Letters: Britain is fighting a proxy war yet the PM refuses to prioritise defence

SIR – If proof were needed that we haven’t had a Conservative government for 30 years, the attitudes of successive Tory prime ministers to defence provide it in spades.

Ever since David Cameron axed our (then) only aircraft carrier and flogged its Harriers to America at a cut price – only to discover within a year that they would have come in handy for his Libyan venture – Tory leaders have blithely acquiesced in the wholesale reduction in our capability, so much so that today we cannot place a single war-fighting division in the field. We certainly couldn’t mount an operation like the retaking of the Falklands.

And now, despite effectively fighting a proxy war that is eating up vast stocks of ammunition, Rishi Sunak equally blithely assumes that it is not necessary to reassess what is required for the defence and safety of the realm – historically (though no longer, it seems) the first duty of government. If the present situation – including the growing belligerence of China (to which we still send aid), the increasingly desperate actions of Russia in its war with Ukraine (the resolution of which is nowhere in sight), and the machinations of Iran (hell-bent on developing nuclear weapons) – is not sufficient to move him, what on earth will?

We live in a world where sheer common sense dictates that one’s own defence must be the utmost priority. Instead, the money for it is perennially regarded as the go-to option whenever economies are being sought.

Philip J Ashe
Leeds, West Yorkshire

SIR – Britain has shown laudable support for Ukraine, especially with light anti-tank weapons.

However, we have neither increased our current defence expenditure nor backtracked on the proposed reduction in Army manpower. Meanwhile, our ammunition reserves are being depleted and our Military Flying Training System is broken.

Some Nato members do not see the urgency of the threat that has now faced the West for over a year. Despite the surprising ineptness displayed by the Russian military, it would be unwise to underestimate the resolve and staying-power of Vladimir Putin’s “meat grinder”. Are any lessons being learnt? Perhaps we believe that there are greater priorities than defence.

Col Robert Wilsey RM (retd)
Knighton, Radnorshire

SIR – President Macron wants to see Russia defeated but “not crushed”.

How can that possibly be, when Putin, whose name is synonymous with Russia, demolished much of Ukraine, killed thousands and made millions homeless? He has made Russia a rogue state to which the Geneva Convention means nothing. He is a war criminal, for whom there can be no concessions. Russia must pay full reparations for the rebuilding of a previously peaceful nation.

Doug Morrison
Cranbrook, Kent

Rewriting Dahl

SIR – We mock Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare of 1807 and sneer at Thomas Bowdler’s expurgated version of the Bard’s work published in the same year, but it is interesting to see that the original advertisement for The Family Shakespeare states that “nothing is added to the original Text: but those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a Family”.

The changes being inflicted on the books of Roald Dahl today (Letters, February 20) go further by re-aligning the storyline, text and even pictures to a current political agenda.

Clearly tastes and attitudes do change and current sensitivities might not sit well with works which were perhaps designed to shock, but at some point such changes will damage the original.

Ironically the new film of Matilda is even more frightening, as some of the visual episodes are both graphic and violent. Close-ups of a ferocious Emma Thompson (reinforced by loud discordant music) have far more impact on the young mind than reading what is on the written page.

It is strange that there is more disapproval of the latter (which draws on the child’s imagination) than the former.

Professor Tim Connell
Esher, Surrey

SIR – How revealing that the description of Roald Dahl’s Aunt Sponge has been changed from “fat” and “flabby” to “a nasty old brute”.

Plainly, in the world of Puffin’s young editors, to be old is to be hateful.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Northwood, Middlesex

SIR – It must be such a comfort for all authors to know that the words they write, the stories they tell and the messages they convey can be changed beyond recognition, at any time, at the whim of a publisher.

Jenny Arnold
Kingsbridge, Devon

Probate delays

SIR – I was the executor for my wife’s aunt. She died in 1991 on April 18. I received the probate on May 18, one month later (Letters, February 18).

Last year, my wife died on May 15. I received the probate on December 6, almost seven months later. The estates of both people were very similar. Only the unnecessarily complex bureaucracy had increased.

My phone automatically cuts itself off if the call is not answered within 30 minutes. I never knew this until I tried phoning the probate service.

Anthony Slade
Bolton, Lancashire

Smudge prevention

SIR – I recall having to write with an ink pen (Letters, February 20) and, being left-handed, experienced great difficulty in my attempts to prevent smudges.

