11 September 2014 Quiet day

I jog around the park I still have arthritis in my left knee, but I manage to get round the park. A sunny but cool day. I potter around.

Mary’s back not much better today, duck for tea and her back pain is still there.

Obituary:

Guardian:

I do not need Michael Gove to explain to me what antisemitism is (Gove attacks ‘antisemitic’ Israel boycotts, 10 September). I have been the object of antisemitism by two Conservative MPs, Sir Charles Taylor, who told me to “Get back to Tel Aviv”, and Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who admonished me that my loyalty should be to this country and not to Israel, bringing the proceedings of the House of Commons to a roaring halt. Harold Macmillan referred to me antisemitically in his diaries.

Of course the Holocaust, the Nazi slaughter of 6 million Jews, including many members of my family, was an atrocity unparalleled in human history. That does not provide justification for the Israelis murdering thousands of Palestinians. Since governments take no action against these massacres, it is right that communities and individuals should boycott Israeli products.
Gerald Kaufman
Labour, Manchester Gorton

• Mr Gove creates the all-too-common (and deliberate?) confusion between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS) is symbol of opposition to the policies of the state of Israel’s policies, in relation to the occupation, the continued building of settlements, the imprisonment of children and the murderous attacks on Gaza.

There should never be any devaluation of the Holocaust, and antisemitism should always be resolutely resisted. Very unfortunately some protesters also confuse antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Where Mr Gove is right is that “we need to stand united against hate” – but that of course includes Palestinians, and even Hamas, who are at least partially a product of Zionism. BDS should continue and grow, including a total arms embargo, until Israel is willing to seriously negotiate with all Palestinians, including Hamas. That was how the original apartheid state was brought to the table, with the hated ANC, and that is what needs to happen again.
Rev David Haslam
Evesham, Worcestershire

• Michael Gove needs to be reminded that one case is not a reliable basis for generalisation. Yes, the Nazi boycott of Jewish goods was followed by the Holocaust but the campaign against South African apartheid was not followed by the mass killing of whites. He also needs to be more careful in his assertions: the Tricycle theatre did not reject “Israeli money” because it came from Israel but because it came from the government of Israel, which is instrumental in the denial of Palestinian human rights and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. The Palestinian call for the boycott of Israel is absolutely clear in its opposition to all forms of racism.
Professor David E Pegg
York

• Antisemites and defenders of Israel seem united in the delusion that opposition to Israel means hatred of Jews. Most people, I hope, can see the difference. Responsible politicians and commentators should make it clear that many Jews and non-Jews are critical of Israel’s policies without being antisemitic, and not fuel this dangerous fallacy.
Caryl Churchill
London

• Avi Shlaim (Israel will find wisdom when it admits its mistakes, 8 September) shamefully glorifies a designated terror group whose fighters, according to him, have “reasons for rejoicing”, for standing firm while their “spirit did not break”. Shlaim admits that Hamas “is guilty of terrorism”, yet says it should not be labelled as terrorist, because it is “also a legitimate political actor”. This argument makes little sense, and did not convince the European Union last year when it designated Hezbollah as a terror group, despite its role in the Lebanese government. Terror groups should be isolated, not “let off the hook”, as demonstrated just a few days ago when the president of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen, harshly criticised Hamas for the group’s responsibility in instigating the Gaza conflict. It seems that while both Palestinians and Israelis are seeing the situation for what it is – a conflict between moderates and radical terror – Shlaim’s piece reflects an outdated narrative that is not only anti-Israeli but arguably anti-Palestinian.
Yiftah Curiel
Spokesperson, embassy of Israel, London

• Avi Shlaim’s excellent article explains why Israel’s current policies cannot bring it peace or security. The article’s flaw is the unspoken assumption that Israel wants peace and security. Since 1948, Israel’s aim has, demonstrably, been ever greater expansion by means of dispossessing Palestinians. The map of military conquests and settlements in the West Bank, including down the Jordan Valley, show over time how well that aim has been realised – and continues to be realised. Israel wants not peace and security but Palestinian, Arab and world acquiescence in this continual expansion. The various “peace processes” have nothing to do with peace and everything to do with providing a smokescreen to this end.
Mike Davies
Chair, Alliance for Green Socialism

• While the author’s intentions are no doubt good, articles such as this are detrimental to the cause of peace. Mr Shlaim admits that “Hamas is indeed guilty of terrorism” and that it “vehemently denies the legitimacy of Israel”. Surely, conferring any sort of political legitimacy to such an organisation (as the author suggests) would only reward terrorism, while weakening those Palestinians more amenable to a peaceful solution. Hamas – which has claimed responsibility for numerous suicide bombings – is no more “a legitimate political actor” than Isis, al-Qaida, al-Shabaab or Boko Haram. Peace has never been achieved by empowering extremists, or by placing demands on just one side; but by working with the moderates in both camps. Both sides need to recognise that this is a conflict of right v right, not right v wrong; that both peoples are there by right, not sufferance. This is key: once this is recognised, mutual concessions, accommodation and respect become the self-evident next steps.
Noru Tsalic
Coventry

• I am a Jew, committed to the Jewish religion and the ethical values of justice, mercy and compassion. As such, I deplore the Israeli aggression against the people of Gaza. I hope that the present ceasefire will eventually lead to a wider agreement.

