3June2014 Better

No jog around the park I still have arthritis in my left knee

Scrabbletoday, Mary win the games, and gets under 400 perhaps Iwill win tomorrow

Obituary:

Guardian:

astle, I found Diane Abbott’s article (Let’s stay out of the gutter, 29 May) caused me to reflect on immigration. I came from the west of Ireland to the West End of Newcastle in the early 1980s and have practised as an NHS GP here ever since. The welcome and generosity of the local people, almost exclusively white British, to yet another Irish man, at a time when there was still plenty of fear because of the situation in the north of Ireland, was greatly appreciated. This was and is a predominantly working-class area with high levels of unemployment and deprivation. It was evident when I first came that there was no significant investment by government in this area, either in creating jobs or social housing.

The area was dying. I saw the effects of this on my patients. Soon after, immigrants from various parts of the world started to arrive and the demographics of the area have now changed greatly. In my own practice more than 50% of people do not have English as their first language. The West End has been given a new lease of life, with local shops, restaurants and small businesses, private investment in housing and so on.

The “indigenous” Newcastle people remain open, friendly and kind. The malevolent attempt by the racist politicians to shift the blame for the distress caused by government underfunding of social welfare, housing and employment on to immigrants is shameful, but nothing less than I would expect. Hopefully “we” Geordies will see it for what it is and support those politicians with views similar to Diane Abbott and other traditional supporters of the working class. We can then remain focused on what matters and that is making life better for the people who have less.
Dr Joe Kelliher
Prospect Medical Group, Newcastle

• The attitude of Diane Abbott is precisely the reason so many people are flocking to Ukip, for there is nowhere else to go if you wish to keep Britain a sovereign state. To wish to control immigration is not racist; to wish to leave the EU is not racist. By shouting racism at anything that diverts from the opinions of many on the left is to devalue the concept. Independence and sovereignty have been the rallying cry of the left for over a century as peoples all over the world fought for freedom from colonial rule. It is the natural ground of the left, which tragically is being vacated to Ukip and other rightwing groups. The British people are instinctively inclined towards being independent from any foreign interference; they want to control their own affairs and that includes control of our borders – which does not mean no immigration, but controlled immigration. Until the left reclaims the concept of a sovereign Britain and takes up the call for a an EU referendum, Ukip will win every time.
Fawzi Ibrahim
London

• Both the rise of anti-Semitism in the 1930s and the hatred today of immigrants are classic examples of what psychologists call “projection”. People going through straightened times find a scapegoat for their hatreds and blame all their own troubles on “the other”, whether Jews in Romania in the 1930s or Romanians in Britain in 2014. The problem for the politicians is that projection is, by its definition, irrational. Seeing Nick Clegg try to argue rationally with Nigel Farage’s fear-mongering was to witness a train-crash that any psychologist or historian could have predicted.

Now that the local and European parliament elections are over, responsible politicians in the main parties have to concentrate not on opposing Ukip racism (which is irrational) – but on the underlying causes that have resulted in around 5 million Britons voting on the basis of fear. Only then can such harm be removed from the British body politic.
Dr Christopher Catherwood
Cambridge

• There was once a time when the state accepted its responsibility to maintain good race relations and when integration was a dynamic two-way process, famously defined in 1966 by the then home secretary, Roy Jenkins, “not as a flattening process of assimilation but as equal opportunity, accompanied by cultural diversity, in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance”. How far we have travelled from that ideal has now been captured by the British Social Attitudes survey. And while your editorial (28 May) quite rightly points out the correlation between political messages and rising concern among voters, we would go further. In attempting to triangulate around the Ukip vote, Miliband, as much as Cameron, has played fast and loose with xenophobia.

Likewise, Labour as much as the Con-Dem government has been careless of the impact of nativist pronouncements and policies on poor migrants, particularly new arrivals from eastern Europe, who live under the impact of increased hostility and violence. Michael Gove sending his Ofsted inquisitors into Birmingham primary schools with a large Muslim intake (Report, 21 May), to interrogate teachers and harass young children alike, bodes ill for the future of race relations.
Liz Fekete
Director, Institute of Race Relations

• Lola Okolosie (Comment, 29 May) wrote passionately about the evils of racism, but her article was based upon an interpretation of a piece of research by NatCen which, by their own admission, might not be as authoritative as assumed. “It’s important to realise that these findings are not indicative of anything other than how many people describe themselves as racially prejudiced in an interview situation. They are not indicative of an increase in racially motivated crime, workplace discrimination or a nation catapulting to the far right” (Can we really measure racial prejudice?, 27 May). Given such a warning, I feel commentators must be very careful in coming to firm conclusions which depend upon interpretations of data which, themselves, may not be particularly accurate or reliable, otherwise it can cause more harm than good.
Ivor Mitchell
Wellington, Somerset

• One factor missing from the NatCen survey is reference to the ethnic origin of those surveyed. In my experience (political canvassing, community work among EU migrants), this is where racism can still sometimes lurk. If you want to hear expressions of strong anti-immigrant feelings or racially motivated prejudices then listen to many first- and second-generation members of national minorities when they feel relaxed enough to speak out in front of you.

