SIR – Young voters, who are often apathetic, are now likely to come out in force at the general election.
They have a clear choice between Labour’s proposal to lower the voting age and being forced by the Conservatives into National Service (report, May 26). As the father of two teenagers, I know what they’ll vote for.
Christian Froggatt
Reigate, Surrey
SIR – Rishi Sunak is absolutely right to bring back National Service – and is the only politician with the courage to promote it. The young will find discipline, a purpose in life and self-respect, as well as travel and the chance to learn a skill to support them for the rest of their lives. And we will all be safer as a consequence.
N B Bentley
London SW3
SIR – The Armed Forces are dangerously low on numbers. Where will they find the manpower to train and lead Rishi Sunak’s National Servicemen and women?
Julian Tope
Portishead, Somerset
SIR – As a former serving soldier, I see National Service for a year as a terrible idea. Basic training takes between two and four months, and could be delayed by recruits getting injured or failing tests, which leaves little time to achieve much. Also, the military works well in its current form as everyone is a volunteer. National Service would damage morale.
Rishi Sunak claims that recruits will gain experience in logistics, cybersecurity, procurement and civil response operations. Is the mandate of one year a typing error, because all this training will require more time? I am now a cybersecurity professional, and can confirm that it takes a lot more than a year to gain any meaningful experience of this subject.
Hannah Hunt
Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire
SIR – Voters are not interested in National Service. They are interested in the underperforming health service and rising immigration, and they want to hear a clear plan for how these issues will be addressed. If problems in these areas are, as I suspect, unfixable, then politicians need to be honest about the reasons why.
Simon Warde
Bognor Regis, West Sussex
SIR – I was inspired to read about the Prime Minister’s plans for compulsory National Service for 18-year-olds.
However, I think a similar scheme for MPs and other public servants would be more useful.
Bill Galvin
Stockport, Cheshire
SIR – Sir Keir Starmer plans to be in No 10 for 10 years (report, May 25). It’s comforting to know that he has at least one plan.
Geoff Millward
Sandside, Cumbria
Risks to food security
SIR – I am approaching the final stages of my farming career and it has pained me to witness the demise of family farms. Traditional livestock farms and small businesses in general were the backbone of the British economy, yet politicians of all stripes have taken short-term, opportunistic attitudes to farming for more than 40 years – as illustrated by the dissolution of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 2002, and monopolisation by supermarkets, which have relentlessly increased profit margins at the expense of producers.
The Government’s approach is to adopt populist, so-called green initiatives, which place more emphasis on expanding newt ecosystems than ensuring quality British produce. Ministers seem unconcerned that our food security is at risk, and that we are increasingly dependent on overseas imports, with the associated carbon emissions from shipping.
Future generations will pay a heavy price for such disjointed and ill-conceived policies affecting British farming. As with most sectors in the British economy, the only growth appears to be in government bureaucracy and complacency.
Sandy Owens
Presteigne, Radnorshire
SIR – I am 82 and have been farming on my own account for 57 years.
Returning to “the way we farmed 50 years ago”, as the head of Waitrose suggests (Features, May 9), would mean ploughing, and it is because ploughing ceased that tens of thousands of acres are now infested with black-grass, rye bromes, annual meadow-grass and wild oats.
Regenerative farming in respect of tilling the land means minimum tillage techniques, which, at present, only benefit the farming chemical manufacturers.
Angus Jacobsen
Montrose, Angus
SIR – In the 1950s I was an apprentice at the Standard Triumph factory in Coventry, where the Massey Ferguson tractors (Letters, May 25) were built under licence. One day I was asked to drive the new models off the assembly line to a parking position. I was 17 and did not have a licence, but told the supervisor otherwise. I drove the first one straight into a line of parked tractors, but as they were so strong, no damage occurred.
I did get better with practice.
Anthony Barrett
Warwick
Smart servant
SIR – As a retired civil servant, I was pleased to see Simon Case, head of the Civil Service, setting an example by attending the Covid Inquiry in a suit and tie, and with polished shoes (report, May 24). May I make just one suggestion? He could replace his fabric briefcase with a leather one, as better befits a gentleman of his standing.
