Letters: Boris Johnson is right: we should commit to sending fighter jets to support Ukraine

SIR – Unaccustomed as I am to agreeing with anything Boris Johnson proposes, he is correct about committing to sending Typhoon fighter aircraft to Ukraine (report, February 21). 

This aircraft is more than capable of fulfilling the Ukrainian army’s needs. We led the push to commit tanks that influenced the US and German stance. We could also send Typhoon fighter jets to Ukraine, once we have trained sufficient numbers of Ukrainian pilots to fly them.

Committing one squadron (12 aircraft) is feasible and would undoubtedly lead to other nations committing aircraft to Ukraine.

Steven Hope
Droitwich, Worcestershire

SIR – The West has repeatedly promised to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes”, but has failed to spell out precisely what objectives have been agreed and what strategy exists to achieve these objectives. 

Ukraine cannot simply expect the West to go along with whatever it wishes to achieve. Eight years before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 it annexed Crimea, the recapture of which President Zelensky has now added as a key objective for Ukraine. Should the West really be involved in this? If it had wanted to intervene, it should have done so in 2014. It is now well after the fact, would be very costly in both money and lives, and extremely difficult to achieve militarily.

A reasonable and just ambition for the West to support would be the return of all the land occupied by Russia since February 24 2022. This would provide a clear, principal objective to pursue. Calculations for money, men and munitions could be made and a plan formulated. Ukraine and its allies could then work to deliver this outcome with clarity of mind and unity of purpose – and we in the West would understand precisely what is being done in our name.

David Platts
Syerston, Nottinghamshire

SIR – Archbishop Justin Welby (report, February 24) is correct to be wary of a Versailles-style outcome when Ukraine eventually defeats Russia. At present, however, and despite sanctions, Russia’s economy is intact, its vast natural energy reserves continue to make money (and are protected), and the West has little power to directly extract money that has no conscience.

Perhaps a reparation tax would be more effective. Levied on every Russian export, money raised could be earmarked specifically for the rebuilding of Ukraine, while acting as a reminder to Russia that the bigger the action, the greater the consequences.

James Moore
Exeter, Devon

SIR – How dare Archbishop Justin Welby tell Ukraine what terms it must or must not apply if it enters into an agreement with Russia to end the war? If Ukraine decides to seek reparations from Russia for the colossal damage it has done, that is Ukraine’s business. The Archbishop should concentrate on his day job.

Tom Williams
Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Penalties for cyclists

SIR – N W N Brown (Letters, February 19) raised the issue of cyclists and e-scooterists using pavements illegally, and pointed out that prosecutions are rare due to a lack of police enforcement. The police will probably argue that they are obliged to allocate their officers “elsewhere”.

However, since May 31 2022 local authorities in England have been able to apply to the Secretary of State for powers to enforce “moving traffic offences”. They are then given consent to issue fines for transgressions such as ignoring red lights.
My local council already operates patrols enforcing traffic offences such as cars parking at bus stops and stopping in box-junctions. These patrols could also identify, apprehend and fine cyclists illegally riding on footways – so why don’t councils make use of them?

Geoff Johnson
Gateshead, Co Durham

SIR – I agree that cyclists – as road users capable of causing death or injury – should be identifiable. There are, though, practical difficulties in fixing a registration plate that is large enough to read to a bicycle. Moreover, a cyclist may own more than one machine – I have four.

It is the rider who should be registered, with a number prominently displayed on an item of clothing such as a lightweight high-visibility gilet, readable by CCTV or witnesses to any incident. Third-party insurance should also be compulsory. The awareness that cyclists can be traced should, hopefully, persuade the rogue element to comply with the law.

William Smith
St Helens, Lancashire

SIR – N W M Brown, who complains that cyclists are using pavements, seems unaware that in many towns and cities pavements are clearly signposted as “dual use”. This means that they are for both cyclists and pedestrians. If a dual-use pavement is adjacent to a road, cycling on that road is illegal.

D F G Dobson
Whitchurch, Shropshire

SIR – I rode a bicycle in London for many years and although I had a bell, I found it useless as nobody heard it. I therefore bought myself a small foghorn powered by a compressed air cannister, which was most effective. I also found that the only safe way to ride was to do so as if I were invisible to other road users. I neither caused nor suffered any injury.