Many of these remarks betray considerable ill feeling and mistrust between black and Asian minorities, and both often make scathing remarks about east European immigrants – which in turn do not go unreciprocated. The situation can be even worse when these minorities speak to each other in the language of their country of origin, where racially motivated sentiments are expressed using unvarnished terminology. These views are not repeated in English, but then English to them is the language of political correctness. The terminology in their own language has not been similarly detoxified. NatCen should commission a new study which will encompass the ethnic factor in the expression of these attitudes.
Wiktor Moszczynski
London

• It is accepted by all three party leaders that “something” must be done about immigration. People on doorstep give immigration, as their reasons for voting Ukip. In fact nothing can be done about immigration that will satisfy the poorest sections of society. The fear of immigration is largely irrational and not subject to facts or figures. Historically there have always been scares about “the other”, from Jewish immigration in the early 20th Century to the Ugandan Asians in the 1970s. These fears have usually been accompanied by an obsession with a crowded island, again something which is highly subjective. Cutting or ending immigration has always been used and exploited by the far right – which is otherwise opposed to trade unions and strikes to increases wages – to explain poverty, poor housing and other social provisions.

Today is no different. We are faced with a historical transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich, coupled with the destruction of the welfare state and the NHS. It is no surprise that George Osborne and fellow Conservative leaders seek to blame refugees. Scapegoating is as old as capitalism. But if you were to ask those who explain immigration for their frustrations, they would be hard-pressed to provide the details of the levels of immigration to Britain, from inside or outside the EU. Ed Miliband should ignore the panic-driven advice of Ed Balls and instead place his proposals in an overall context of who has paid for Britain’s financial crisis. Now is the time for a bold and radical leader of the Labour party, not one who is diverted by the chimera of Ukip.
Tony Greenstein
Brighton

• I was appalled by the headline on your report (Rising tide of prejudice across Britain, 28 May) and your editorial (Race against time) of the same day. You effectively branded one-third of the UK population as racist. Perhaps you ought to give more consideration to what Trevor Phillips has said and the distinctions he made in his well-judged comments.

To face up to prejudices, either our own or those of others, we first of all need to recognise that we might possibly have them. Branding people as racist, for doing exactly that, is likely to keep prejudices hidden and festering. Years working in secondary schools eventually taught me that, in promoting and developing tolerance and understanding, education and discussion are better long-term solutions than just outrage and condemnation. To take this one step further: would not a “restorative” approach, as practised in many schools, have offered a much more satisfactory outcome than the court case you cite?
Ken Hall
Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

• Those of us who have lived or worked in London’s East End for a number of years know that the racists and people who dislike diversity have been gradually moving eastwards, with Romford, Basildon, Canvey Island (covered by Castle Point) and Southend among the locations of choice. This could explain the success of Ukip in these areas. Unemployment and poverty is rife in east London, but Ukip did not do well here.
Helen Mullineux
Roydon, Essex

• Your suggestion that the parties keep calm and carry on might have to be revised if the electorate interpret the election results to mean that they can actually bring about real change in the political system, and resolve to do so next year. We might even get a bigger turnout.
David Lund

Your coverage of the British Social Attitudes Survey (Rising tide of race prejudice across Britain, 28 May), fails (at least according to your report) to acknowledge the fine grain in social attitudes towards the concept of “the other”, relying only on the construct of “race” to define prejudice. Recent political debate has turned on a complex set of issues – EU immigration, non-EU immigration, Islamophobia, cultural difference – and usually exhibited very little concern about “race” (a rickety concept anyway) as such. To label and conflate prejudice relating to all these issues as “racial” doesn’t get us very far. We need new terms for advancing our discussion and understanding of the causation of prejudice against “the other”.
Gillian Dalley
London

We have heard too much mealy-mouthed, platitudinous prattle from politicians about immigration. Even if they could close the stable door, it is too late (Report, 25 May). Huge numbers of immigrants have already settled in our tiny island and changed the face of our communities. They are mums and dads, aunties and uncles, grandparents, cabbies, nurses, carpenters, doctors, drivers, teachers, labourers, waiters, lawyers and the unemployed, like the rest of us. We owe them a little more courtesy and respect for their contribution to our society.

Independent:

The argument made by the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, that the details of the exchanges between Tony Blair and George W Bush in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 cannot be disclosed, because to do so would undermine future confidentiality of US-UK high-level diplomatic exchanges, is deeply unconvincing. (Andreas Whittam Smith: “The political establishment is on the run. But it can’t hide forever,” 31 May).

It has even less credibility in the light of Sir Jeremy’s role as Principal Private Secretary to Tony Blair at No 10 at the time of the build- up and execution of the war against Saddam in 2002-03. He is hardly an independent party.

Retired senior US politicians have no problem in recounting their experiences in negotiating with the UK government when in office. President Bill Clinton in his memoir, My Life (2004), records that in December 1998: “My national security team was unanimous in the belief that we should hit Saddam. . . . To minimize the chances Iraq could disperse its forces and protect its biological and chemical stocks. Tony Blair and his advisors agreed.” (p833)

Clinton’ Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, in her own memoir, Madame Secretary (2003), records: “During our joint tenure, British foreign secretary [Robin] Cook helped ensure Great Britain’s position as a stalwart ally in backing an appropriately tough line towards Iraq. We were both determined to keep up the pressure until Iraq met its obligations to disarm.” (p277)

When Blair’s successor, Gordon Brown, announced the scope of the Chilcot inquiry to Parliament on 15 June 2009, Mr Brown told MPs and the country: “The inquiry will receive the full co-operation of the Government.”

