Letter of the week: Russia should have no say in how the peace is won

Re: “The end of Putin is in sight – but we must remain sceptical” by Paul Mason, TNW #494

Putin is yet one more deluded, evil man who has emerged as a dictator and started this futile war. As the antagonist, Russia deserves no say in how peace should be won – they must not be rewarded in any way. If regime change is to happen then, as always with Russia, it will no doubt be bloody and a catastrophe for the Russian people.

Adam Primhak

Peace can never be achieved without there being some form of truth, justice, and reparation. It is to be hoped that at some stage this pointless conflict will end.

But the fact that we have so many narcissists and psychopaths in leadership across the world remains a major issue and we do not yet have a sustainable answer to this challenge.

Nick Taylor

Putin is just a man, at the end of the day, and he has a shelf life – as does his futile war.

Giselle Jones

Suggested Reading

The end of Putin is at last on the table – but we must be sceptical

Paul Mason

Re: Alastair Campbell’s Diary, TNW #494

Alastair Campbell’s celebration of a classic headline, “Knicker nicker nicked” from the old Tavistock Times, is a reminder of another classic headline about a building dispute in a village not far from Tavistock, which read: “Unsightly erection over Crapstone”.

Richard Holledge

The New World cover, August 20, 2026

Possibly my favourite ever local newspaper headline was from the Stratford Herald in the 1980s, which demonstrated how to turn nothing into a front-page lead. During one of this country’s periodic episodes of summer rioting, when buildings were aflame, pretty much everywhere except Warwickshire, the doughty weekly screamed, “Riots! Stratford keeps its cool.”

Simon Garrett

Re: “What have they done with all of Clacton’s young people?” by Lucy Reade, TNW #494

Great article that highlights what is going on in hundreds of coastal communities around Britain – a completely forgotten region because, by default, it’s on the edge. As for Farage, as readers of TNW know too well, Nige only cares about Nige.

Christopher Harrison

It’s the job of politicians to give us hope. Yet most peddle negativity and division. They thrive in talking everything down. No wonder the student in this article prefers India to the UK.

Andrew C

This goes some way to explaining why all the TV vox pops from Clacton only feature older people (obviously, recording in the middle of the working day doesn’t help), and so present a skewed snapshot. “We asked residents…” isn’t good enough if the sample is so limited.

David Whitehill

I live in London where my granddaughters and their friends never listen to a word I say and boss me around mercilessly. So thanks for the tip. I shall move to Clacton. David O’Connor Thompson

Re: “What the hell happened to John Cleese?” by James Ball, TNW #494

I stage-managed the Cambridge Footlights reviews in which John Cleese appeared in 1962 and 1963, the second of which transferred to the Lyric Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue. John’s political views were certainly liberal then, and I’m saddened to hear of his current shift to the hard right.

Tim Fell

Something I’ve learned is that getting old means seeing people who once shared your values shift ever rightwards with age. In doing so, they become people they themselves would have hated.

Ste Thomas

There was a vicious side to Cleese’s comedy that I never liked. In Monty Python, the fresh fruit-obsessed self-defence instructor who shoots one of his trainees; the obese Mr Equator, who invades the home of a courting couple, kills the man and sexually assaults the woman. And as Basil in Fawlty Towers, having reduced one of the German guests to tears, shouts “I’m trying to cheer her up, you stupid kraut!” at one of the others.

Paul Barnes

Re: “Are you over 45 and female? Sorry, you’re not getting a job” by Jamie Klingler, TNW #494

I retrained in my late 40s, became a lawyer and had another 23 years of a new brilliant career. Tough, but worth it.

I left off my first qualification and didn’t include my date of birth or school record on my CV. When asked why, I asked the interviewer whether they had a problem hiring a middle-aged woman starting a second career. I always refused to give my age – still do.

Suggested Reading

Are you over 45 and female? Sorry, you’re not getting a job

Jamie Klingler

Eile Gibson

Re: “How our press turns rioters into protesters” by Mic Wright, TNW #494

I worked with asylum seekers and found them to be nice people keen to settle in and find work. We need to counteract the current view that they are a threat. Getting asylum seekers to meet their new neighbours in an open fashion would break the myths.

Chris Platts

Re: “Applying for a job with Steven Bartlett – very odd and very revealing” by Matt Muir, TNW #494

Bartlett is a self-promoting clown who has produced little, if anything, of societal value. A sad indictment of our age: venerated by many (it would seem) for enriching himself and doing little else.

Nick Lee

At some point we will all realise that how much money someone makes is not a measure of their worth as a person.

Sara Lea

Re: “The press will hate it but this is the way to fix prisons” by Patience Wheatcroft, TNW #494

Definitely release most female prisoners; they generally are not vicious, evil murderers and rapists. As pointed out, most are victims of one form or another. And release all those “terrorists” guilty of holding placards in support of a campaign group or of sitting on a road or bridge.

Richard Robinson

BELOW THE LINE

Re: “The rise of the digital pimp” by Tilly Lawless, TNW #494:

I always wondered about pimps and brothels and how things actually work. Having grown up watching the US shows and films that depict their own version of this world, it seems that whatever they did was wrong. I’m glad Australia has managed to give sex workers some rights.

Wendy Hodgson