Charlotte Wallis
Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire

Solar disconnect

SIR – Here in South Warwickshire an 86 hector solar farm (Letters, February 19) has recently been given the go ahead by a local planning authority inspector, even though permission was twice rejected by the district council. Local people don’t want it and not only will these solar panels cover prime agricultural land in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, they will also ruin the stunning view from a well-used country park.

In addition to this blow to the countryside, less than two miles from this site building has begun on 3,000 new houses (a number that is planned to rise to 7,000 by 2030) and not one of these houses has a solar panel included in the building specifications.

When will government start to practise joined up thinking and show that it truly values our countryside?

Lynn Pearson
Northend, Warwickshire

Learning on the job

SIR – Correspondence on the lack of skilled artisans and apprenticeships (Letters, February 12) made me reflect on the other missing part of the jigsaw – “day-release” courses.

When I started my training as a chartered surveyor in the late 1960s I went to college one day a week, paid for by my employer. It took four years overall and annual exams were set by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. In the meantime, I received an enormous amount of on-the-job training, for which I was salaried, but it allowed me to contribute to the employer, thus offseting the cost of the training. I also had to commit to continue working for the employer for at least a couple of years after I had qualified.

Given the cost of a degree now and the lack of “professional” trainees, this seems like an excellent time to reintroduce day-release training programmes.

R T Britnell
Canterbury, Kent

SIR – There was a time when Craft, Design and Technology formed an integral part of the secondary school curriculum, but the word “craft” has now for some reason been deleted.

This sad demotion of the “making” process has taken place despite the importance of dexterous skills in many trades and professions, from bricklaying to surgery.

James Ayres 
Warleigh, Somerset

No need for TV

SIR – I was amused by the article “What the size of your TV says about you” (Features, February 19).

I have no television. This is because almost all available space is filled with books. In the past this led to regular exchanges with the licensing authorities, who clearly did not believe that someone could live without a television and threatened me with detector vans, fines and criminal proceedings.

To all these missives I replied that they were welcome to send someone round, but I would not be responsible if he or she were injured by a falling book. A young man did once appear and departed apparently satisfied. I have had no problems since.

Margaret Brown
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

Island mentality

SIR – Camilla Coates-Carr (Letters, February 19) dismisses kitchen islands as a waste of space. On the contrary, ours gives us three huge deep drawers under on one side, and an overlap of working top to accommodate the breakfast bar stools on the other. 

Also, washing the floor around it is so much easier than having to remove chairs from under a table in order to get at the kitchen detritus beneath.

Anne Earle
Lytchett Matravers, Dorset

SIR – We have only a small kitchen but it has an island unit that harbours two book shelves, four huge drawers containing our china and cutlery, and a ceramic hob on top. It is indispensable. 

Martin and Mary Henry
Good Easter, Essex

A return to seasonal eating and local produce

SIR – Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey is right (“Eat turnips instead of tomatoes during shortages”, report, February 23): eating seasonal produce is both cheaper and better, for us and for the environment. For instance, Punchnep soup – based on a traditional Welsh recipe, the key ingredient of which is turnip – is sublime. Support British farmers!

Annie Urwin
East Hitchin, Hertfordshire

SIR – Tomatoes are a staple in our house, and we prefer a sweet, tasty, vine-ripened variety that is both soft and red. However, in recent weeks, though the supermarket still carries the brand, the tomatoes themselves are hard, pink and sour. For a few pennies more we can buy plump, juicy tomatoes from an independent greengrocer, though they are also sourced from the Continent. 

Those of us of a certain age recall times when tomatoes, strawberries, asparagus and other fruit and veg were seasonal and grown within our shores (“The salad crisis means it’s time for a reality check”, Features, February 24). We had no idea what a carbon footprint was then.

Jeremy Biggin
Sheffield, South Yorkshire

SIR – Jamie Blackett (February 22) reports that government “green virtue signalling” and net zero policies are to blame for the current shortages of fresh produce, but the problem is more serious than that.

Summer 2023 should see a decent cereal harvest, but farmers are preparing to remove about 40 per cent of land from production from autumn 2023. The newly published Environmental Land Management Scheme (Elms) will pay farmers to instead grow wildflower meadows or bird-friendly cover crops. While not overly generous, these payments are guaranteed against the backdrop of volatile input costs, weather risks and labour shortages. Farmers will be tied to a five-year contract, so will be unable to reverse this decision even if produce prices rise again.

Elms might be environmentally commendable, but it will not help to feed the nation. Taxpayers are literally being asked to fund future food shortages. 

Will Curtis
Raydon, Suffolk

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