What we are now seeing is a dangerous establishment stitch-up. Parliament’s collective voice of opposition needs to be heard this week.

Dr David Lowry, Stoneleigh, Surrey

Until we know one way or the other whether Tony Blair gave George W Bush his unconditional support on the basis that he would “sell” any intervention in Iraq to Parliament and the British public, there can be no satisfactory resolution of the Iraq saga. All attempts to suppress and limit information available to the public can only strengthen the impression that this is in fact exactly what transcripts of the conversations between Blair and Bush would reveal.

David Barker, Surbiton, Surrey

Is a free society one where there are no consequences for illegal wars, where there are no punitive outcomes for bankers who come near to bankrupting the country, one where there are few punishments for politicians who make false claims?

It seems that our society is penalty-free for the powerful and benefits-free for the poorest. All inconvenient details will be redacted to suit. Is this the gist of our free society?

Lee Dalton, Weymouth, Dorset

Politicians must learn to listen

How amazing that so many politicians are surprised by the message that there is dissatisfaction with the political status quo and that this finds expression through rejection of the established political players. There were few local government elections last week in the rural districts or the message would have been even worse.

Since the inception of the National Planning Policy Framework there has been a relentless attack upon the integrity of market towns and villages, on the green belt, and on the fabric of the English countryside. Democracy has been trampled on by an unholy alliance between the vested interests of some politicians and the mammoths of the construction industry. This has not resulted in affordable housing for the young rural dispossessed, but with disfiguring rashes of identikit houses and endless ruinous squabbles between the construction industry and local communities.

Our advice to politicians of every hue is to listen to us. Don’t pretend to give us localism and democracy and then trample all over us and our opinions. Don’t call us names and condescend to us. We gave you power and through the ballot box we can take it away. If you learn nothing else from the experience of the elections of 2014, then learn this.

Jenny Unsworth, Community Voice on Planning, Congleton, Cheshire

Let police officers speak out in public

Perhaps the image of our police service would not be suffering the damage it is currently experiencing if officers were encouraged to debate in public prints the pros and cons of legislative issues affecting policing which gradually arise over the years, and to come up with viable solutions themselves rather than waiting for outsiders to point out the answers.

For example, before Sir Robert Mark became the Metropolitan Police Commissioner he was a regular subscriber to the correspondence columns of the national press, outlining his own ideas for reform and inspiring his subordinates to follow suit. How many of our current crop of police chiefs have track records of bravely voicing criticism of current practices as they rose through the ranks?

It is a sad fact that young officers are discouraged from pointing out in print the failings of the service which they have witnessed from the inside, for fear of the damage it can do to their careers. Until this mindset is radically changed there seems little hope for the future of this country’s police service.

John Kenny, Acle, Norfolk

Why women’s sport is little reported

Jane Gandee’s laments over the lack of coverage of women’s sport (letter, 29 May). I would ask, is it not that the market has concluded that women’s sport is inferior to men’s? And the media, while it can and does influence the “market”, has also to voice public opinion.

Men’s professional sport is superior in terms of skill, strength, power and entertainment value to women’s sport.

That is reflected not least by the vastly higher attendances at men’s sporting events.

This does not devalue or detract from women’s and girls’ participation at a recreational or competitive level in sports, but does offer a context as to why women’s elite sport is so poorly covered by media outlets including The Independent.

John Moore, Northampton

I don’t believe that “girls are put off sport” by the lack of media coverage.

I have played skittles in a team for over 20 years despite there being no newspaper or website, either locally or nationally, that has ever reported on us at all.

It’s about wanting to do it, or not.

Colin Jones, Bedford

Royal Mail made a deal

A few months ago a package of services called Royal Mail was sold to investors at a knock-down price (“Regulator at odds with Royal Mail over warning on universal service”, 23 May). These same investors are now returning to the vendor’s agent to complain that the terms of that sale (at a knock-down price) are too onerous, making it difficult for them to further increase the profits they have already accumulated on the original purchase.

They bought the package with their eyes wide open, so let them stick to the terms on which they did so and use their purchase price profit to prop up the parts of the service they do not like.

We taxpayers should not be bailing them out of a deal they freely entered. Should they fail to honour the deal they should be penalised.

John Laird, Harrogate

Still no land fit for heroes

Mark Carney pledges to help build a “more trustworthy” capitalism“, with ”equality of outcomes, opportunity and fairness across generations“.

Christine Lagarde states: “The bad news is that progress is far too slow, and the finish line is too far off”, and she calls on “capitalism to become more representative, including expanding access to education and healthcare”.

In 1918, when my war-weary grandfather returned home to the Rhondda, he was promised “a land fit for heroes”. A century later he and we are still waiting to get to this promised land.

I conclude that there really has been no such overall intent and universal ambition in the words and deeds of our leaders, politicians and bankers. After all, they are all right, Jack.

Paul Middleton, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire

How about banning my book too, Mr Gove?

