Letters: Labour’s Rochdale row casts fresh doubt on Keir Starmer’s judgment
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SIR – The Rochdale by-election shambles (“Labour disowns candidate in anti-Semitism row”, report, February 13) reveals the inadequacy of Sir Keir Starmer, and helps explain his numerous U-turns as Labour leader.
This was another case where he made the wrong initial decision (standing by Azhar Ali), only to reverse when the going got tough.
Lack of principle and weakness under pressure are not ideal character traits for a prime minister.
Adrian Charles
Enfield, Middlesex
SIR – Sir Keir Starmer failed to act promptly against Azhar Ali. The Labour leader is weak, and his party’s approach to anti-Semitism has been called into doubt.
Dominic Shelmerdine
London SW3
SIR – The reason Azhar Ali felt able to suggest at a Labour Party meeting that Israel was complicit in the October 7 pogrom was that he knew he had a receptive audience for these anti-Semitic slurs.
The fact that no one present appears to have challenged him is deeply troubling. If Sir Keir Starmer is serious about confronting anti-Semitism within Labour, he should immediately suspend all party officials who were present, and thoroughly investigate that branch.
If anti-Semitic attitudes are found to be rife, only mass expulsions will convince the country that Sir Keir is fit to be prime minister.
Jeremy Crick
Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire
SIR – While the Labour Party has – rightly if belatedly – withdrawn support for Azhar Ali, I have a feeling that he may be elected nevertheless.
Such an outcome might be democratic, but it would also be extremely worrying.
Malcolm Dutchman-Smith
Nantwich, Cheshire
SIR – Sherelle Jacobs (Comment, February 13) argues that “Britain is almost bankrupt. PM Starmer will be the final nail in the nation’s coffin.”
The last Labour government inherited a sound economy and finished saying there was no money left. Labour is now trying to claim that it would handle the shaky economy with which it would begin better than the present incumbent. This might be more credible if it gave a “mea culpa” explanation of what went wrong last time. I am not holding my breath.
Adam Massingham
Ashford, Kent
SIR – Britain does not deserve a Labour government but the Tories do not deserve another term in office. Meanwhile, it seems that our American cousins may face a choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. How did the world’s greatest democracies get themselves into this position?
David Miller
Chigwell, Essex
Rural ‘racism’
SIR – Suella Braverman talks sense regarding the ridiculous idea that the British countryside is only for white people (report, February 13).
Any person, of any colour, can go for a walk or a drive in this country’s glorious open spaces, should they wish. We cannot force anyone to go where they don’t want to, and it is not the fault of white people if other groups choose not to venture out.
Carol Lourdas
Twickenham, Middlesex
SIR – Why do discussions of social issues have to be drowned in buzzwords such as “racism” and “colonialism”?
Talk of “structural, experiential and cultural” barriers really just boils down to the fact that there are fewer BAME people in the countryside than in towns. But the more people venture into the countryside, the more welcome they will feel.
In Canada, children from every race and minority are welcomed to summer camps organised by schools. It is not difficult to start new cultural traditions, and it is simplistic and unhelpful to say that the reason people don’t do things is that they are “discriminated against.”
Mark Thornton
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
SIR – It would be interesting to know if any of the charities connected to the ridiculous report by the Wildlife and Countryside Link are in receipt of government funds. If so, that funding should cease forthwith.
As a matter of principle I think that charities should survive only on the money donated by the public out of personal choice.
A K Harland-Jones
Rowlands Castle, Hampshire
Lessons in coding
SIR – The reason why writing computer code ought to be part of any good education is not that everyone will be coding for a living (Business Comment, February 12); it is so that people understand from personal experience how intractable software is.
Repeated failures, from the NHS Connecting for Health project to the Post Office Horizon scandal, demonstrate how civil servants imagine that a suitable arrangement of carrots and sticks must lead software engineers to deliver systems that fully meet requirements.
If they had spent days striving to make a computer achieve some trivially simple task without bugs, they would know better.
Geoffrey Sampson
Emeritus professor of informatics
Uckfield, East Sussex
BBC self-promotion
SIR – I agree wholeheartedly with M James (Letters, February 10) about the irritating glut of programme trailers on
Radio 3. They have proliferated to such an extent that they even encompass totally unrelated BBC television programmes.