In my O-level year, our English teacher went round the class telling everyone what grades they were likely to achieve. As he came to me he said: “You will fail – they will look at your handwriting and presume you are backward.”

All left-handed people who experienced writing with ink will sympathise with me.

Jackie Allen
Pangbourne, Berkshire

SIR – My plaits proved too much temptation for the boy sitting behind me, who dipped them in his inkwell.

The arrival of my irate mother at the school was the ultimate humiliation.

Ann Pledger
Chelmsford, Essex

A healthy start

SIR – While the Government awaits the results of its latest effort to incentivise healthier eating, there is one immediate move that could be made to help poorer families help themselves.

The NHS Healthy Start scheme provides at least £4.25 a week towards fruit, vegetables and milk for families on low incomes and with a child aged four or under. However, at present, more than 200,000 potential beneficiaries are not receiving support from the scheme. They are eligible, but not registered.

There is a Private Members’ Bill being presented to Parliament, with cross-party support from 60 MPs, which would secure full take-up of the scheme by shifting it from “opt in” to “opt out”. Were this accepted, it would at a stroke both mitigate rising food costs and make it easier for people on the lowest incomes to eat healthily.

Andrew Forsey
London SW1

Smuggled by boat

SIR – Professor Thom Brooks (Letters, February 14) queries why “there were no recorded [Channel] crossings until a few years ago”.

Anti-smuggling professionals refer to canalised and uncanalised traffic and smuggling methods. Concealment in lorries and containers (canalised) was made much harder by French and British joint measures, hence the move to small boats (uncanalised).

Only one thing will stop the current boat traffic: an agreement with the French on total immediate returns. This is unlikely, though in the French interest, too.

The problem is not going away. Smuggling is the second oldest profession. Ironically, Border Force made the current system more reliable and marketable to migrants through the purchase of its “rescue boats”.

David Raynes
Bath, Somerset

SIR – However well-intentioned, refugee charities such as Care4Calais have become part of the people-traffickers’ business model. Most unfortunately, so has the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Rob White
London N3

SIR – Enver Solomon (Letters, February 20) is right that it is not a crime to seek refuge; but it is a crime to enter the country illegally.

Les Driver
Camborne, Cornwall

The trick to exercising memory in later life

SIR – Further to Barbara Sahakian’s advice on how to ward off dementia, I would like to add another skill: the art of magic.

Learning card or coin tricks exercises memory, presentation and social skills and creativity. The joy of showing family and friends what you have practised and learnt is a great confidence booster. There are numerous books, DVDs and magic clubs out there to encourage learning. As with any skill, it needs practice, practice and more practice.

Magic can be started at any age. As an 80-year-old, I am performing it at different events. Try it – you could become hooked.

John Williams
Highworth, Wiltshire

Hounded to court by the Ulez bureaucracy

SIR – That the ultra-low emission zone charge is being levied against owners of compliant vehicles is no surprise.

In September 2021 I registered my car online for Ulez auto pay. In May 2022 I drove to south London. Weeks later I received a letter from the Ulez office in Darlington telling me that I had failed to pay £12.50 after entering the zone in May as well as a penalty charge allegedly issued after that. It demanded I pay a £240 penalty charge.

I immediately telephoned Darlington, where a representative found my auto pay details but could not understand why I had not been debited. He then set up a new auto pay account but said that he could not accept the £12.50. He gave me another number; I phoned it and explained the situation again but was told to write in.

My subsequent correspondence resulted in Darlington sending standard responses, ignoring my comments and telling me I had failed to explain myself adequately. I invited Darlington to refer the matter to my local county court in Chelmsford or Basildon, where I might explain my dispute to the district judge.

In January 2023 I received an “order” from a penalty enforcement office linked to, but not part of, Northampton County Court. I was invited to make a statutory declaration in front of a solicitor, which I did, stating that I had not received the original penalty charge notice and enclosing copies of my letters to Darlington by way of a witness statement. I received a notice from Northampton County Court telling me the court had on January 26 2023 revoked the penalty charge notice and cancelled the original notice.

I had thought the matter was closed but the Darlington Ulez office subsequently issued a further penalty charge notice quoting the original penalty reference and totally ignoring the Northampton County Court revocation. The situation is quite mad.

John Pritchard
Ingatestone, Essex

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