Apparently, since Michael Gove threatened to ban certain American books from the English curriculum, sales of those books have skyrocketed. I wonder if Mr Gove would be so kind as to threaten to ban my new first novel, The Crossover, from the curriculum, as it could do with a bit of a boost.

John Westbrook, Manchester

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown should be very careful about what she wishes for (“London is a special place – let’s declare it a separate city state”, 2 June). 

London is a dysfunction in the United Kingdom. It sucks the best out of the rest of the nation and then whinges about being overcrowded and expensive. I am dismayed every time I hear a science, engineering or maths student at a top university say that their ambition is to work in investment banking in the City.

If London were to declare independence, you should not be surprised if the borders are strictly enforced, with no movements in or out. No more stealing our talent or escaping to your cottage in the Cotswolds. Why should we supply you with food or water or even let you use our airspace? Does it sound like an East German attitude to West Berlin? Maybe, but some of us would prefer a smaller cake shared more evenly.

Peter English, Rhewl, Denbighshire

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown reveals herself as the ultimate patronising London bore.

Why people spend hundreds of thousands of pounds merely to live in some shoe box beside a railway line within the M25 is beyond me. A hugely better standard of living is to be had in virtually any other city in the country.

London is too big, too expensive and not especially attractive to look at – Paris, Rome or Vienna, for instance, it is not.

Anthony Ingleton, Sheffield

Let’s vote now on Europe

Thirty per cent of the electorate voted in the European elections and 30 per cent of them voted for Ukip. Another 8 per cent voted for the Greens and nearly 26 per cent voted for the Tories. All these parties say they want a referendum on Europe. The Tories only want one in 2017. The Greens and Ukip want a referendum now. The Greens and David Cameron want to stay in the EU.

Over 60 per cent of those who voted want a referendum and more than half of them want one straight away. Can we just get on with it please and have this referendum? I do not know why those in favour of staying in the EU are so afraid of an immediate referendum.

Nigel F Boddy, Darlington, Co Durham

Clegg too sensible for his own good

As the much smaller party in the Coalition, the Lib Dems were always going to be obliged to make compromises, whoever their leader. But they have nevertheless succeeded in curbing some of the excesses of Toryism.

Nick Clegg appears to be one of our more honourable politicians. What he says is generally perfectly reasonable. But he says it in a low-key way acceptable to people willing to listen and think. This is his major sin. If he were in the habit of hanging about looking very pleased with himself, holding a pint in one hand and a fag in the other, his party might have done better in the recent elections.

Democracy may be the least bad system of government but, sad to say, it enables us to choose the wrong people for the wrong reasons.

Susan Alexander, Frampton Cotterell, South Gloucestershire

The Liberal Democrat party is like the Titanic. The fourth frame has been breached and it is on the way to the bottom. Mr Clegg, like Captain Smith, is safe in his position.

George D Lewis, Brackley, Northamptonshire

Escape from the half-term nightmare

Three times a year, schools take a half-term holiday. Having taught in schools myself, I know just how important and necessary those breaks are. However, I also know that they cause tremendous disruption in all sorts of ways. Trains and Tubes are packed, it’s impossible to get into museums and art galleries, and the travel industry takes appalling advantage by putting up costs.

Last week seems to have been particularly bad. As I have travelled around London, going from one appointment to another, it has been almost nightmarish coping with the hordes blocking passageways and platforms. Indeed it has been positively dangerous, with platforms alarmingly clogged by children and frazzled parents.

Surely it would not be beyond the wit of the authorities to stagger these half-term breaks. Were they to take place over, say, a three-week period, it would not only remove the extra burden placed on our public transport system but, with luck, end those price-hikes.

Colin Baldy, Maldon, Essex

The marbles belong where they are

Howard Jacobson, seduced by the warmth of both the climes and the people of Greece, makes an emotional plea for the return of the Parthenon pediment sculptures (31 May). However, his sense that “they don’t belong to us” is too simplistic.

The British Museum is a unique assembly of culturally defining artefacts drawn from across time and space. The objects converse with each other so as to relate a narrative of humanity that would be impossible were they to be exhibited as singular items. These artefacts are not possessions – not of individuals, not of nations. They are global cultural capital.

It is far better that the “Elgin Marbles” remain in a place that situates them  and what they represent within the context of a wider range of human endeavour in an accessible and, I am proud to say, free environment that attracts thousands of international visitors every year.

Philip Stephenson, Cambridge

Fill those empty homes first

We are always being told there is a need for one million new homes. For years, there have been over a million empty homes nationwide, and now added to these are an enormous number of empty foreign-owned investment properties in London.

We could give incentives to restore flats above shops, convert storage and offices that are not needed etc. Second homes could surely be much higher rated if they are left predominantly unused.

In the last census of the 250,000 second homes, three quarters were used for less than one month a year.

Of course we must build, but also use what is there efficiently. House prices will then stabilise and this crazy spiral will stop.

Bill Jackson, Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

Women in sport aren’t the same – they win

I disagree with John Moore (letter, 2 June). Attendance at women’s sporting events will increase with more media coverage, and anyway the women’s England football and cricket teams are achieving excellent results, which is more than you can say for the men’s teams – and it’s results that matter.