I cannot believe that the majority of the BBC’s loyal audience will be persuaded to extend its listening or viewing habits by hearing the same exhortations, hour after hour.
David Lander
Old Woking, Surrey
Cookie craftsmanship
SIR – Why are Oreo biscuits thought “pitiful” (Features, February 9)?
Their appearance is part of their appeal, reminding me of the wonderful wood carvings in the choir stalls of Gloucester Cathedral.
Fiona Wild
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
South Caucasus peace
SIR – Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian prime minister (report, February 12), is correct about the geopolitical importance of the South Caucasus and the need for peace between his country and Azerbaijan. Mr Pashinyan also knows that the main reason for Armenia’s troubles is the legacy of its three decades of illegal occupation of internationally recognised territories of Azerbaijan.
It has therefore been surprising that the country has been so reluctant to move forward with the peace agreement proposed by Azerbaijan after the end of hostilities in November 2020. While Armenia’s new respect for territorial integrity is refreshing, some of the country’s official documents still include territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
Last December, the leaders of both countries demonstrated their commitment to lasting peace when they reached a historic agreement to bring Cop29 to Baku. Now we need to work as neighbours on rebuilding relations between our nations.
However, since the borders of Armenia are protected by Russian guards, the rejection of guarantees for a transport corridor is puzzling. If anything, Armenia’s own long-term interests and economic needs would be best served by fulfilling the written commitment to open regional communication links, including unimpeded transit to Nakhchivan, the landlocked exclave of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Elin Suleymanov
Ambassador of Azerbaijan
London W11
Dangerous motorways
SIR – Building more bays will not solve a fundamental problem of smart motorways (report, January 25). I have written to successive transport ministers pointing out that there is no official guidance about what to do if you or your passenger are disabled. Currently, in a break-down situation, the disabled are sitting ducks. The only answer is to reinstate hard shoulders.
E J Judge
Leeds, West Yorkshire
Keeper’s dodge
SIR – I was also a goalkeeper in the days when opposition players could hit you hard (Letters, February 13). If I saw one coming at me, I waited until they were close – then swiftly stood aside. The resultant crash of player hitting goalpost proved an effective deterrent.
Peter Higgins
West Wickham, Kent
The failure to rein in reckless water companies
SIR – The Government proposes banning bonuses for water company bosses if their companies let sewage spills pollute water courses or the sea (report, February 12). Ofwat, the regulator, will run a consultation on this proposal later in the year. Why not just get on with it straight away?
The whole purpose of the regulators is to look after the interests of ordinary people who have to use these utilities. No regulator has performed more badly than Ofwat. About 20 years ago Thames Water was chastised for its leaks. A massive fine went to the Treasury, but the utility company was allowed to raise prices for consumers quite substantially. Likewise, Ofwat has allowed the owners of water companies to run up huge debts, using their assets as collateral, and to pay large dividends, leaving very little of their profits for vital investment.
It is not just water bosses who should be penalised – so too should those of Ofwat.
Andrew Rixon
Hertford
Has Britain’s once mighty Navy lost its mojo?
SIR – Finally, after unexplained delays, HMS Prince of Wales left Portsmouth on Monday afternoon, passing a large crowd who gathered for the occasion – not to mention the world’s press (report, February 13).
The flight deck was bereft of aircraft, displaying only a few shipping containers. There were no crew in parade positions. Neither a band nor a single ensign was to be seen.
The vessel left its mooring under tow, no doubt due to the narrowness of the specially dredged channel in the port. Even so, surely – and particularly in view of all the recent bad publicity – it could have departed proudly, with a clean flight deck and at least one F-35 on display. Instead it crept silently away as if embarrassed. Has the once proud Royal Navy lost its mojo?
Robert Hickman
Andover, Hampshire
SIR – The Defence Secretary says that a “woke” and “extremist” culture has infiltrated the Army (report, February 12), amid a row about diversity in the Armed Forces.
May I point out that the last thing the Armed Forces need is to recruit people who are representative of society? They need people who are exceptional, by definition rare, and therefore unrepresentative.
Tristram C Llewellyn Jones
Church Stretton, Shropshire
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