It has come to my attention that the deputy lord mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Ali Ahmed, has been reported to the south Wales police by the Liberal Democrat opposition, on the grounds that he referred to rockets fired by Hamas against Israel as “toy rockets” and that this reference was offensive to the Jewish community.

It would have been preferable, that instead of using the words “toy rockets”, he has said that “the damage done by Israel is not comparable with the Israeli bombing on the people of Gaza”; that may have been more explanatory. However, the sentiments that he expressed are the sentiments shared, not only by many Jews like myself but also of some Israelis with regard to their own government.

There is no need for the deputy lord mayor to resign. He is a man who has a strong commitment to ethical principles.
Walter Wolfgang
Former member, Labour party NEC; vice-president, CND; national steering committee member, Stop the War Coalition

• One night, when I was 13, I was woken by the sound of a door being broken down. Boots stumbled up the stairs, there was loud shouting, and a terrifying series of crashes. Nazi stormtroopers had identified our house as the home of a Jewish family, and this was the night of 9 November 1938, when the Kristallnacht pogrom raged across Germany. Our entire home was destroyed before our eyes, with axes and sledgehammers.

I have a vivid recollection of my father, after the monsters had gone, sitting on the one chair that remained and weeping. I had never seen him weep before. I now realise that, but for the presence of myself and my younger sister, my parents might not have survived the raid. It was a brutal demonstration of our situation. My sister and I left Germany on the last Kindertransport from Düsseldorf in May 1939. We have never had a full account of our parents’ fate.

Even now, I sometimes start up in bed, reliving that night. But in recent weeks, it is more often images of devastation in Gaza – of homes and families destroyed in Israeli targetings of such “military objectives” as the homes of officials in the democratically elected Hamas government – that have recalled the terror of the Kristallnacht. For I can hardly believe that a Jewish government is doing these things. How can Jewish people, aware of their own history, undertake a campaign of collective punishment that kills a higher multiple of the casualties cited as justification, than did the Nazi reprisals for resistance in occupied Europe?

Surely we have reached the point where every government not composed of utter humbugs must join in insisting that an Israeli renunciation of ambitions for expansion beyond the 1947 boundaries is a prerequisite for progress towards reconciliation and peace within a two-state solution. The very doubtful prospect of a unified, multinational, secular state in Palestine appears to be the only alternative.
Karola Regent
Newport-on-Tay, Fife

As outgoing women’s editor Jane Martinson indicates (Four years on the feminist frontline, G2, 2 September), a major problem with the overrepresentation of men in the media, and public life more generally, is its invisibility. The appointment of a men’s editor might help to address this by drawing attention to maleness as gendered rather than the standard model of mankind [sic]. An encouraging example of male visibility has been set by the television channel movies4men, whose conflict-and-cowboy dominated schedules, however, are often indistinguishable from the daytime offerings of some supposedly gender-neutral film channels. Such commendable honesty could well be practised by programmes which regularly feature men and women in a ratio of 3:1 or worse. Thus we might have, for instance, Men’s Match of the Day, Men in the Saturday Kitchen, and Have Men Got News for You. Mastermind and the channel Dave, of course, need not change a thing.
Jean Northam
Exeter

• And if (heaven forfend) Kate Middleton’s morning sickness does not settle following Justin Welby’s prayers (Report, 9 September), can we take that as proof positive that there is no God, or simply assume that She heeds not the supplications of her Main Man? Either way, the duchess appears to be stuffed.
Sylvia Lockett
Nottingham

• George and Mildred, perhaps?
Mick Beeby
Bristol

• Poutine originated in the late 1980s (Farewell, doner kebab – hello, poutine, G2, 8 September)? Get a grip! French Canadians in Montreal had been eating poutine for at least 10 years in the late 1960s, along with “mae wests” and Pepsi.
Mabel Taylor
Knutsford, Cheshire

• Before we all get bored stiffof uses for a whisky tin (Letters, 6 September), I have always used one to store my rolled-up Panama hat. Keeps it safe, dry and moth-free, and it unfurls perfectly every time.
Paul Cabrelli
London

• Vatican’s first cricket team (Report, 10 September)? Acts 2:14: “Peter stood up with the eleven.”
Rev Tony Bell
Rochester, Kent

The arguments of the no campaign are no weightier (Michael White, 5 September) – they boil down to the currency question and uncertainty about future EU membership, both essentially political issues which are bound to be resolved by agreement – like all political questions – when the electioneering is over.

There is far more to the movement for independence than “desperate , insouciant optimism” – more than anything it’s a desire to be in charge of their own affairs as much as a small country which belongs to the EU can expect to be and this has an appeal that goes far beyond the SNP or Alex Salmond pace the patronising impressions of London-based commentator.
Conor Magill
London

• Although it is clear that the complexity of events following a yes vote in Scotland has been significantly underestimated, I sympathise with the many in Scotland who must yearn for the day when they can no longer be under the cosh of any conservative government. Scotland has a natural tendency towards a society built on fairness, justice and decent public services and must deeply resent the marginalisation of its priorities and values.

