Letters: Why is this Government so afraid of basic Conservative economics?

SIR – Imagine my delight when I woke up on December 13 2019 to learn that Boris Johnson had won a Conservative majority of 80 seats.

It all went well at the beginning: Brexit achieved at last, though with a niggling worry about its effect on Northern Ireland.

Sadly, this Government has moved so far in the wrong direction since then that it is hardly recognisable as Conservative.

Its response to the cost-of-living crisis, for example, has been egregiously mistaken. Raising taxes, especially in the business sector, stifles economic growth. After Rishi Sunak’s furlough scheme during the pandemic, it is astonishing that he is now offering further assistance (at the expense of the energy companies) to everyone.

I am in my eighties. This means that when I take anything out of my savings it can no longer be “earned” back. Without a magic money tree, I have no choice but to spend less.

I suggest that the Chancellor follows this principle. He needs to restore the Conservatism we expected over two years ago.

Sybil Hampton
Alresford, Hampshire

SIR – What with quantitative easing, furlough, Test and Trace, net zero and the latest income-support scheme, the Conservatives seem hell bent on bankrupting our once wonderful country.

Roger Simmens
Lyndhurst, Hampshire

SIR – If there really is a permanent cost-of-living crisis rather than a temporary (and, for many, painful) spike in prices driven by energy bills, why not restrict the rate at which energy prices can rise over time in order to smooth the impact?

That way there is no price cap but the companies making windfall profits have to come up with commercial solutions to retain customers.

I trust businesses to run their affairs more than I trust governments to do that for them.

John May
Arkesden, Essex

SIR – Rishi Sunak said: “This Government will never stop trying to help people.”

Ronald Reagan said: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

Who to believe?

Brendon Swidecki
Chichester, West Sussex

Ukraine lip service

SIR – If the countries “supporting” Ukraine are not prepared to make a difference by enabling it to do more than just slow the Russian advance, they need to re-examine what they aim to achieve.

It is unfair to the people of Ukraine to provide a level of support that falls short of the combat power (equipment, logistics and training) required to successfully prosecute the defence of their country – and, by extension, the defence of other countries on Russia’s target list.

Virtue-signalling by proclaiming support and sending it in dribs and drabs, or by sending obsolete equipment, will only give false hope, prolong the conflict, increase the number of casualties and give strength to those who have already begun to suggest that the Ukrainians need to cede territory.

The lack of coordination and coherence among Ukraine’s supporters will not only embolden Russia; it will also give China the impression that no one will resist its expansionism in the South China Sea, the South Pacific and Africa.

Michael Servaes
Farnborough, Hampshire

The PM and partygate

SIR – The culture and tone of any organisation or office are shaped by the leader.

If it is true that Boris Johnson wasn’t aware of the gatherings going on in Downing Street during lockdown, that is as much a failure of leadership as it would have been had he organised them himself.

Equally damning are the accounts in Sue Gray’s report of the mistreatment of support staff – another sign of an unacceptable culture. In the words of the late General Sir Michael Gow: “You will not deserve to fill any post in leadership or administration if for one moment you forget the importance and dignity of those whose servant you should be.”

Mark Mortimer
Blandford, Dorset

SIR – Whatever one’s view of Theresa May, it is fair to say that partygate would not have happened under her watch.

William Rusbridge
Tregony, Cornwall

Real NHS reform

SIR – I wholeheartedly support the call by Alan Ferguson (Letters, May 22) for “a Royal Commission, but with strict, non-political terms of reference” to address the inadequacies of the NHS.

On June 30 last year, you published a letter from me, in which I wrote: “The time has come for a Royal Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the current state of the NHS, identifying its strengths and weaknesses, evaluating alternatives practised by other nations, and making recommendations, either to reform the NHS, or to replace it with another model.”

If not now, when?

Rev His Honour Peter Morrell
Nassington, Northamptonshire

Pointless traffic rules

SIR – I can’t see the point of low traffic neighbourhoods (Letters, May 22).

If the aim is to reduce pollution, that is going to happen soon enough with the displacement of petrol and diesel cars by electric vehicles. Therefore, rather than upsetting residents and moving pollution from one area to another, councils should instead be installing more charging points and helping to hasten the demise of the internal combustion engine.

Robin Nonhebel
Swanage, Dorset

Black-tie black spot

SIR – I have every sympathy for Judy Murray, who, besides being the victim of unwanted and crude advances, felt humiliated after attending an event that she had not been informed was black-tie.