Linda Dickins, Wimborne, Dorset

Save Syria from the dictator and the extremists

Patrick Cockburn is correct that Assad feels under little pressure to reach a peaceful settlement in Syria – since there has not been any effective international response to Assad’s campaign of aggression, even the repeated use of  chemical weapons against civilians (“Fighting a war at the ballot box”, 29 May).

Mr Cockburn states that Assad “currently holds 13 out of 14 Syrian provincial capitals and his forces are slowly advancing in many parts of the country”. However it is important that readers do not take from this that Assad is winning, given that most of the north and east of Syria is outside of Assad’s control – over 60 per cent of the country. For every advance that his forces claim to have made, there is a setback that they suffer elsewhere in the country.

For example, last week the Free Syrian Army won an important strategic military victory in the north by taking over the military point of Al Khazanaat, meaning it now controls the supply route north of Hama, up to Idlib and Aleppo.

During this operation, many tanks and pieces of equipment were taken, in what was a huge blow to the regime. To give further examples: 40 per cent of Hama, 60 per cent of Aleppo, and 100 per cent of Deir Ezzor are outside regime control.

Assad caused the negotiations in Geneva to collapse by refusing to accept political transition as per the Geneva Communiqué road map. Since it seems that he only understands force, the West should help the moderate opposition with arms and training.

If Assad is not tackled, he will end up ruling  over a brutalised and devastated section  of Syria, and continue with his war, causing the escalation of a historic-scale humanitarian catastrophe, and also the strengthening of extremists, as moderates are frustrated and weakened.

The world surely does not wish to allow either a brutal dictator or extremists to win in Syria, for the spillover would soon affect other countries in the region, and maybe Europe.

Monzer Akbik, Chief of Staff to  Ahmad Jarba, President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, Istanbul

Times:

Telegraph:

6:58AM BST 02 Jun 2014

56 Comments

SIR – Margaret Thatcher once said that truth is what the Kremlin feared the most. The Russian interference in Ukraine has been accompanied by an unbelievable volume of propaganda and outright lies aimed at discrediting the new Ukrainian authorities, whipping up hysteria among ordinary Russians and pointing a finger at an “external enemy”.

SIR – David Cameron is right to say that it would be unwise to tip his hand by revealing what his demands are prior to starting negotiations around Britain’s membership of the European Union. At the same time, his own party members are unconvinced and require detail of his negotiating position.

SIR – Under current policies, academic researchers must submit their proposals to a small group of their closest competitors – their peers – for consideration before they might be funded. Peers selected by funding agencies are usually allowed to deliver their verdicts anonymously. They assess the proposal’s suitability for funding, whether it would be the best possible use of the resources requested, and determine, if it were successful, the probability that it might contribute to the national economy in some way. If the answers are satisfactory the proposal has roughly a 25 per cent chance of being funded.

Irish Times:

A chara, – Éilis Ní Anluain wonders if I am wilfully missing something in the debate on denominational education (May 30th).

That I am missing something is not impossible; I am but a humble rector of a rural parish and know well there is much I do not see and even more that I do not understand. I assure her I do not do so wilfully.

However, there are things that I do not miss.

For example, I see the hard work and dedication of those who serve on the board of management of our local Church of Ireland primary school, of which I have the privilege of being the chair; because of their belief the religious ethos of our school is an important component of our children’s education, and not some kind of an optional “bolt on”.

I notice the parents who drive or bus their children long distances, some from neighbouring parishes, doing so because they believe that it is in the best interest of their children to send them to our school.

Then there is the support our small faith community gives to the fundraising efforts needed to keep the school going – support that is given by all, whether they have children in the school or not.

And I certainly do not miss, and indeed am humbled by, the immense generosity and respect shown by the wider community as they support us in that fundraising.

Looking further afield, I note the passion and commitment to our denominational schools I have seen on display at various diocesan synods; and I can only imagine that other faith communities feel equally strongly about their schools. I notice also how various patrons have willingly given up schools they no longer need to those of other faith traditions and none; how the recent offer to surrender patronage where that is the will of the local community; and the day-to-day willingness of denominational schools to accommodate sensitively those of other faith traditions or none, whether they be students or staff, asking only that they reciprocate by respecting the ethos the school was founded to promote and not acting to undermine it.

This all leads me to believe that the majority of people support our current system; and I thank God I live in a country that is enlightened enough to facilitate those who have strong beliefs about their faith or philosophy in setting up schools that accord with those views, provided they have the dedication and determination to do so.

I also notice that there is a minority of people who have no desire to compromise in any way on this issue; who wish to trample the constitutional and natural rights of parents to decide the ethos in which their children are to be educated; and under the cloak of “non-discrimination” wish to discriminate against the majority and introduce a secular patronage system that would only be favoured by a few.

I believe that denominational schools have proven their willingness to compromise and be flexible on this issue.

I think it would be wilful indeed of me not to notice that there are others with quite extreme views in this debate, and wilfully remiss not to attempt to point that out. – Is mise,

Rev PATRICK G BURKE,

Castlecomer,

Co Kilkenny.

Sir, – I read with dismay the news that the HSE is considering the recruitment of overseas doctors to “plug the gaps in the Irish health service” (Letters, May 27th; “HSE recruitment plans condemned”, Home News, May 19th). The question is posed “why are Irish-trained doctors leaving our hospitals?”