In terms of what is archaically referred to as the United Kingdom, a yes vote would offer an exciting opportunity to reform our sclerotic, creaking, hugely expensive and sometimes corrupt houses of parliament. The four assemblies of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be proportionally represented in an elected upper house, sweeping away the House of Lords with all its velvet and ermine. Might it even be possible to be citizens rather than subjects in a secular state where religion is a private matter, divisive faith schools a thing of the past and all religions are required to respect the laws of the land.

A refreshing wind of change would be very welcome.
Irene Short
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

• “No other issue now matters in British politics, “writes Martin Kettle (8 September). I’d say nothing better illustrates the chasm between the perception the Westminster political and media village has of Scottish independence and that of people in England, if our corner of England is any guide to it. In our street, indeed if listening as well to conversations in pubs, shops and the market tells me anything, there isn’t any interest in the issue at all. I’ve heard no one talking about it, no one is in the slightest bother over it, and I would bet my house that if I stood in the high street of this Cheshire town with a questionnaire tomorrow, nine of 10 people would, if asked, not know what is happening up in Scotland a week on Thursday.

Because the fact is, for all the hype, Scotland going independent won’t make a blind bit of difference to anyone in England. The whisky will still flow south, people will still take holidays in that most beautiful of countries, the Scots will still carry on coming down here to find work, English blokes and Scottish girls will still meet up and marry. During the Glasgow late summer fortnight holiday, the Glaswegians will still come in their thouands to the Lakes, to Blackpool, to the Yorkshire Dales, to England’s south coast for the sunshine and of course to Manchester to see civilisation at its best. Nothing real as far as English people are concerned is about to change.

But it will of course for the Scots. They will rule themselves. As indeed they should. Why should they be ruled by English MPs who make up some 550 of the 650 MPs in the Commons, by some 90% of the 800 or so lords who decorate the so-called upper house and by the public school toffs and the Oxbridge elite who dominate the judiciary, parliament, the civil service and the newspaers? Yes, why should they? They’d be mad to vote no. They’ve got one of the loveliest magnets in all of Europe for mass income from tourism in the shape of the Highlands and the isles, any amount of hydro-electric power, oil and gas in the North Sea, a great education service, a health service that is there to serve the sick and not the pockets of investors, and one of the most enterprising manufacturing and scientific traditions in the world. They’ve got it all before them. And they’d go independent without the slightest resentment from English people. We do not mind. Only the Westminster politicos do, and who gives a fig for that lot?
Michael Knowles
Congleton, Cheshire

• Do the quasi-Scots who are still espousing the Better Together campaign not realise they are strangling our political freedom? In the event of a no vote, and even if the British electorate delivered a Labour government at the next general election, in the larger scheme of things it would only be a fleeting visit to power.

However, unlike Labour supporters in England, Scottish Labour is customarily more leftwing but, when sitting 400 miles away at Westminster, through no fault of their own, have as much bite as a toothless tiger, incapable of giving Scotland satisfactory representation.

In any event, it will only be a matter of time, and perhaps a lot sooner that we think, until the Tory-Labour swings-and-roundabouts scenario takes a back seat to accommodate a Tory/Ukip coalition.

It would be a tragedy if we gave up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to choose a Scotland where governments, of any political hue, would be more concerned about social and political justice for Scottish people than any London government would.

We should not be listening to careerist, synthetic Scottish politicians with whom Rabbie Burns might have recognised certain similarities with the earlier treacherous nobles, hastening him to coin the phrase: “We’re bought and sold for English gold, such a parcel of rogues in a nation.”

It is unfortunate, but too many people in Scotland do not seem to know the difference between the reality of freedom and the illusion of freedom. We should listen to our heads, hearts and souls and not end up spending a lifetime lamenting the great opportunity we missed.
William Burns
Edinburgh

• I am not a nationalist. With a liberal Scottish Presbyterian father and a conservative English Catholic mother, I grew up in an atmosphere of tolerance and good humour. Working in both Scotland and England I always defended a tolerant marriage of differences rather than a petulant split because of them. The occasional victim mentality I met north of the border (“It’s all the fault of the English”) irked me as much as the casual ignorance which provoked it south of the border (“Why do these Scots whinge on so about the poll tax?). As a hybrid, I longed for each country to understand and accommodate the other better. Devolution in 1998 cheered me, and I looked for more both in Scotland and all parts of the UK. I did not initially welcome the independence debate, wary of the divisiveness it could cause. I despaired at David Cameron, early on, striking the middle of the road “devo max” possibility from the ballot paper.

Faced with a polarised yes or no vote, I naturally leant more towards Better Together, but was dismayed to find nothing positive I could vote for in their campaign. All I found were dire threats of all the future uncertainties involved in a yes vote, with no honest admission of the equally uncertain future a no vote implied. Better Together parties, amazingly late in the day, have promised to devolve more powers to Scotland but this promise has no reliable substance since they themselves are not together, and will be fighting each other tooth and nail in next year’s general election. If the Ukip vote continues to rise, no one knows or can predict what strange compromises may be born in Westminster 2015, regarding both EU membership and Scottish devolution.

