Letters: The West must not hesitate to defend Israel against Iranian aggression
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SIR – Saddam Hussein’s “elite” Republican Guards fled when faced with a superior opponent.
Vladimir Putin’s forces have faltered, in part because of poor maintenance.
Now Iran’s attack on Israel has been thwarted by Western defences.
There is a lesson here. Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, should have our utmost and unstinting support (report, April 15).
John Rowley
Great Ayton, North Yorkshire
SIR – I am struggling to think of another country that, when subjected to an attack on the scale of the one Iran launched on Israel, has been asked to sit back and relax.
Richard Rose
London NW4
SIR – Iran’s decision to launch more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel was the final proof of this regime’s unrelenting hostility, aggression and lawlessness. It was therefore right that Britain joined forces with the United States, France and Jordan to shoot down the barrage. However, our Government must go further. It is time to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is responsible for arming and training terror groups, and targeting the interests of Israel, Saudi Arabia and the US.
It is also time to cement plans for dealing with Iran’s nuclear weapons project – which, if ever realised, would profoundly destabilise the region. History teaches us that appeasing violent regimes only emboldens them in the long term. Attempts to appease the Islamic republic have yielded disastrous outcomes, and it is now necessary to change course.
Dr Jeremy Havardi
Director, B’nai B’rith UK Bureau of International Affairs
Pinner, Middlesex
SIR – Israel has the right to defend itself, but perhaps it could show strength through restraint. That would speak louder than further action against Iran.
Ruth Nares
Lewes, East Sussex
SIR – Captain Peter Newton (Letters, April 15) needs to consider the bigger picture. Sadly, he may be correct that the actions of the RAF will increase the threat to British shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, but that threat has been there for many years. The Royal Navy has had an enduring presence in the Gulf and, as part of Combined Task Force 152, established in 2004, is there to protect merchant shipping.
If the RAF Typhoons had not engaged the Iranian drones, the risks to Britain in general would have been higher. In fact, their actions may have helped to reduce tensions – given that, had a significant number of drones and missiles hit Israel, it would have had little option but to launch a direct attack against Iran.
Commander James Cohen RN (retd)
Brimpton, Berkshire
Smoke-free Britain
SIR – Today, MPs will vote at the second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. The Bill will help secure a smoke-free generation by raising the age of sale of tobacco by one year, every year.
Tobacco has a disproportionate impact on the most disadvantaged communities, putting unnecessary pressure on NHS resources, costing taxpayers money, and contributing to economic inactivity by causing poor health and premature death.
The majority of tobacco retailers and the public, including people who smoke, support the legislation, which will remove the blight of smoking from future generations. Support for the Bill can be found among all sectors of society, and across the whole political spectrum. Passing and implementing the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be a legacy that MPs can be proud of, supporting one of the most monumental public-health interventions for decades.
We are among a coalition of more than 300 health organisations urging MPs to back the Bill. In this general election year, they have the chance to make Britain the world-leader in tobacco control.
Deborah Arnott
Chief Executive, ASH
Ian Walker
Executive Director of Policy, Information and Communications, Cancer Research UK
Sarah Woolnough
Chief Executive, The King’s Fund
Colette Marshall
CEO, Diabetes UK
Professor Steve Turner
President, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Greg Fell
President, Association of Directors of Public Health
Ailsa Rutter
Director, Fresh and Balance
Dr Matthew Davie
President, Association of Anaesthetists
Professor Kevin Fenton
President, Faculty of Public Health
Dr Clea Harmer
Chief Executive, Sands, Co-Chair, Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group
Samantha Benham Hermetz
Executive Director of Policy and Communications, Alzheimer’s Research UK
Professor Kamila Hawthorne
Chair, Royal College of General Practitioners
Professor Sanjay Agrawal
Special Adviser on Tobacco, Royal College of Physicians
Scott Crosby
Breathe 2025
Professor Linda Bauld
Director, SPECTRUM Research Consortium, Co-Chair, Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group
William Roberts
CEO, Royal Society for Public Health
Dr Sarah McNulty
Director of Public Health for Knowsley, Lead Director of Public Health for Smokefree Cheshire and Merseyside, Champs Public Health Collaborative
Jenny Ward
Chief Executive, The Lullaby Trust
Kath Abrahams
CEO, Tommy’s
Suzanne Cass
CEO, ASH Wales
Alison Morton
CEO, Institute of Health Visiting
Mark Rowland
Chief Executive, Mental Health Foundation
Sarah Sleet
Chief Executive, Asthma + Lung UK
Dr Andy McEwen
Chief Executive, National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training
Andy Bell
CEO, Centre for Mental Health
Ed Davie
Chair, Mental Health Policy Group
Dr Charmaine Griffiths
Chief Executive, British Heart Foundation
Tim Mitchell
President, Royal College of Surgeons of England
Professor David Strain
Board of Science Chair
Dr Penelope Toff
Public Health Medicine Committee Chair, British Medical Association
Dr Lade Smith
President, Royal College of Psychiatrists
Dr Ranee Thakar
President, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Tricia Bryant
Executive Director and Head of Operations, Primary Care Respiratory Society
Orwellian Ulez threats
SIR – I have been accused of driving a Volvo illegally in the Ulez area on October 10 last year.