The Australian health workforce is bolstered by an influx of highly trained and motivated doctors from Ireland and the UK. Recent data from the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine shows that 25 per cent of emergency department registrars in Australia obtained their primary medical degree in Irish or UK universities (566 emergency medicine doctors, 89 of these from Ireland). This is greater than the total number of emergency medicine consultants currently working in the Irish health service. In 2013, the Australian health system saw the largest year-on-year increase in Irish medical migration to their shores.

However, recent proposals to change Australian immigration laws aim to tighten the criteria for the skilled migrant visa (the main entry point for Irish doctors) to ensure that Australian-trained medical graduates are not displaced from Australian hospitals.

Rather than encouraging overseas migration from less developed countries, health workforce strategists in Ireland should focus on retaining and attracting Irish medical graduates back to new and improved conditions in Irish hospitals.

My question is does the HSE have the foresight necessary to implement these changes? – Yours, etc,

Dr CIAN McDERMOTT

Consultant Emergency

Physician,

Geelong Hospital,

Sir, – I would not wish to take sides in the Clare/Cork debate (Barbara Scully, (“Inviting the British back to the GPO”, News Review, May 17th, and Brendan Ó Cathaoir, May 22nd) about who treated my grandfather, Brig Gen CHT Lucas, the best but I do wish to balance the debate a little with historical evidence from my grandfather’s secret diary of events, official report and letters to my grandmother.

According to these, he was taken across the Shannon by boat to “Bunratty House where Mr Corbett lives” on July 4th, 1920. He stayed there one night and then was moved on to Mr Brennan’s house in Clonmoney. He was frequently moved around to avoid British patrols. He certainly played a lot of bridge and drank a lot of whiskey into the wee small hours. He also played tennis and croquet, helped “save the hay” and notoriously went on poaching trips on the Shannon.

However it was not just in Clare that he was treated as a gentleman. He wrote to my grandmother on June 30th, whilst in Cork, reporting that he was “really seeing Ireland properly just now, the people are very kind, lots of good plain food . . . I am in no danger at all, and you will be quite tickled with my experiences when I get out.”

I should add that my poor grandmother had gone into premature labour after finding out about her husband’s capture from a newspaper headline. His family had kept the news from her as they wanted to protect her. Happily she and her baby recovered from the trauma helped by the reassuring letters from her captive husband, which Liam Lynch and later Michael Brennan kindly arranged to be sent to her.

My family have certainly been “tickled” by my grandfather’s stories and are grateful for the kindness that men such as George Powers and Ernest Corbett showed him. My grandfather was a man of honour who didn’t flinch from saying what he thought – he knew that he risked being court-martialled for saying that he had been treated as “a gentleman by gentlemen” and was held by “delightful people” but spoke out anyway. This he said in spite of almost being killed in the Oola ambush just after he “escaped”. This was not what anti-Home Rule elements in the British government wanted to hear. They wanted to paint the IRA as evil to get “England on their side” to go in and destroy them. Words such as “gentlemen” and “delightful” helped put a dampener on the flame they hoped to kindle. – Yours, etc,

RUTH WHEELER,

Hervey Road,

Sir, – Vincent Browne’s predictably narrow view of the successes and failures of the last Labour government is nothing new, particularly its selective choice of statistics (“SF’s impulse for government even greater than Labour’s”, Opinion & Analysis, May 28th).

A single report on inequality which he cites is hardly a complete perspective on the Rainbow’s very worthy legacy, particularly on equality issues. He ignores that Labour government’s achievements of reducing unemployment by 38,000, setting up an anti-poverty strategy, achieving historic £260 million equality payments for women, and increasing access to education.

Better to critique the failures of conservative parties rather than obsessively target the only social democratic party, and indeed the oldest party, in the State, with revisionist and misleading opinion pieces.– Yours, etc,

DAVID TOBIN,

Church Hill Meadows,

Raheen,

ical and cultural fault line” (Europe Letter, May 29th), by Suzanne Lynch, your European correspondent. I would like to commend her for her general coverage of my country which I usually find well documented and balanced.

However I was struck by the headline on this article. I oppose the idea that my country is currently “living on a perilous cultural and political fault line”.

Belgium is an utterly democratic country where the cultural communities have lived in peaceful coexistence since its independence (1831).

It has very gradually evolved towards a federal state over the last 30 years, requiring each political and linguistic grouping to make the necessary compromises in order to achieve the present set-up of institutions. These developments were never tainted by political violence.

Belgium has always been run through compromises, thanks to a long tradition of coalition governments in which French-speaking and Flemish-speaking political parties were consistently and duly represented.

At the latest European elections on May 25th, Belgians were also asked to cast their vote for the national and the regional elections.

Nationally, the governing political parties (Liberals, Socialists and Christian Democrats) could boast a fair amount of popular support. None of them could be considered as a loser. Quite the opposite, the latest elections have shown that in spite of the heavy budgetary and social constraints which the current government, led by prime minister Elio di Rupo, was exposed to for the last four years, Belgium remains a very stable and peaceful country.

The Flemish NVA led by Bart De Wever had a successful election in Flanders. This party is neither Eurosceptic nor extremist.

In the wake of these elections King Philippe has already assigned the winner of these elections on the Flemish side, Mr De Wever, the task of informing him about the possibility of forming a coalition of parties from both sides of the linguistic divide.