The firm and unexamined assumption in the no campaign is that we are all very much better together. Well, by the evidence to date, are we? I had to admit that after decades of voting either Liberal or Labour I now live in a country where hundreds of thousands of British children are being shifted into poverty, where food banks have become a new necessity, and where social inequality is ever increasing. This is not an inevitable result of the financial crisis. It is the inevitable result of government austerity measures, backed by all three main parties, in response to that crisis. These economic policies favour the wealthy, and it is the poor and vulnerable who are paying for the financial crisis. Continuing welfare cuts are backed by Labour, and after the dreary disillusionment of the Blair years I can no longer trust a Labour government, if elected, to deliver the fair society that was John Smith’s vision.

Turning to the yes campaign, I looked not at Alex Salmond and the rhetoric, but at the actual results in Scotland of SNP policy decisions. I see that the NHS in Scotland, though struggling, has been firmly protected from the ravaging changes that are transforming the service forever in England and Wales. I see that the priorities are care of the elderly, supporting the less well-off, and above all a firm commitment not to put our young people into impossible debt if they wish to go to university. England has stopped investing in its single most important asset – its young people. Scotland (though far from perfect) has not. All the data shows that nothing fast forwards social inequality more rapidly than the introduction of hefty university tuition fees.

The central question is surely: which option offers the best chance of developing a more caring, creative and equitable society for all our children to live in, and contribute to? I have to admit the greater possibility, and the only vision, lies with the yes campaign. So much so that should Scotland become independent, my concern is more for England and Wales. Hopefully, an independent Scotland establishing a fairer more caring society (one that is natural to so many people in England and Wales) will help stimulate the English and Welsh peoples’ own long-overdue debate with a centralised Westminster government whose targets have become so predominantly monetary.

I will be voting yes, though more in grief than grievance. But I will also have a swing in my ballot box step for the first time in many years, at the thought of more imaginative possibilities ahead. I hope that both my parents, whose commitment to fairness and social justice was far deeper than any allegiance to political party or country, would understand.
Mary Gillies
Selkirk

• And so the gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands for the beloved union begins. So beloved by those who profess to cherish it and seek to defend it at all costs, that it’s taken until just 10 days to go to the poll for them to seriously contemplate the reform needed to transform it into a workable solution for everyone in these isles.

We’ve had patronising hauteur and dismissive brow-beating, intermingled with vacuous (if well-intentioned) pleas from sportsmen, celebrities and actors. But no meaningful attempt to consider this an opportunity to reappraise and refresh democracy so that it serves the interests of all and not some.

Whatever the result, hopefully this whole event may wake people from their slumber and engage with what it means, or should mean, be a participating citizen in a 21st-century capitalist democracy. As opposed to a docile consumer-cum-subject in a delusional post-imperial parody.
Colin Montgomery
Edinburgh

• As the scots (Alex Salmond included, I expect) like to quote Robert Burns, maybe the yes voters should remember this from Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat: Be Britain still to Britain true, Amang ourselves united; For never but by British hands Maun British wrangs be righted!
Dennis Falloon
Tunbridge Wells, Kent

• Excuse me for being a bit naive here, but if the Scots decide to leave the union, surely everyone benefits, particularly (from a fiscal point of view) the English. And the one person who has everything to gain from Scottish independence is David Cameron, since his party will walk into power again at the next election.

So would someone please explain the problem to me.
John Davison
London

• Alastair Deighton asks “How can so-called progressives have become so bewitched by a nationalist movement?” (Letters, 9 September). It is because the assumed progressives, the Labour party, have entered illegal wars, engorged the bankers and deserted the needy. They sent us Gordon Brown. How busted can a flush get?
Denis Jackson
Glasgow

• Were I a Scot I’d be voting yes for all the reasons set out in the independence arguments. But there is another reason: surely the end of the UK would mean the end of Ukip. Is Nigel Farage currently working on a new name for his party? English, Welsh and Northern Irish Independence Party doesn’t quite do it.
Barbara Richardson
London

Independent:

Times:

Sir, John Major says that the strengthening of the movement for Scottish independence is the fault of the last Labour government. A more plausible cause was the the Local Government Finance Act of 1988. This unleashed the poll tax on the UK, starting with Scotland one year ahead of England and Wales. The Conservative government’s blindness towards the perceived unfairness of both the tax and the order of its implementation galvanised Scottish nationalism then — and continues to do so today.

Ian Ward

Westbury-sub-Mendip, Somerset

Sir, I was born, raised and educated in Scotland. As soon as I graduated, I left to pursue career opportunities in London. I have been here, in England, my home, for 35 years. But Scotland has changed much during those 35 years. On my frequent visits to Glasgow and Edinburgh, I am taken aback by how far Scotland has lurched to the left and how many of its leaders embrace socialism. I am saddened by their obsession with state control, trade unions, workers’ rights and public sector pay.

