Letters: George Galloway’s Rochdale victory reflects the bleak state of British politics
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SIR – It is a sad reflection on the state of the nation that George Galloway has won the Rochdale by-election (telegraph.co.uk, March 1).
No one wants the Tories or Labour, and Reform UK is still a work in progress. A vote for Mr Galloway is a vote for pointless nihilism, and I am sure that is exactly what he will provide.
Mick Ferrie
Mawnan Smith, Cornwall
SIR – The election of George Galloway in Rochdale is clear evidence of the morass into which British politics has sunk.
Brian Pegnall
Falmouth, Cornwall
SIR – It is to be hoped that George Galloway’s victory will not result in even more anti-Israel demonstrations taking place in the capital and elsewhere.
The last thing the country needs is someone who causes further trouble. What it does need is for Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party to stand up for the right of the only democratic country in the Middle East to defend itself against the terrorists of Hamas and Hezbollah.
We are now going to see just how much backbone our MPs have, especially in the Labour hierarchy.
Dr Chris Topping
Pilling, Lancashire
SIR – I’m no fan of George Galloway, but in borrowing an observation by the SNP’s Chris Law and stating that “Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are two cheeks of the same backside”, he expressed why so many previously Conservative voters feel disenfranchised.
N H Bailey
Stockport, Cheshire
SIR – Although I disagree with almost everything he says, I still find George Galloway a highly compelling, articulate and colourful character. Born and brought up in the least salubrious area of Dundee, and educated only at the local academy, he has nevertheless taken on and defeated the smartest of opponents over the years. He is an out-and-out political animal.
Had his skills been gifted to one of the current crop of Conservative MPs, we’d have no problem winning the general election.
Paul Ballard-Whyte
Oxford
Nato and Ukraine
SIR – Britain does not want to send Nato troops to Ukraine, fearing that this could cause a “major escalation” of the conflict with Russia (report, February 28). What is the purpose of Nato if not to defend Europe? And what kind of message does this timidity send to Vladimir Putin?
Nick Nixon
Bristol
Non-dom tax reform
SIR – With regard to the possible reform of non-dom taxation (Letters, March 1), I am British born and bred, and have always worked hard and paid my taxes. If I did receive income from abroad – from a foreign investment, for example – I could open a bank account in, say, Switzerland to receive that income and just use it while I was abroad. I would have to pay full UK tax on it.
If I lived but was not domiciled here, I would have all the advantages of British life but would not have to pay tax on such foreign income unless I actually brought it into the country. It has long seemed quite wrong to me that people benefiting from living in this country, but without making the full commitment to it, do not have to pay tax on income that is taxable for Britons. Tax only works properly when it is fair.
Andrew Rixon
Hertford
Radio 3’s identity
SIR – I entirely agree with Ben Lawrence (Arts, February 29): why can’t the BBC leave Radio 3 alone?
In this troubled world, the station has served, in Mr Lawrence’s words, as a “beacon of sanity”.
The BBC needs to stop worrying about Classic FM and recognise there is a place for both. Classic FM introduces listeners to the genre – and then, once they have grown tired of hearing the same old tunes and the dreadful advertisements, they move on to Radio 3, where the presenters expose them to new composers and push them out of their comfort zone.
Georgiana Rylands
Sutton, Norfolk
SIR – I agree with Sam Jackson, the controller of Radio 3 (Letters, March 1), that Ben Lawrence’s overview of the station’s new schedule did not do it justice.
Can something be done, however, about the constant and repetitive self-advertising by the presenters? It was bad enough last summer, with what seemed like half-hourly reminders that Radio 3 was “the home of the Proms”.
Patrick Balfour
London W12
Regulating medicine
SIR – A spotlight on the mandate and functioning of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is timely (“Medicines regulator failed to flag Covid vaccine side effects and must be investigated, say MPs”, report, February 28).
Dermatologists are up in arms about draconian new regulations around the prescribing of the anti-acne medication isotretinoin that are not justified by the science.
Dame June Raine, the chief executive of the MHRA, was quoted as saying that the agency was transitioning from “the watchdog to the enabler”. Politicians are right to be worried about this apparently un-mandated “transition” – as patients and the medical profession should be too.
Dame Jane has also said: “We have made significant steps to put patients at the heart of all our work… incorporating patient views and lived experience into our safety reviews”.