Many years ago I was invited to a country-house weekend, as the fairly recent girlfriend of a good friend of the hosts. My hostess rang me a couple of days before on some pretext, and during the conversation mentioned that they would “not be dressing for dinner”. Imagine my surprise and consternation when I saw my boyfriend don his black tie; I had brought only an understated short wool skirt and silk blouse.

During pre-dinner drinks I apologised to my host for being incorrectly dressed but mentioned what his wife had said to me. “Did she now?” he replied. “Please excuse me for a moment.” Then he left the room.

When he returned he was wearing cords and a shirt and tie with a pullover. He also rearranged the seating at dinner and put me on his right. I was treated with the utmost respect by everyone.

Peta Seel
Saint-Lanne, Hautes-Pyrénées, France

How traditional schooling aids social mobility

SIR – As a lifelong supporter of grammar school education and discipline, I was delighted to read Daniel Hannan’s account of what Katharine Birbalsingh has achieved as the headmistress of Michaela Community School in Brent.

She has shown that all her pupils, many from deprived backgrounds, can enjoy effectively the same educational environment that I did, as a farm labourer’s son who passed the 11-plus exam and attended the local grammar. This gave me the opportunity to progress beyond anything I could otherwise have hoped for in the 1950s.

Grammar schools (and Michaela Community School) were and are fair and involve no social engineering – whereas most state comprehensives nowadays are an exercise in social immobility.

Bruce Denness
Niton, Isle of Wight

Subscription BBC

SIR – Andrew Orlowski’s article fails to understand the structural and conceptual problems involved in funding a public-service broadcaster via subscription.

By setting some of the article in his version of 2032, he sidesteps the difficulties of placing video services behind a paywall while also offering universality of access. He suggests, incorrectly, that all it would take is a “smart TV, and some willpower”.

If the licence fee is replaced by a subscription, there must be some form of conditional access system in place to ensure that only households that have paid for the BBC receive it. Mr Orlowski offers two solutions: controlling access by either pay-TV set-top boxes or a “BBC premium” app for smart TVs in non pay-TV homes that allows access to encrypted broadcast channels.

Both the pay-TV route (a minimum of £33 per month from Sky) and a connected smart television (a minimum of £17.99 per month for 10Mpbs) would incur additional costs to access the BBC that are currently not necessary. Both of these are higher than the £13.25 licence fee, before any BBC subscription is paid.

Regarding homes without a pay-TV box, two factors undermine the article’s premise. The first is that only 68 per cent of homes have a smart TV connected to broadband. The second is that DTT (Freeview), the UK’s largest TV platform, and Freesat have no conditional access system, so channels cannot be encrypted. As a result, even were the facility to encrypt channels developed and introduced, many households would need to buy a new set-top box or TV to access something intended to be universally available. This would be a much greater structural undertaking than the digital switchover between 2005 and 2012 – and that cost £500 million in planning, marketing and communications.

As Mr Orlowski notes, there could be software solutions that provide conditional access to broadcast streams on smart TVs, and in specific scenarios they might not require internet access. However, the 2032 setting of the piece reveals the folly of this proposal – catch-up and on-demand are growing, along with more content going exclusively online. In this scenario, a BBC viewer without sufficient bandwidth will be poorly served. While gigabit broadband is expected to be available to 99 per cent of premises by 2030, we expect that a substantial number of households will still not take advantage of the connectivity available.

Claire Enders
Founder, Enders Analysis
London WC2

Retired police dogs

SIR – As a former dog handler in the Metropolitan Police, I am bemused that today’s retired dogs need a charity to ensure their wellbeing (Letters, May 22) and are sometimes adopted by third parties.

I had four dogs between 1971 and 1999, and every one of them stayed with me when they retired. During their service they were constant companions, on and off duty. There was no way I would have sent them on to third parties.

With regard to their vet bills, I was quite willing to pay anything that their insurance did not cover: it was the least I could do after the loyalty and support they gave me. All my colleagues during this period did the same.

William Gowans
Wadebridge, Cornwall

Shoeless shopping

SIR – I was once with my four-year-old in the toy section of Woolworths when I looked down and realised that he had no shoes on (Letters, May 22). When I asked where they were, he said he had left them at the door, as he did at home.

Wendy Foley
North Holmwood, Surrey