This is not the Scotland of my youth. It has become embittered, and the Labour party in Scotland has done a sterling job of making the Conservative party a symbol of evil. Ideologically, Scotland and the rest of the UK are miles apart. Scotland has rejected centrist and right-of-centre policies for nearly four decades and its alienation from Westminster should not come as a surprise. For that reason, and that reason alone, Scotland should vote “yes”.

Alan Templeton

Northend, Berks

Sir, The narrowing of the polls has led to a cascade of promises from the unionist political parties. Whatever the result of the vote, we need to decide where power in this country (or countries) should lie. It is time for a UK-wide constitutional convention, on the lines of recent conventions in Ireland and Iceland, that gives citizens a say in shaping the future. Such a process needs the support of all the political parties, but it must retain its independence from them. Above all, a UK constitutional convention must build on the passion ignited in Scotland by the referendum, and bring that desire for determining our political future to the rest of the UK.

Katie Ghose, Electoral Reform Society; Vernon Bogdanor, King’s College London; Graham Allen MP, chairman, Political and Constitutional Reform Committee Plus a further 16 signatories at thetimes.co.uk/letters

2014

Telegraph:

6:58AM BST 10 Sep 2014

Comments

6:59AM BST 10 Sep 2014

Comments

7:00AM BST 10 Sep 2014

Comments

Irish Times:

Sir, – If the people of Scotland vote Yes to independence but the majority of the people in the northeast, say the Grampian district, vote No, would those unionists be entitled to partition the country?

If they did not want to be called Scottish they could call themselves Northern Scottish or Grampians. – Yours, etc,

PEADAR DALY,

Tuamgraney,

Co Clare.

Sir, – Your editorial “Scotland’s Moment” disappoints me. You imagine Ireland in the personage of our Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan telling Scotland with confidence that we’ve “been there, done that”. You make the troubled course of Ireland’s independence seem like a jaunt on a luxury coach to the Palace of Versailles. Such grandiosity, sir, needs to be challenged.

We have paid a very high price for our independence and the burden of that price has been disproportionately borne by the ordinary people of Ireland.

Scottish independence, rather like Irish independence, will be a marvellous boon for those who are well heeled and middle class.

As for the rest, they will have to make themselves familiar with the street plans of London, Manchester and Birmingham. – Yours, etc,

KEVIN RYAN,

Buckingham Road,

London.

Sir, – Your edition of September 9th presented an interesting divergence of opinion on Scotland’s forthcoming referendum. In your editorial “Scotland’s moment” you conclude, “Scotland’s desire to forge its own direction should be supported”. While in your Business section Paul Krugman (“Why Scotland should think hard about going it alone”) succinctly points out the huge risks of an independent Scotland using England’s pound sterling.

Surely, Mr Krugman’s case is correct, because the Scottish economy would remain totally controlled by the interest rates set by the Bank of England, and there could be times when the two economies would be heading in completely different directions.

We have only got to cast our minds back a few years when the rates set by the ECB did not suit Ireland’s economy.

Scotland’s economy is tightly integrated with the rest of Britain’s, which would seem to suggest a new government in Edinburgh would have little room to manoeuvre, and little chance of Mr Salmond delivering the goodies he is promising in return for a Yes vote. – Yours, etc,

MIKE CORMACK,

Ardagh Close,

Blackrock,

Co Dublin.

A chara, – After spending some time recently in the UK, I’ve just returned to read the editorial “Scotland’s moment”. The difference between the treatment of the debate about independence for Scotland in the majority of the newspapers in the UK and your commentary is glaring. The calm, considered, informed and balanced tones of The Irish Times contrast with the one-sided, strident disparagement meted out by the UK press to the Yes side. – Is mise,

NIALL Ó MURCHADHA,

An Spidéal,

Co na Gaillimhe.

Sir, – One week to go and the outcome is in the balance.

I am nearly 70 and I notice that most of the older age-group is firmly in the No camp. Why is this? Is it only because they selfishly fear for their pensions and savings, as some Yes people have dismissively claimed?

Or could it be that they can transcend such considerations, have travelled a bit, and understand better the importance of good relationships among this family of nations?

Could it be that those in the older generation have a better sense of how unstable our modern world is, economically and politically, and how the union, for all its inadequacies, has served people well? – Yours, etc,

PADDY McEVOY,

Ardmore Road,

Holywood,

Co Down.

A chara, – I cannot agree entirely with Susan Fitzgerald (September 5th) that “in every area of public service run by the State there are calls for regular and thorough systems of regulation” and that, therefore, Monica O’Connor was wrong to refuse to submit to such regulation regarding home schooling.

Article 42 of Bunreacht na hÉireann safeguards the right of parents to choose a school with an ethos they support, or alternatively to home school. The latter, far from being a public service provided by the State, is precisely a method of education outside State direction. Not all parents are happy with State education, or else simply believe that home schooling is a better alternative for their own children. Consider the tiny number of people who actually write the syllabus which is imposed on all State schoolchildren – it is in the dozens, for a nation of millions.