Ted Shorter
Tonbridge, Kent
Accent practice
SIR – In Salzburg recently, we met a young shop worker with flawless, unaccented English (Letters, May 25). We were surprised to find that she was Austrian. She said she tried hard to get the accent right, as she wanted to sound like a native speaker.
She asked us to recommend television programmes she could watch to learn regional British accents. We suggested Two Doors Down, so if readers find a shop assistant in Salzburg speaking in a Glaswegian accent, they’ll know why.
Lynda Cox
Southampton
Inheritance tax dodge
SIR – The Chancellor is against inheritance tax (report, May 25). Aren’t we all? So why didn’t he do something about it when he could?
Malcolm Allen
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
SIR – I seem to remember George Osborne promising to cut inheritance tax. That came to nothing, so why should we believe Jeremy Hunt now?
Denise Hurst
Poole, Dorset
SIR – Far from being pernicious and a disincentive to people saving for their futures, inheritance tax encourages future generations to make their own way in life.
If our children wish to continue living at the standard to which they have become accustomed, they should take the same advice I received from my own parents: “Should you require a helping hand, look down; you have one at the end of each arm.” Ours is a meritocracy, not an inheritocracy.
Dr A J Hesketh
Scorton, Lancashire
War in Gaza
SIR – The moral equivalence arguments made by Israel, Hamas, the American administration and various commentators are spurious and should be strongly rejected.
Two wrongs don’t make a right. Actions must be judged for what they are, be that the outrageous October 7 atrocities or Israel’s evidently disproportionate response and its horrific consequences for civilians (including many women and children, as well as aid workers and journalists).
It is past time for the sensible middle worldwide to reassert itself. This does not mean compromise; it means judging things on their own merits, not tribalistically.
Peter M May
Southampton, Western Australia
Tipping point
SIR – When my car is serviced the bill has two components: parts and labour.
Perhaps we should now accept that restaurant bills will have two components – a charge for food and a second charge for the labour involved in producing and serving it (“How US-style tipping came to Britain – and sparked a backlash among customers”, Business, May 18).
Everyone would then see the costs of these components, and tipping would be unnecessary.
David Hemingway
Oadby, Leicestershire
A day when the Hercules proved its worth
SIR – I was very interested to read your article about the C-130 Hercules transporter (“The Hercules’ great peacetime adventure”, Features, May 22) because last week was the anniversary of a flight I made to the Atlantic to assist the liner SS Oriana, which had a bomb scare.
We had on board our aircraft a contingent from the Special Boat Service, all kitted up and ready to jump to the liner’s aid. We circled the ship for about an hour, with the Oriana’s passengers lining the decks and waving at us. Eventually the ship’s captain decided we were not needed, so with the sun setting we made for home, and because of crew duty time landed at Lajes in the Azores for the night.
It was an unexpectedly eventful day, but satisfying to know that we and the good old Hercules were able to help.
Terry Condliff
Former navigator, 47 Squadron
Lyneham, Wiltshire
SIR – Once again the subject of the Royal Air Force’s lack of aircraft raises its ugly head (“D-Day event cut back as MoD secures just one plane”, report, May 20).
Thanks to years of Treasury-imposed cuts, the RAF is unable to mount a suitable parachute drop to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The operational implications are extremely worrying.
Under present policy the front-line Typhoon Force will have to soldier on with what it has, relying on dwindling numbers, until the Tempest hopefully arrives decades from now. Filling the gap with the F-35 is no answer because there aren’t enough of them.
This comes after several other policy gaffes, including the Nimrod MRA4 disaster, the scrapping of the Harrier and Sea Harrier force, followed by the selling-off of the Hercules fleet.
And what was the Defence Secretary’s answer to all this? To hold a “review”, which of course will drone on until well after D-Day and be forgotten.
Simon Sanders
Lincoln
The once glorious city now marred by potholes
SIR – “Pothole apathy” (Letters, May 25) is certainly a problem in the once glorious city of Bath – particularly on Westgate Street, where the pavements are now seriously hazardous.
Bath and North East Somerset Council should be held to account for the dire state of pavements and walkways, as many are not only uneven but also dangerous for pedestrians, let alone those with mobility issues.
I know several people who have tripped and fallen recently.
Rosy Drohan
Bath, Somerset
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