Letters: Sadiq Khan should have found a way to let Ukraine benefit from Ulez
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SIR – We are constantly being told to reuse and recycle, but Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, isn’t prepared to find a way to send non-Ulez-compliant cars to Ukraine (report, December 16), where they would be used in the effort to win the war against Russia. Rather, he is happy to let them be destroyed.
The Government managed to circumvent visa rules in a hurry to welcome Ukrainian refugees to Britain. Surely it couldn’t have been beyond Mr Khan’s team, in conjunction with civil servants, to seek ways of bypassing whatever rules he is hiding behind.
Frances Braithwaite
London SE6
SIR – I read with disbelief that Sadiq Khan has blocked a plan to send cars set to be scrapped to Ukraine. This perfectly sums up his hypocrisy.
Those vehicles would be invaluable for humanitarian work in Ukraine, where it is desperately needed. I can only assume that Labour shares his view. Yet again, the party shows its true colours.
Ian McNicholas
Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire
SIR – I presume that when Sadiq Khan says that sending suitable non-Ulez-compliant vehicles to Ukraine provides no benefit to Londoners, he has one particular Londoner in mind.
Adam Massingham
Ashford, Kent
SIR – There are times when history beckons leaders to make their mark by taking decisions that will cast either light or darkness on their legacies.
Sadiq Khan still has time to position himself on the right side of history, should he change his mind and make the correct choice – or else be haunted by ignominy.
Ron Freedman
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
SIR – Sadiq Khan has refused Ukraine’s request to use scrapped Ulez cars on the grounds that such scrappage should “provide environmental benefits to Londoners”.
What utter nonsense. Giving these non-Ulez-compliant vehicles to Ukraine not only helps the desperate people there, but also removes the pollution they cause in this country. Win win.
Chris Learmont-Hughes
Caldy, Wirral
SIR – How is it possible that the leaders of two of Britain’s great cities have come up with completely different strategies to meet clean-air targets?
Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, has dropped emission charges and is investing in electric buses and taxis (“Burnham axes Ulez-style fees after backlash against Khan”, report, December 14). Sadiq Khan is charging the poorest in society £12.50 per day to drive in outer London. What is going on?
Simon Paul
Coulsdon, Surrey
Paying energy debts
SIR – Ofgem plans to impose a one-off increase of £16 in the price cap in order to protect suppliers, as household energy debts hit £3 billion (report, December 16).
I had this strange notion that suppliers were companies operating to make profits. They pay dividends to shareholders and alarming sums to their executives. Perhaps Ofgem should be fining them for not managing their business efficiently.
I can’t think of many examples of companies recovering their bad debts (resulting from inefficient management) from their customers, and I have no intention of helping bail them out. I expect plenty of company on this journey.
David Powell
St Mary’s Platt, Kent
SIR – Why should customers who do not owe a penny to their energy supplier have to support these companies in their quest to collect bad debt? This payment of £16 is an absolute injustice.
Not only are customers forking out for the net-zero target by paying inflated prices for green energy sources that are not economically viable, but they are also called on to support inefficient suppliers. I despair.
Glyn Charlesworth
Mortimer, Berkshire
SIR – I am 81 and live in a one-bedroom, sheltered-housing flat. I haven’t put on my central heating this winter. I simply wear more clothes, or, if sitting for any length of time, snuggle under a heated throw, which is economical and heats me but not the room.
I understand that my reward for this frugality is to give £16 to someone who has enjoyed being warm and got into debt. Apparently I have no say in the matter. It would appear that the only way I can object to this injustice is to turn up the thermostat, enjoy the sauna, get into debt and let others bail me out.
J Naylor
Bishops Waltham, Hampshire
SIR – Having just received a prompt from EDF Energy to sign up for a new one-year fixed deal, and having checked the rates offered, I wondered why maintenance of the pipes and wires covered by the standing charge has overnight become so much more onerous as to justify its increase.
Perhaps if I had studied A-level maths, as suggested by Rishi Sunak, I would understand this, but at the moment I can only have suspicion.
Alexandra Turner
Winchester, Hampshire
SIR – Am I alone in getting around two letters a week from EDF Energy? It must be keeping Royal Mail alive.
Simon Davie
London SW1
Lab of love
SIR – Ten years ago we got our black Labrador from our local rescue centre. At home she took a fancy to a black teddy, which she has since kept in her basket in our bedroom.
