Letter of the week: Reform has no plan to fix “broken Britain”

I read Marie Le Conte’s article (“The Outsiders Arts Club” TNW #472) with great interest. All credit to her for finding such a sustaining life in the art world and, just as importantly, giving financial succour to artists who produce great work at reasonable prices.

She is correct about the merry-go-round of politics but, as a news obsessive, I can’t tear myself away. When refurbishing my house, I too covered it with pictures, obtained from reasonable antique sources. So when the latest political farce occurs, I look at my images and feel so much calmer. I presume the author hasn’t got a portrait of the prime minister on her wall, or any of the recent incumbents, because that might trigger nightmares.
Judith A Daniels
Norfolk

Suggested Reading

Letter of the week: Stop waiting for Keir Starmer to inspire us

Reader Letters

Marie Le Conte reflects on the fact that, although French, she has lived the greater proportion of her life in the UK. In her article she writes that she feels like an outsider.

Perhaps she should reflect on the slogan that Glasgow city council has used for a number of years: “People Make Glasgow”.

The city was one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution, which brought a surge of immigrants from the Highlands and Islands, from the rural Lowlands, and from Ireland. It was a major seaport and this attracted Italians, Poles, Lithuanians, Jews escaping pogroms, Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, and many others. These are the people who, along with locals, made Glasgow their home and the major city it became. This is reflected in the song written in 1920 by Will Fyffe, which citizens and expats sing with feeling: “I Belong to Glasgow”. People celebrate their ancestry but they also bond over their attachment to the place.

There are many other cities where people feel a strong sense of belonging. Perhaps Ms Le Conte should start singing “Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner” and ponder whether she is.
Alasdair Macdonald
Glasgow

Perhaps Nigel Warburton has missed an important point about conspiracy theories (“The Epstein scandal will create a wave of conspiracy theorists” TNW #472). They have appreciable benefits for politicians since, when any criticism is levelled at them, they can respond that conspiracy theories abound and this is just another one. The more incredible the existing theories, the easier it is to demonstrate the credulity of the public. Billionaires controlling of the weather through HAARP, alien artefacts concealed by governments, Rothschilds controlling the world, and big pharma, for some unclear reason, wishing to damage our health are all highly desirable methods to deflect attention away from, for example, the idea that some unnamed political figure might have an unhealthy relationship with President Putin. Perhaps the origin, or at least the encouragement, of conspiracy theories, lies with the established powers and not some obscure group of oddballs?
Jim Slattery
Cambridge

With the arrest of the King’s brother in the same week as the spat over proposed delays to local elections being settled in pursuit of “democracy”, is now the time for a referendum on the monarchy? In the same vein, could we also discuss bringing forward the replacement of the House of Lords with an elected second chamber of the regions?
Peter Tyzack

I doubt Matthew d’Ancona has much evidence to support his assertion that there is “deep-seated, seething and perilously unmoored public anger” surrounding the fall of former Prince Andrew (“A scandal that leads everywhere and infects everything” TNW #472).  Many a family has a black sheep. Many a mother has doted on a wayward son.

Charles and Queen Camilla have won wide appreciation for their steady support of good causes and the best of British endeavours.  Andrew’s misdemeanours have nothing to do with them. How much could they know? In fact, I believe most people feel some sympathy for them.  

Andrew is being dealt with suitably and such crisis as there is will soon be forgotten. There are plenty of other issues of more weight.
Keith Tunstall
Chichester

If these Epstein files are that large, how is it that the authorities protected the men mentioned in them for so long? This is yet another example of powerful rich people being protected and being kept from facing their crimes. Why is it that the public rarely get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Adam Primhak

Tanit Koch suggests that Arundhati Roy’s withdrawal from the jury of the Berlin film festival was “a pity” (“Germansplaining: The Gaza war comes to the Berlin film festival” TNW #472). No, it was an ethical response, rejecting the weasel words of jury president Wim Wenders. Condemning the genocide in Gaza is not just another political matter, but a way of asserting our humanity.  Roy’s courageous stand shames those countries who have done little or nothing to stop the massacre of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, many of them children. By making a peaceful protest, she demonstrates her robust moral compass and deserves our congratulations.

Bravo Arundhati!
Dr David Jeffrey
West Malvern

Re “The Book Club fails to read the room” by Ros Taylor TNW #472)
I found the new podcast a bit lightweight and was irritated by the “forced banter”. What made me switch off, however, was Tabitha Syrett’s mispronunciation of “Haworth” (easily checked). 
Kathleen Robertshaw

Re “The real Lord of the Flies will restore your faith in humanity” by Rutger Bregman

Surely we have all witnessed, either during childhood or as adults, how some children have pretty unpleasant habits, allowing us to sometimes see the cruel grown-up to come.

I enjoyed Golding’s The Inheritors more than Lord of the Flies. But that’s not to deny the author’s achievements. He did win the Nobel prize for literature, after all.
Keith Brisley