Unfortunately for Dame Jane, patient views and lived experience are not the same as science and facts. And in 2024, patients are best protected by putting science and facts at the heart of your work.
Professor C B Bunker
Consultant dermatologist and professor of dermatology
University College London Hospitals
London NW1
Fair military housing
SIR – The objections to Ministry of Defence plans to reform how housing is allocated have been misguided (Letters, March 1).
Such housing should be provided according to need, not rank, across all of our Armed Forces, and the continued preferential treatment of officers is a reflection of outdated views.
Retention is a worsening problem, and the poor deal for rank-and-file servicemen with regard to pay and conditions is a major factor – including for me when I decided to leave the Royal Navy.
Joe Exon
Corsham, Wiltshire
SIR – While serving in the Royal Navy in the early 1980s, I was drafted to Chatham. The only quarter I could be allocated was an officer’s, though I was a lowly petty officer.
A few days after I had moved in, there was a knock on the door and a lady told me she had come to collect the coffee set, to which my rank did not entitle me.
A week later she returned to collect the card table for the same reason.
Liam O’Hara
Plympton, Devon
National Trust tactics
SIR – Lord Sumption is absolutely correct in his assessment of the anti-democratic nature of the National Trust’s “quick vote” (report, February 28).
This was introduced by the Trust’s hierarchy in the wake of the growing grassroots movement of members unhappy about its drift in recent years, and appears to be intended to ensure that no one – including Lord Sumption – who might question the organisation’s groupthink is ever allowed to become a member of the decision-making council.
The same anti-democratic tendency is found in the Trust’s use of “discretionary” votes, whereby it invites members to vest their votes in the AGM chairman, to dispose as he or she thinks fit. At last year’s AGM it was used to ensure that every candidate and motion not approved by the hierarchy was defeated. As an example, the motion condemning the Trust’s appalling proposals for Clandon Park (of which I was the formal proposer) attracted nearly 50,000 votes in support, and was defeated only by the addition of those discretionary votes to the much smaller number who had consciously voted against it.
The motion had nothing to do with politics – Left, Right or centre – but was basically about the particular hard-line variety of conservation dogma currently prevailing in the organisation. However, in the modern National Trust, such things are not up for discussion.
Roger White
Sherborne, Dorset
On the hop
SIR – Three signs have sprung up in the lanes near my home, warning of frogs in the road – though I have never seen any – between February and March.
Sadly I don’t know what I should do with this information. Should I not drive down the lane I live on for the rest of the month?
A different person might feel that the money would have been better spent on potholes.
David Millar
Crowton, Cheshire
Don’t try this at home
SIR – Guy Williams (Letters, March 1) may be interested or amused to learn that, aged eight, I jumped off our garage roof holding an open umbrella aloft after being taken to see the Mary Poppins film.
I was fortunate to receive only a badly sprained ankle.
Richard Gibson
Warnbro, Western Australia
Taste of time
SIR – As a member of the Shippam family, I have been delighted to read the recent correspondence and wonderful reminiscences about the company.
Your readers may be interested to learn that there is to be an exhibition exploring the many aspects of the company – in particular the advertising campaigns (Letters, February 20) – at the Novium Museum in Chichester next year.
Susan Archer
Westerham, Kent
Sprouts should be eaten in small doses only
SIR – Lesley Thompson (Letters, February 29) was surprised to receive four Brussels sprouts in a food delivery, rather than the 4kg ordered.
I suspect the person processing the order simply couldn’t believe that anyone would want 4kg of these vegetables.
Sue Firth
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
SIR – The thought of a 4kg bag of sprouts is still putting me off my breakfast.
When we were newly married 52 years ago, my wife cooked sprouts, as she thought I liked them. I ate them up, thinking she had cooked them because she liked them.
We soon discovered that both of us detested them. For the past 51-and-a-half years or so, sprouts have never crossed our doorstep.
Leslie Donald
Aberdeen
SIR – I eat sprouts because my husband grows them on our allotment. Four is my absolute limit.
Sue McMillan
Hampton, Middlesex
SIR – I was pleased to learn from Lesley Thompson’s letter that it is possible to buy such specific amounts of produce – a great bonus for anybody who shops only for themselves.
Supermarkets’ tendency to sell food in large, packaged quantities contributes much to food waste.
Meic Goodyear
Lewes, East Sussex
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