Last week my wife was not feeling well, and while I was sitting on the bed comforting her, Black Teddy was carefully placed on the floor next to her. It was a great comfort.
Tim Sharp
Chirnside, Berwickshire
Loose sleeves
SIR – Can anyone explain why pyjama sleeves are so loose (Letters, December 15)? In the middle of the night, they migrate upwards towards the armpits and prevent sleep.
Keith Ferris
Maidstone, Kent
Long waits for vicars
SIR – William Sitwell (Features, December 16) is being extremely optimistic if he thinks it “could be months” before his church has a new vicar. Interregnum began here when the last vicar left in May 2021 and will end in February 2024 when a new one is finally installed.
As for forcing vicars to retire at 70, they may end their stipendiary service then, but many continue to work in retirement on a voluntary basis, as has happened here, filling all the gaps caused by these lengthy absences of paid resident clergy.
Perhaps this is one way the Church has found to cut costs.
Penny Clive
Swanmore, Hampshire
SIR – William Sitwell asks why his vicar must retire at 70 while Joe Biden can continue as president at 81. The reason is that no one would want their vicar to end up like Mr Biden while in office.
Charles Dobson
Burton-in-Kendal, Cumbria
SIR – As a member of the Church in the Diocese of Carlisle, for several months I’ve been exhorted to pray for discernment for those choosing our new diocesan bishop. It would appear that this has been in vain (“Church fails to find bishop”, report, December 16).
The Archbishop of York explained that there will need to be time to “reflect” and “make a decision about which stage to recommence the discernment process”.
Perhaps a better solution would be to copy the ancient practice the Coptic church uses to choose a new pope. This involves the final three names being placed on the altar during a public liturgical service and a young boy picking the winner. It never fails.
Rev David A Smethurst
Natland, Cumbria
Soggy soap
SIR – John Baker argues that soap makers should stop selling their product in plastic bottles (Letters, December 16).
The problem, however, is with the majority of soap dishes. If air is not allowed to circulate around the whole bar, it becomes soggy and messy. I’ve only found two soap dishes that work, one bought in France and the other in London at a well-known Japanese shop. The latter has since stopped selling the metal grill that lifts the soap from the porcelain base.
If soap producers and dish manufacturers work together, we might get somewhere.
Eleanor Weetch
Barnsley, South Yorkshire
The cost in trees of building the British Empire
SIR – It is difficult to overestimate how many trees were needed before iron and then steel replaced wood for shipbuilding in the 19th century in Britain (“Colonial shipbuilding nearly wiped out native bat”, report, December 14).
It took an astonishing 6,000 mature oak trees sitting on 30 to 50 acres of land to build a single ship of the line. This is hard to understand until you see a diagram of how a shipwright looked at an oak tree. I have such a diagram, which shows that only nine pieces (brackets, futtocks and knees in the colourful parlance of naval architecture from the time) were harvestable from an entire single tree. Pieces had to follow the grain for strength, so shape was important in assessing what you could get from a tree.
In the 1860s it was estimated that Britain needed 400,000 acres of timber annually to build the ships needed for defence and commerce, and the Royal Navy and merchant owners demanded hardwood ships, not the softwood vessels emanating from America, which were much cheaper but lasted only half as long.
So, the development of iron shipbuilding and steam power was essential in facilitating the Empire and saved what little forest we had left from further plundering for ships.
This came at a cost, of course, that we are only now starting to pay.
Dr Paul Stott
Senior lecturer in marine production and shipping market analysis
Newcastle University
SIR – I understand that the Jubilee Sailing Trust, the charity that gives people who are physically challenged the opportunity to sail on a square rigger alongside so-called able-bodied people, is having to close its doors due to lack of financial support and rising costs.
Having been on both Lord Nelson and Tenacious, I have to admit that the supposedly physically challenged do better than the so-called able-bodied.
It is a tragedy that this superb organisation will no longer be able to help those in need.
Dr Keith Barnard-Jones
Dorchester
A BBC own goal ruined A Question of Sport
SIR – Like thousands of Question of Sport fanatics, I complained about the series soon after Sue Barker was dropped, and again later (“BBC allowed Question of Sport to rot”, Comment, December 16). The aggressive answers were the same: wait to see what the viewers think.
The BBC knew very early what the viewers thought when audience numbers plummeted, so why did it not change? You cannot run a sports programme with a comedian who admits to knowing nothing about the subject, regardless of how good he might be at comedy.
Selwyn Carter
Oakham, Rutland
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