The family is the basic unit of society and of civilisation, and parents are the natural and primary educators of their children. The school – and the State – exists to support and protect the family, not the other way round.

What if parents do not agree with the criteria by which their children are to be “inspected” by the State? Home schooling groups made these points in the debate leading up to the Education (Welfare) Act 2000. The initial draft of this legislation had effectively equated home schooling with truancy. Some of our ideas were incorporated. We were willing to have our children present a portfolio of work at a neutral location, or present for State exams as external candidates, but objected to the intrusion of inspectors into private homes.

The question remains, who is the ultimate boss of our children – the parents or the State? There will always be “hard cases” that can be dealt with on an individual basis; but the basic fact remains – you cannot have two bosses. – Is mise,

MICHEÁL

Ó FEARGHAIL,

BSc, Dip Ed,

Sallybrook House,

Glanmire, Co Cork.

Sir, – In his reference to Kenmare, Frank McDonald has got the wrong end of the stick (“Time to let go of the hanging baskets”, September 8th). Today I counted eight hanging baskets in Kenmare. Yes, we do have a profusion of flowers, but they are in window boxes, and they do not obscure any of our wonderful architecture. I have seen many overseas visitors in our town, over the last 25 years, who stop, wonder at and photograph our most colourful displays. I can see them back home sharing the beauty of Kenmare with their friends and relations.

Kenmare is a living place, a place we are very proud of. Having lived, over the years, in over 20 counties in Ireland, I have found nowhere more beautiful or fulfilling than Kenmare.

Come back soon, Frank, and see for yourself ! – Yours, etc,

TERRY O’ DOHERTY,

Lodge Wood,

Kenmare, Co Kerry.

Sir, – Frank McDonald in the early 1980s accepted an invitation to visit our, then, rather dull and dirty town, Kinsale. He told us that it was up to us to care for our environment. He was inspiring. He got us going.

He was right – painting, planting and caring for our plants unites our community. Kinsale is now alive, well loved and lived in. Our planted environment is evidence of individual involvement. We in southwest Cork enjoy our hanging baskets.

Times change. I live over the shop in a Victorian house and feel much better since I got rid of the aspidistra and planted geraniums. – Yours, etc,

COLETTE BOLAND,

Barrys’s Place,

Kinsale, Co Cork.

Sir, – I am a native of Leitrim who moved to the US since in 1960. I read The Irish Times almost every day. I got a really good laugh from Frank McDonald’s tirade against hanging flower baskets. I am amazed that someone had the courage and the time to disparage such an innocuous practice with such venom, but it was very refreshing. But please tell him to lighten up. – Yours, etc,

CONOR WRAFTER,

Union,

New Jersey.

Sir, – Hanging baskets are a modern phenomenon, so how could Frank McDonald see them in photos from the Victorian era, as if that would authenticate their use?

There are a lot of ugly buildings out there that are redeemed by the use of baskets. Victoriana had its fair share of bad taste, including aspidistras. It was not a golden age of good taste but it was remarkable for its pomposity. – Yours, etc,

JOE BYRNE,

Ballyboughal,

Co Dublin.

A chara, – Dr Ronan McCrea’s response (“Muslim pupils should not be deprived of the cultural resources to take a full part in Irish society”, Opinion & Analysis, September 10th) to Dr Ali Selim’s call for a “revolution” in the Irish educational system to combat “discrimination” against Muslims (“Call for State schools to accommodate Islamic beliefs”, September 3rd) seems to have missed the update that the vast majority of Muslim parents in Ireland do not regard the system as discriminatory at all (“Irish Muslim organisations praise schools system”, September 10th).

But then again, as Dr McCrea’s article makes clear, this particular controversy has nothing to do with discrimination. It has to do with dismantling our school system and replacing it with one designed to promote a particular worldview. This is made clear in his statement that “parents do not have the right to prevent their child from encountering anything with which they may disagree while using the State education system”.

It is apparently now intolerable that schools should foster the values or beliefs of parents, or even be a safe haven for children from the wider culture’s constant barrage of ideas and values which parents may reject and wish to protect their children from, or at least wait until what they think is the appropriate time to introduce their children to them; the wise and benevolent state must protect children from their parents and schools must “brainwash or propagandise” their students solely in the cause of secularism.

All this flies in the face of our constitutional recognition of the fact that it is parents, not the state, who are the primary educators of their children. The mask is slipping. Those who think faith is nonsense and that religion has nothing to offer see our schools as the best place to promote their own ideological “revolution”. And every opportunity must be taken to promote that agenda; even if those “opportunities” turn out to be media-driven non-events. – Is mise,

Rev PATRICK G BURKE,

Castlecomer,

Co Kilkenny.

Sir, – Rob Sadlier (September 9th) declares it a”fallacy” to state that we might not have ended up with a bankrupt country if women were represented in the Dáil at nearer their 50 per cent proportion in the electorate .

It can be argued that women are more vulnerable in situations of societal upheaval, insecurity and chaos and that renders them less reckless decision-makers. We could have done with less reckless decision-makers during the boom. Indeed it is perfectly reasonable to argue that if we had more of them we might have avoided the highs of the Celtic Tiger and the lows of the post Celtic Tiger bust. – Yours, etc,

ANTHONY LEAVY,

Shielmartin Drive,

Sutton, Dublin 13.

