Letters: The only way to achieve net zero is to offer consumers value for money

SIR – You report (March 27) that KPMG has warned that the pursuit of net zero could serve to maintain high energy bills for the foreseeable future. You also report that the National Infrastructure Commission is once again complaining that the installation of heat pumps is not going fast enough.

Rather than continually criticising us, perhaps the commission might accept that this technology is not attractive to most consumers because it is more expensive to install and not as effective as the system they currently use.

More than 26 million of us heat our homes and water with gas, delivered in an effective way by a reliable network decades in the making, and which is converted into highly controllable heat by cheap, increasingly efficient boilers that are easy to install.

Trying to bully or bribe us to use heat pumps will guarantee money is wasted and net zero not achieved. So an alternative needs to be found that facilitates change because consumers can see that it is better and will save them money. This will be more likely if the price of electricity can be reduced to reflect the falling cost of producing renewable energy.

Dr Alan Hearne
Woodstock, Oxfordshire

SIR  – What has been the cost of wind turbines and solar panels in terms of the number of small modular reactors that could have been built?

The added benefit of this supply of nuclear power would have been the use and development of British engineering. Importing turbines, panels, fuel and energy is only benefiting other countries’ economies.

The Government needs to focus on this country, not quick-fix sticking plasters from abroad.

Michael Marks
Leominster, Herefordshire

SIR – Hinkley Point C is a reason to be optimistic about the nuclear industry’s future (“If we want to hit the net zero dream, there’s no alternative but nuclear”, Features, March 25). The latest reports on increases in construction costs simply stated the impact of inflation, which, as your readers know, affects the entire economy. When operating, it will help insulate British consumers from world gas prices and last year would have saved households around £4 billion.

Hinkley Point C is reviving Britain’s nuclear industry. A successful industry needs a continuous programme, so skills develop and grow. We have thousands of people across Britain newly expert in building and manufacturing to nuclear standards.

Our British supply chain of more than 3,500 businesses is ready to deliver Sizewell C as a replica project. At least 70 per cent of the Sizewell spend will go to British companies. Hinkley and Sizewell C are not alternatives to other nuclear designs but will help to enable them.

Julia Pyke
Director of financing and economic regulation, Sizewell C
London W1

Humza Yousaf’s SNP

SIR – Humza Yousaf’s victory in the contest to become the new leader of the Scottish National Party is good news for the Union, but bad news for Rishi Sunak.

A poorly led SNP will certainly set back the cause of independence, but it could also leave many Left-wing voters in Scotland searching for a new home. If they return to Labour they will give Sir Keir Starmer the MPs he needs for victory at the general election.

John Hicks
Manchester

SIR – I will not be alone in being very happy at long last to have in Rishi Sunak a Conservative Prime Minister who demonstrates confidence, judgment, ability and integrity.

That he has significant real business and international experience materially benefits the country, and his wealth is also a benefit, given his evident understanding of working people thanks to his upbringing and a family emphasis on education.

It is consequently and happily unlikely that he will be diverted in office either by considerations of his future on the speaking circuit or seeking to appoint those assisting in arranging any present financial shortcomings. Hurrah.

Clive Barnett
London W1

Decline of John Lewis

SIR – Further to letters about John Lewis (March 27), I, too, have happy memories of buying prams and baby equipment in Peter Jones more than 50 years ago, and have bought many household goods from the stores over the years.

However, three days ago I ordered two pillowcases online from John Lewis and found that I could have them delivered to a local shop by Monday. Great, I thought, until I got an email saying that the pillowcases couldn’t be delivered locally, but I could pick them up from a filling station 16 miles away.

After 53 years, I will now be shopping elsewhere.

Rosie Strickland
Whitchurch, Shropshire

SIR – My late aunt worked for George Henry Lee – a branch of John Lewis in Liverpool. Growing up, I enjoyed many a holiday with her at their hotels for staff, namely on Brownsea Island in Dorset and in Odney, Berkshire.

She thought she worked for one of the best companies in the world, with the best staff incentives. I’m glad she’s not here to see what’s happening now.