My compatriots also cast their votes in the European elections. Belgium did not deviate from the original ideal and vision which remain at the core of our European ambition and commitment, since the inception of the Common Market in 1957.

Our support for Europe will remain at the heart of our foreign policy. My country has not contributed in any way to the growing move towards Euroscepticism that seems to have gripped several other European countries. – Yours, etc,

PHILIPPE ROLAND,

Ambassador,

Embassy of Belgium,

Elgin Road,

Ballsbridge,

Sir, – This country needs the kind of legal protection for tenants that exist in other EU countries. Opinion-formers waffle about the Irish having a sentimental attachment to home ownership.

There is nothing sentimental about the decades of government policy designed to encourage massive mortgages, bad planning and property speculation. Until this crooked game gets fixed, the Irish economy cannot begin to recover.

If the new leader of the Labour Party is serious about reducing suffering in our society, then she (or he) must propose a new Bill of rights for those who pay rent, both domestic and commercial.

This would take the heat out of the property market and reduce business closures at a stroke, without having to borrow billions more that we cannot repay to build homes where no-one wants to live. – Yours, etc,

ARTHUR DEENY,

Rock Road,

Blackrock,

A chara, – It grieved me to hear at Mass that men and only men, married or single and between certain ages, were being invited to apply to become deacons of the Catholic Church. Why were women not invited to apply for this position?

The oldest reference to women deacons occurs in St Paul’s letters (circa 55-58 AD). Secular evidence from the early second century confirms the role of the deaconess. Deaconesses were also mentioned in the Council of Nicea in 325. Why then are women not considered eligible for the position of deaconess in the 21st century?

It would appear that the Catholic Church is prepared to do all in its power to keep the church hierarchy firmly in the hands of men.

Deacons may baptise children. It is ridiculous that although women give birth to children, they are still not considered eligible to baptise children! – Is mise,

EMMA M VERLING,

Cill Rónáin,

Baile and Bhuitléirigh,

Sir, – It should be clear from recent events that the medical card system is not fit for purpose and must be scrapped.

The underlying logic of medical cards is that everyone above a certain, modest income can afford medical care and only people below that level need help.

This might have been true in 1970 but medical costs, especially for surgery, drugs and long-term care, are now beyond the means of nearly all of us; practically everyone needs a medical card now. The system is broken – it has to be replaced by one that accommodates the whole population, without discrimination. – Yours, etc,

Dr NORMAN STEWART,

Seapark,

Malahide,

Co Dublin.

Sir, – Three years ago Curraghmore’s female swan died of old age, leaving a sad male mourning her demise for about six months before winging his way southwards. Around Christmas he returned with a young female under his wing and early in June last year they produced four cygnets. We’ve just spotted five small grey bundles in the wake of the female on our lake. So there’s life in the auld bird yet! – Yours, etc,

BASIL CROESER,

Curraghmore,

Portlaw,

Co Waterford.

Sir, – Frank McNally’s account of Monaghan-born, Alexander Pearce’s cannibalism is a useful corrective to the myths surrounding Irish-Australian convicts (An Irishman’s Diary, May 31st).

Imaginative tales and romantic folk-ballads have sustained the felons’ posthumous PR campaign. Ned Kelly, the embodiment of bushranger values, did little for Hibernian solidarity by mercilessly shooting dead Michael Kennedy, Thomas Lonigan and Michael Scanlan. – Yours, etc,

Dr JOHN DOHERTY,

Cnoc an Stollaire,

Gaoth Dobhair,

Co Donegal.

Sir, – Ann Marie Hourihane’s “Sobriety Diaries” (Weekend, May 31st) detailed the circumstances of your journalist staying off the gargle for a full month. This abstinence was portrayed as a type of social experiment akin to someone living on the streets for a month or only eating bananas for the same period. I wonder what it has come to when not having a drink for a month is seen as unusual. – Yours, etc,

MARK LEADEN,

College Park Close ,

Ballinteer,

Sir, – Your readers in Ulster may have been bewildered by your Weather Watch prediction for yesterday: “A wet evening with the odd spot of rain”. – Yours, etc,

DAVID GRIFFIN,

Waringsford Road,

Magherally,

Banbridge, Co Down.

Sir, – Domini Kemp states that her flourless chocolate cake (Magazine, May 31st) has no saturated fats. From the recipe, I estimate the saturated fat content to be 165g (107g from coconut oil, 20g from eggs and 38g from chocolate). This amount of fat contributes 1,495 calories to the cake. Delicious I’m sure, but certainly not free of saturated fat. – Yours, etc,

Dr ELLEN CRUSHELL,

Temple Street

Children’s Hospital,

Dublin 1.

Irish Independent:

The urge to hold and attend meetings is hard-wired into our nature. Meetings provide an outlet for the need to escape from serious living to the experience of convivial pointlessness. In Ireland there are not enough meetings to satisfy our national needs, hence the clamour to get to Brussels, the meetings’ capital of Europe.

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No escape from the Harry Houdini property trap

The exercise of our right to vote is crucial in selecting those who are in the greatest need of meetings.

I have little patience with the cry to abolish the Seanad. The abolitionists seemed unaware of the point and purpose of this meeting place in the lives of its members. Do we wish for the unedifying spectacle of those who crave for meetings camping on Kildare Street pleading for admission to Leinster House to satisfy their craving? Besides, sending them to Brussels is a far more expensive alternative.