Sir, – Dr Colette Finn (September 9th) states that “women are by far the biggest group under-represented in Irish politics”. One crucial fact here is that, since the foundation of the State, no one has been excluded from standing as a Dáil candidate because of their gender.

Also, while it is true that the main political parties have been, and continue to be, mainly male, one does not require, and never has required, the nomination of a political party to stand for election.

As Dr Finn is obviously dissatisfied with the performance of the political parties in respect of nominating female candidates, let her and her 5050 Group organise the nomination of independent female candidates to contest every Dáil seat at the next general election. If nothing else, this would provide an opportunity to see what importance the electorate as a whole attaches to the gender of Dáil candidates, as distinct from the importance attached to this by Dr Finn and her colleagues in the 5050 Group. – Yours, etc,

HUGH GIBNEY,

Castletown,

Athboy,

Co Meath.

Sir, – To read that the planned expansion of cancer treatment facilities at St James’s Hospital in Dublin has now been deferred because of the construction of the National Children’s Hospital was enough to send me into orbit, crutches and all (“Expansion of cancer facilities at St James’s Hospital deferred”, September 6th).

What is it about this Government’s propensity to try to squeeze health facilities into small spaces? There simply isn’t enough room at St James’s to fit a children’s hospital, an adult hospital, a maternity hospital and expanded cancer facilities. I can only hope that the Fota Island think-in gives our political masters the time and space they need to revisit the location of the children’s hospital at St James’s and to reopen the file on Blanchardstown, which would give everyone enough room to breathe and expand.

While they’re at it, they should also establish a new government department – a “Department of Common Sense”.– Yours, etc,

JONATHAN IRWIN,

Johnstown Manor,

Johnstown,

Naas, Co Kildare.

Sir, – The recent upheaval in council chambers over the determination of the chief executives of the four Dublin local authorities to proceed with the Poolbeg incinerator highlights yet again the excessive powers of their offices over those elected by the citizens of Dublin city and county.

It was former minister for the environment Noel Dempsey who amended the 1996 Waste Management Act to vest decision-making powers in the county managers (chief executives) rather than elected representative. In the context of the ongoing debate about an elected mayor for Dublin, it is time this Government reversed Mr Dempsey’s decision in favour of councillors, who are democratically elected and accountable to the citizens. – Yours, etc,

Cllr VICTOR BOYHAN,

County Hall,

Dún Laoghaire.

Sir, – Fintan O’Toole (“Turning our dead taoisigh into great leaders”, Opinion & Analysis, 9th) may be missing the point that speaking well of the dead, even our taoisigh, may just about rectify the inevitable torrent of abuse most receive during the course of their political lives. As he stated, “death is one of the things we do well in Ireland”; but is it not this fact of celebrating the life of a recently departed relative or friend that is at the heart of Christian burial? – Yours, etc,

FRANK BROWNE,

Ballyroan Park,

Templeogue,

Sir, – In his letter on Mary Feely’s article criticising school uniforms, David Marlborough (September 10th) talks of “steering children towards some degree of professional attire”, conveniently forgetting that this country was brought to its knees by bankers and politicians who “appreciate how a nice elegant tie sets off a neat suit”.

I would prefer to be led by honest people whose primary concern was not conforming to an outmoded dress code. – Yours, etc,

ADRIAN J ENGLISH,

Kilcolman Court,

Glenageary, Co Dublin.

Sir, – Further to Aonghus Dwane’s Rite & Reason article of September 2nd (“Retired Church of Ireland archbishop led his community to places they had not been”), and just to keep the record straight, the first woman to be ordained priest in the Republic was Janet Catterall in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork. The first two women priests in the Church of Ireland, Irene Templeton and Kathleen Young, were ordained in Belfast by the Bishop of Connor, Dr Samuel Poyntz. Ginnie Kennerley was the fourth woman priest to be so ordained. – Yours, etc,

Right Rev ROY WARKE,

Kerdiff Park,

Naas, Co Kildare.

Sir, – Christopher Wood (September 10th) appears to think that I am too young to remember the street cries of newsboys of old. I wish! He also refers to the death of the “Mayell” as unlamented. Poor Jiggs and Maggie! – Yours, etc,

PN CORISH,

Oaklands Drive,

Rathgar, Dublin 6.

Irish Independent:

In his recently-published letter, Philip O’Neill was right that the banality of irrational news from the Middle East distracts us from the fact that Arab cities were once beacons of tolerance, science and enlightenment.

Most of the pillars of Western civilisation were built up in Muslim Spain, such as free trade, open borders, diplomacy, etiquette, alternative medicine, hospitals, fashion, techniques of academic research and anthropology, to mention just a few.

It is true that the beheadings of innocent journalists, the desecration of Christian symbols and places of worship and asking Christians to leave the Iraqi city of Mosul within 24 hours were done under the rubric of religion.