Susan Grant
Leeds, West Yorkshire

Crackdown on crime

SIR – When I was a magistrate, offenders facing community sentences were first asked if they agreed to carry out the work (“PM targets beggars in crackdown on crime”, report, March 27). That was humiliating enough for me, but there is still no way they can be forced to do these cleaning jobs.

Even if the alternative is a prison sentence, they know that is unlikely to be enforced in light of overcrowded prisons. They are having a laugh.

Sonia Kleyman
Jávea, Alicante, Spain

SIR – The report that “offenders” are going to be made to wash police cars reminded me of a couple I once knew who had a very difficult teenage son.

They were much heartened one day when he volunteered to wash his father’s car; that was until they discovered he had replenished the fuel tank from the garden hose.

Ron Hurrell
South Benfleet, Essex

Land Registry delays

SIR – Please add HM Land Registry to the growing list of government departments providing a poor level of customer service after Covid.

My father-in-law’s application for the first registration of his unregistered property to a registered title will take in excess of 11 months. A response to an inquiry via my MP from Lord Callanan, the former business minister, included the following: “Mr Brown’s understanding of the processing times for complex applications reflects HMLR’s current guidance. This explains that over half of complex applications, such as first registrations, creating a new lease or transferring part of a property, are completed in 11 months. HMLR completes most in just over 15 months, but some might take a few months longer depending on the application. This speed of service is not at a level HMLR would like to provide for its customers.”

Martin Brown
Goostrey, Cheshire

Headmaster’s humour

SIR – Roger Ellis’s obituary (March 25) took me back to my last year (1967-68) as a pupil at Rossall School in Lancashire, where he was headmaster.

At the end of the Michaelmas term, the school put on a revue that included comedy sketches aimed at the masters. Roger Ellis had a Roman nose and I arranged for a fellow pupil to create for me a papier-mâché copy of it. I managed to borrow a gown from another master, plus a mortarboard. Armed with this apparel, I took to the stage before 500 fellow pupils and our teachers.

I proceeded to copy Mr Ellis’s immaculate accent in reading out joke notices that were based on the normal notices he gave every Wednesday in our main assembly hall known as Big School. To my surprise, when my end-of-term report arrived in the post, Mr Ellis had generously added the comment: “I enjoyed his end-of-term performance on the stage.”

Stuart Holden
Blackpool, Lancashire

Sensitivity edit

SIR – Robert Claxton’s novel (“Dickensian details”, Letters, March 27) could be even shorter.

The reference to “a sunny day” carries upsetting connotations of global warming and drought, and should be removed.

Kathleen Taylor
Birmingham

Time to restore Clevedon to its former glory

SIR – I was born in the Somerset town of Clevedon 80 years ago, and have lived here for the past 37 years.

Like most residents and visitors, we are appalled by “the heart-breaking mess made of our once magnificent Victorian seafront” (“Council fluffs its lines again with wobbly road markings”, report, March 24).

Despite petitions, public demonstrations and our MP, Dr Liam Fox, raising the issue in the House of Commons last month, there was no proper consultation before the changes to the seafront were forced upon the town.

It’s high time North Somerset council admitted its gross error and reinstated the original seafront layout.

Wg Cdr Bob Turner (retd)
Clevedon, Somerset

SIR – I am a disabled driver. Visiting the Clevedon seafront recently, I saw cyclists whizzing along their new double lane as fast as they could, not stopping to enjoy their surroundings or buy an ice cream or lunch. Meanwhile, the public can’t park to stay to enjoy the view, have a meal in the pretty cafés, spend money or visit the pier, as the few spaces fill up quickly. Is this called progress for a renowned Victorian seafront for all?

Laurie Vaughan
Bristol

A sad conclusion to a long battle with squirrels

SIR – For the first time there are no pots of spring bulbs in my garden and very few flowers in the beds. I’ve finally given up on the constant battle with squirrels (Letters, March 27), which excavate my pots and dig up everything, killing the smaller plants.

Deprived of their daily fun, they now strip twigs from my flowering trees, so there won’t be much blossom this year either. I used to love my small garden, but now the sight of it depresses me.

Judy Marchant
Wallington, Surrey

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