the programs are too full of planning exercises on paper and there is not enough real construction? Or is it perhaps because the legions of graduates in abstract subjects have convinced parents and students that there is no future in design or manufacturing?
David J Critchley
Winslow, Buckinghamshire
How the Lords could better serve the country
SIR – It’s good news that a respected House of Commons select committee is conducting an inquiry into the Lords appointment system.
The prime minister at the time always had absolute control. That must change if public trust, badly damaged by Boris Johnson, is to be restored. We need a statutory body that can prevent completely unsuitable people from being awarded peerages by an irresponsible prime minister. There is a widely held view that the House of Lords is too big, although it was larger in the 1990s (with over 1,200 hereditary and life members in all) than it is today.
The Upper House itself approved a plan to bring the total down to 600. Mr Johnson ignored it. The Commons should highly recommend him to Rishi Sunak. It may be necessary to go further, especially if we want to avoid a significant creation of new peers during a change of government. The fundamental question is whether members of the Upper House should in future be required to show up and do serious work there. This has never been the case at any time in our history. Should such a requirement be introduced?
Lord Lexden (cunt)
London SW1
SIR – The United States has a population of 334.2 million, while Britain has a population of 67.3 million.
The US Senate (upper house) has just 100 members, while the UK House of Lords has 776 sitting members – including 83 Liberal Democrat peers, while the party has just 14 Commons MPs. Meanwhile, the United States has 435 members in the House of Representatives (lower house) and Britain has 650 MPs.
The Commons and Lords have simply become too big and at some point a cross-party solution to this problem will have to be found. Otherwise, the effectiveness of government will continue to be compromised.
Charlie Caminada
Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
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