However, we must remember that such appalling acts are nothing but a blot on a tradition that prides itself on being a cultural and religious mosaic.

The region has been a home for myriad faiths for thousands of years. There is no clash of civilisations or religions, as Muslims bear the brunt of oppression, injustices and atrocities.

Also, those who heap blame on religions as the drivers of hatred and animosities need look no further than the UK, where many disparate faiths, ethnic groups and religions cohabit peacefully. Another example of ancient harmonious cohabitation could be found in Jordan, where the kingdom derives its name from the River Jordan: a site revered by the three Abrahamic religions as the river where Jesus Christ was baptised by John the Baptist and the river which the Israelites had to cross to reach the promised land.

In our quest for civil rights and the sanctity of human life and dignity, we should always look for such shining beacons as oases of peace.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London NW2, UK

Badger cull based on old science

There is going to be a badger cull.

This will probably please many farmers who, for very good reasons, see the badger as a spreader of the dreaded TB to their cattle herds.

This will not please environmentalists, who see the badger as an integral part of Ireland’s ecosystem.

But do we really need to cull the badgers?

Do we really need to spend a fortune on an “eradication programme” that has proven itself to be anything but that which its proponents claim it is?

When an animal tests positive for TB on a farm, it is sent to the meat factories for slaughter. After the beast has been killed, its lungs are subjected to a veterinary inspection for lesions on the lungs caused by the disease.

In some cases, despite the positive on-farm test, the animal in question may not have any visible signs of the disease. The test is paid for by the farmers through veterinary fees paid by all who send livestock to be slaughtered.

This scheme was established many, many moons ago, when food processing and milk production was carried out in a completely different manner and when there were very poor medicines for dealing with TB in the human population.

It was also a time when all the beef eaten in Ireland was home-grown. Today, because the world is now a global market, the beef you eat may have been transported from many different countries in the world.

Do these exporting countries test for TB to meet our high standards, which see badgers being killed ?

The cull seems to be relying on old science.

Well, I suppose at least the badgers won’t form a group of protesters.

Dermot Ryan, Athenry, Co Galway

Rebuke for Leo, none for James

For more than three years James Reilly presided over fantasy budget proposals, medical cards being taken from sick children and controversy after controversy.

All the while, Dr Reilly retained the full, unwavering support of Enda Kenny.

Perhaps that was because Enda saw Dr Reilly as a close ally and supporter or perhaps because Dr Reilly was an unquestioning and eager participant as the Government annually slashed the public health budget and promoted the ideology of the privatisation of health.

Whatever the reason, it’s clear that the Taoiseach stood four-square behind Dr Reilly as he lurched from one scandal to the next.

Contrast that with his response to Leo Varadkar’s comments yesterday.

Mr Varadkar spoke candidly about the current state of the public health system and about how unrealistic some of the Government’s health policies actually were.

Mr Kenny, however, apparently didn’t take kindly to Mr Varadkar’s refreshing honesty and instead publicly rebuked him in a manner that he never did with Dr Reilly.

Simon O’Connor, Dublin 12

Hanafin – a woman scorned

Mary Hanafin has done it again, and there really is nothing quite like a woman scorned.

Micheal Martin still has a lot to learn. The Fianna Fail leadership’s handling of Ms Hanafin’s local candidacy has come back to bite him and the Fianna Fail party.

Senior figures in the party seem to be terrified of anything that will remind voters of failings while in government. Ms Hanafin has tussled with the elephant in the room. This will resonate with voters, but rankle with Mr Martin.

Mr Martin needs to bring Ms Hanafin back into the fold before she finds a way to really get stuck in.

Killian Brennan, Malahide Road, Dublin 17

Bring back the gold standard

For seven years, through letters to editors and politicians, I have endeavoured to raise the issue of the need for nations worldwide to return to the gold standard – to no avail.

It is that time of the year for me to make another attempt. Here goes: Fiat money is eventually worth the paper that it is printed on. Within 25 years, the planet will recognise such a need when the world’s major economies all collapse at the same time, and many of us will ask: “How could we have let this happen?” Sound familiar?!

Vincent J Lavery, Dalkey, Co Dublin

The great USC giveaway

Brendan Howlin thinks there is no room for a “giveaway budget”.

What about my Universal Social Charge, which is taken from me each month and given away?

Darren Williams, Blackglen Road, Waterford

The whole truth

You carried a piece stating that almost €7m had been spent on air travel for public service “high flyers” “whisked” around for the year 2013 (Irish Independent, September 9).

Various statistics and expenditure breakdowns were quoted, with the observation that the €6.97m spent was a 13pc increase over 2012. All these figures are doubtless true.

But one important element was missing from the article – for six months of 2013, Ireland held the EU Presidency.

It’s hardly surprising that this tenure would have incurred increased traffic to Brussels, the permanent hub of Europe.

It’s another example of nuanced journalism: print the truth, nothing but the truth. But don’t print the whole truth if it doesn’t fit the agenda.

I have a bet with my bookmaker that this letter will not be published. I’d love to lose it!

Larry Dunne, Rosslare Harbour, Co Wexford

Irish Independent