I am aware that there are some who do not wish to see our second chamber becoming a meaningless talking shop, losing sight of what they see as its essential custodial function.

Though attendance at meetings is essential for healthy living, over-attendance leads to Meeting Malady (MM). Its most worrying symptom is the longing for linguistic barbarism; sufferers develop an urge to generate unnecessary additions to our current stock of words.

Nouns are mindlessly converted into verbs; we are invited to action proposals, to task somebody, to diarise and prioritise. In the more advanced stages of the illness, verbs are turned into nouns; we are informed that an onerous request is a big ask.

Even poor Bertie Ahern succumbed to MM when, at a constituency meeting, he lapsed from his renowned mastery of the English language to declare that Fianna Fail was “doing brutal”. I suspect, as he would put it, he has over-met and is doing penance for his syntax.

Back-come, Bertie, all is forgiven. We all make mistakes.

PHILIP O’NEILL

33 EDITH ROAD, OXFORD OX1 4QB

BUSINESS OF CREATING HOUSING

Your business editor, Thomas Molloy, suggested last week that a tax could be imposed on empty houses to free up the market. This is an excellent idea. I would go further and suggest that the same should be done for vacant commercial properties.

This would help to off-set the upward-only rent reviews. Better still, it would force the market to recognise that we simply have too many shops. Proprietors of vacant premises would be encouraged to look at the possibility of converting retail space into residential accommodation. Such conversions might even be encouraged by financial incentives.

JOHN F JORDAN

FLOWER GROVE, KILLINEY, CO DUBLIN

LET SCHMIDT PUSH US FORWARD

The bombshell announcement that John Plumtree is, so prematurely, to leave his role as forwards’ coach to the Irish rugby team made for a disappointing end to what was a triumphant weekend for Irish rugby, with Leinster winning the RaboDirect Pro12 Championship.

Such is the contribution that Mr Plumtree, in the short time that he has been here, made to Irish rugby, it behoves the Irish Rugby Football Union to find a near-identical, world-standard replacement for him.

We must endeavour, as we prepare for the Rugby World Cup, to not saddle manager Joe Schmidt with an inferior forwards’ coach.

The IRFU did a great job in sourcing Greg Feek and David Nucifora for Irish rugby; it is to be hoped that they take the same high-quality approach when sourcing the next forwards’ coach.

Ideally, Schmidt will be allowed to source his own forwards’ coach.

JOHN B REID

MONKSTOWN, CO DUBLIN

MEDIA HAS POWER OF CHANGE

John Downing’s article on the formation of the next government (Irish Independent, June 2) highlights the issue of the media’s power in opinion formation. All of us are in denial about it but none are immune to it.

Media coverage of our political scene in pre-election periods is crucial. The recent local and European elections, when the anti-austerity bandwagon steamrolled all before it, is a case in point.

The most powerful media actors supported one political grouping in all elections from 1997 to 2007. In the wake of the economic collapse they switched sides in 2011. One would have thought that they had no option. But it looks like we are back to business as usual for the next election.

With a bit of servicing and a lick of paint that anti-austerity bandwagon should have no problem riding roughshod over this Government’s hopes of re-election.

A LEAVY

SHIELMARTIN DRIVE, SUTTON, CO DUBLIN

US KEEPS SOLDIERING ON – FOR US

The other side of America.

One of my regrets is not applauding when, some years back, I was in Shannon Airport after taking a flight from Dublin and awaiting a flight to New York and, while waiting in the terminal, a large group of American soldiers came walking through the terminal.

They were in transit and probably on their way to Iraq. The majority of people or civilians stood up and applauded as the soldiers walked by.

I, in my ignorance, did not stand up. Why? Because being typically European I had issues with American polices in the Middle East but, whether I had issues or not, I should have stood up and applauded as these soldiers were doing what they were ordered to do and were not the people I had so-called issues with.

But sitting there that day I started to realise how proud and loyal the Mid-Americans are of their fellow Americans and country.

The following winter I was in Philadelphia and a real bad snow storm came in. It shut down a lot of public transport. I suddenly noticed that there was a lot of people in wheelchairs and some others struggling on crutches – all of these people were disabled in some form and were trying to get to the shops for supplies.

The majority of these people were veterans who had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. They had fought in these wars not just to protect America but to protect western society. Whether people think they were right or wrong to do so, they did it and some sacrificed their lives.

It seems to me that some people have negative opinions about US policies but, at the end of the day, it’s the Mid-American people who have been the ones who have paid the biggest price when it come to human casualties in protecting western culture and beliefs.

DAVID HENNESSY

RATHNEW, CO WICKLOW

AN ODE TO O’DRISCOLL AND CULLEN

Brian O’Driscoll and Leo Cullen have gone from the game.

Their legacy will live long after their name.

You never give up, keep the spark alive

And when they say it’s impossible, that’s when you’ll thrive.

Of the knocks and the bruises, there’s nothing to tell,

For the bigger they were the harder they fell.

For the next generation have big boots to fill,

They walked with giants,

Now it’s their time to thrill.

R O’DONNELL,

CO LIMERICK

Irish Independent