The photographs provided do not clearly indicate the full registration. However, more pertinently, on that date I was in Greece. Furthermore the Volvo in question was given, by me, to the Ukrainian army on August 18 2023. The DVLA has this recorded as an exported vehicle.
I have endeavoured to inform Transport for London of these facts but have only been met with greater threats. The latest was that I was to be taken to court in Northampton within 21 days of January 17. I am not aware of the result of this but have yet to be arrested for contempt of court.
I have already provided adequate information showing details of the export of this vehicle to the Ukrainian army, with associated paperwork.
Latterly I have been obliged to put this matter in the hands of my solicitors, as it was the last resort to avoid TfL’s threat to appoint bailiffs. This has cost me well over £300 but has caused TfL to cease communication, though not to admit any form of culpability. I am not aware if the case has been abandoned.
This situation is positively Orwellian. What sort of country are we living in?
Charles Cooper
Lymington, Hampshire
The posh police
SIR – Our working-class mother brought us up to speak well. At junior school I began to copy the accent of other local boys. My mother showed her displeasure.
I eventually went to grammar school, and on a trip we met a party of girls from Hull. My accent was noted as being “posh”, but just as an observation – not with disdain or mockery.
Now everybody is desperate not to sound “posh” and some adopt or exaggerate a regional accent in order to sound “authentic”. Clarity is surely what is required for communication, whatever region or background one hails from.
Maurice West
Croydon, Surrey
Soaring car insurance
SIR – Like David Denton (Letters, April 13) I have just received my car insurance – up from £660 to £1,385.
When I queried this, the insurance company said it was down to more expensive replacement parts and higher labour costs. One might expect an annual increase of 10 or 20 per cent, but not something this large.
Is anyone monitoring the insurance companies? They seem to be a law unto themselves.
Peter Fisher
Grayshott, Hampshire
SIR – David Denton was at least offered insurance cover for his car. My insurers refused to renew my policy, with no explanation.
I emailed them and accused them of ageism (I am soon to be 90), but of course received no reply.
I have never made a claim and have never been fined for speeding. So much for long-term loyalty.
Michael Pearson
Henfield, West Sussex
SIR – I turned 80 last year and my premium rose from £300 to £1,100 with an advanced driver’s policy and no claims. Needless to say, I went elsewhere.
As a long-standing member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, I was very disappointed with this service.
Dave Pantry
Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire
SIR – We recently renewed our building insurance. We were quoted more than double last year’s premium so we looked at the Russian meerkat comparison site. The policy we now have costs less than last year’s. It is, however, provided by the same company.
No, me neither.
George Adams
Brading, Isle of Wight
SIR – This month Aviva reduced comprehensive insurance on my little 11-year-old VW from £196 to £190.
Keith Shone
Reading, Berkshire
Snake boom
SIR – As I read your report (April 15) about the octopus that gave birth to 50 babies, I remembered the garter snake we bought for my son when he was six years old.
Two months later it gave birth to 12 live babies, three days before we were due to go on holiday. We sold them back to the pet shop and he gained more spending money.
Elizabeth Lewis
Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria
Allotments abounding with the gifts of spring
SIR – Joe Shute says rain has stopped him scattering seeds in his allotment (Nature Notes, April 13).
I suggest he moves to Sutton, where the rhubarb in my garden has been producing sturdy stems since mid-March, the first early potatoes are sprouting profusely above the ground, and overwintering cauliflowers are in prime condition. All in the open ground, with no protection from the life-giving rain.
Simon Cook
Sutton, Surrey
A slavery claim at the National Portrait Gallery
SIR – A visit last summer to the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) offered a chance to connect with family history. On prominent display was a James Tissot portrait of my great-great-grandfather, Edward Fox White, the founder of Fox-White and Associates, an art appraisal service I oversee today. However, the label next to the painting raised concerns.
It said that Edward, a son of a shoemaker, was an art dealer who benefited from financial compensation awarded after the abolition of slavery: “White’s first marriage linked him to a wealthy Sephardic Portuguese Jewish family who had owned Jamaican sugar plantations. Following Abolition in 1836, White’s future father-in-law received a ‘large amount’ of compensation for 28 enslaved Africans – money that would later help establish and sustain White’s career.”
While acknowledging the importance of exploring historical context, this claim did not align with my knowledge of our family history, which revealed no such transaction. As a descendant of slaves myself, I felt compelled to seek clarification.
Initial adjustments were planned for the caption, but the tarnishing claim remained unresolved. Further inquiries, requesting supporting evidence, elicited a statement on the NPG’s commitment to “exploring people and portraiture in the context of slavery”. I inquired into the source of this misinformation, and with it requested a public retraction.
Eventually, through a Freedom of Information request, the origin of the claim came to light. It was conjecture based on research conducted by my own family. Conflated research – in short, a fabrication.
This exposes the NPG’s flawed approach: “well-meaning initiatives”, a cultural commitment to exploring a certain narrative, undermined by a lack of scholarly rigour.
Museums like the NPG can benefit from collaboration with families with first-hand knowledge of their ancestors’ lives. By prioritising factual accuracy and clear communication, trust and understanding can be built.
The NPG has now relented, months later, agreeing to revise the label, but it maintains there is “no direct evidence”, leaving the door ajar. As for a public retraction or apology, it remains silent.
Donald Gajadhar
Sudbury, Suffolk
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