Letters: The West needs a credible nuclear deterrent to keep Russia at bay

SIR – Although the news that nuclear-capable US Air Force aircraft are to be based on British soil at RAF Lakenheath (report, August 31) will undoubtedly generate protests and opposition, the truth is that this development will not increase the level of risk to Britain.

The three Western nuclear powers – America, Britain and France – have worked tirelessly for the past 70 years to prevent nuclear conflict through credible deterrence, and while Russia and those who support its evil regime will declare the move as escalation, the reality is that it enhances deterrence. 

Russia seeks to encourage weakness in the West, and while it cannot interfere in the basing of nuclear-capable aircraft, it will certainly do its best to question and undermine the will of Western governments to use nuclear weapons. The West must demonstrate strength and determination to oppose Russia – and that includes a clear commitment to the use of nuclear weapons in retaliation to an attack on us.

Group Captain Terry Holloway (retd)
Great Wratting, Suffolk

SIR – Given Joe Biden’s overt hostility to Britain, perhaps the Government should refuse permission for America to place nuclear weapons on British soil. The President could instead ask his favoured allies in Ireland.

Paul Maloney
London SE3

SIR – The appointment of Grant Shapps as Defence Secretary (report, telegraph.co.uk, August 31) has made it clear that the defence of our country is not a priority for our current PM.

Ian Cribb
Poole, Dorset

SIR – By appointing another “yes” man, does the PM think he is strengthening his team?

Raymond Jones
Modbury, Devon

SIR – Is Grant Shapps seeing how many Cabinet jobs he can hold in a set time?
Mary Moore
London E2

SIR – I was saddened to hear of the resignation of Ben Wallace as defence secretary. I well remember meeting him on my doorstep when he first stood for election as MP for the constituency that then included my home city of Lancaster. I was very impressed, and, having cast my vote for him, bumped into him in the city centre some weeks later. He recalled our conversation and was kind enough to spend some moments chatting. 

I have watched his progress and must conclude that his resignation represents a huge loss for the Government and the country. I wish him well for the future and thank him for providing the only occasion on which I truly felt my vote actually counted for something worthwhile.

Duncan Woodcock
Lancaster

Imperial’s Ulez science

SIR – First Imperial College London gave us Professor Neil Ferguson, whose predictions on Covid were shown to be wildly inaccurate, as were those he made on foot-and-mouth, bird flu and swine flu.

Now we have Gary Fuller, also of Imperial, providing the sole “independent peer review” of the Ulez findings – which, I note, cite Fuller’s work (report, August 31). Moreover, the Environmental Research Group at Imperial – of which Mr Fuller is a member – received almost £900,000 in grants from City Hall. 

Perhaps future “findings” published by Imperial should be treated with scepticism until their background and provenance have been fully disclosed.

Alisdair Low
Liss, Hampshire

SIR – John Cavendish (Letters, August 29) highlighted the illogical thinking over Ulez vehicle classification, but I can go further. 

In 2012 I purchased a new Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion, which I continue to own, paying a premium price for such “clean diesel” technology as it emits less than 100g of C02 per kilometre. The road tax charge continues to be zero, but it is not Ulez-compliant. 

When I bought it and for some years after that it was deemed so clean that it was originally exempt from the congestion charge (this has now been reversed) that was due driving through central London, which I do intermittently to visit my son who lives in Clapham. He owns a 2002 Jaguar XJ 3.2 Sport fitted with a V8 petrol engine emitting 288g C02 per kilometre, and for which the road tax is £325, but is categorised as exempt from the Ulez charge.

Roger Potts
Bramhope, West Yorkshire

Air traffic complexity

SIR – As a retired mainframe systems programmer I am not surprised at bad data crashing the National Air Traffic Service (Letters, August 31). 

The testing of complex systems to cope with all obscure combinations of events is impossible. Proponents of driverless vehicles – please take note.

Pete Dennis
Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

Breaking bread

SIR – My stepdaughter came to stay, leaving behind a sliced white loaf (Letters, August 31) on July 18, which I duly put into my compost. 
I turned the compost some five weeks later and was rather dismayed to find the slices wetter but otherwise in perfect condition. 

If it doesn’t rot at all in that time, what happens to it in people’s guts?

Jacqui Watson
Charing, Kent

Forgetful shopper

SIR – When I shop for food I insist that my wife leaves me a list (Letters, August 31) to forestall any disputes arising from my forgetfulness. She invariably omits the quantities, so I still have an earful when I return with the wrong amounts.

John H Stephen 
Bisley, Gloucestershire

SIR– Numbered shopping lists are a mixed blessing. 

I recall a hapless husband who came back from the shops with one pint of milk, two cabbages, three potatoes, four loaves of bread and five packs of custard creams. 

Mik Shaw
Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex

NHS waiting lists

SIR – I note that Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, is blaming underinvestment in the NHS for 120,000 deaths while on waiting lists (report, August 31).

Would that be the same Matthew Taylor who in June 2021 cheered the Government’s extension by five weeks of Covid lockdown, following his lobbying on behalf of his “members”? We had already had 15 months of the National Covid Service by that point.

Keith Phair
Felixstowe, Suffolk

Basics of policing

SIR – In 1962 my wife and I joined the police (Letters, August 30) and attended the Ryton-on-Dunsmore training centre. The instructors were mature serving sergeants and officers. We were trained to know and uphold the law, treat the public without fear or favour, and keep the peace. 

There were restrictions, such as not being allowed to wear badges other than those of our force or rank. Our appearance was strictly controlled and we were smart and tidy when appearing in the street. If an officer stepped out of line, particularly in their first two years, they were dismissed. This happened to a good friend and copper when he was found asleep on night duty.

It is about time the service got back to the basics of the job: protection of life and property, as in the definition taught back in 1962.

Neville H Walker 
Atherstone, Warwickshire

SIR – Policemen joining in with the public’s fun is nothing new. In 1979 I took a photograph of my girlfriend standing next to the Bobby outside 10 Downing Street, with her wearing his helmet. There was less security then.

Paul Heblik
Westgate-on-Sea, Kent

Unpaid picking

SIR – During the war, I was a pupil at a small school in Surrey. In Autumn, the headmaster gave us an occasional afternoon “off” and organised us into teams that competed to see which could pick the most. 

One week it was blackberries, another rosehips (Letters, August 29), and later acorns for pig food. The winners received boiled sweets – the only confectionery available. Our hauls were sold to the authorities. 

We never found out what happened to the money.

Keith Ferris
Coxheath, Kent

A heroine betrayed in Nazi-occupied France

SIR – The unveiling of a portrait of Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan by the Queen (Remembered, August 30) was a tribute to one of the bravest women to serve Britain in the Second World War. 

Working as a secret service agent in France, she evaded capture for many months, sending vital information to the Allies. Betrayal resulted in her eventual capture, after a daring rooftop escapade. 

She was subjected to the most inhumane treatment by her captors and was sent to Dachau where, on September 13 1944, along with Madeleine Damerment and Yolande Beekman, she was executed. She was posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1949.

Spy Princess by Shrabani Basu gives a moving and wonderful account of Noor’s life from her birth in Russia in 1914 to her death in Dachau, and I thoroughly recommend it.

Derek Hirst
Halifax, West Yorkshire

Timber windows can be beautiful and efficient

SIR – As a historic buildings consultant, I believe the importance of maintaining surviving original windows in listed buildings and in conservation areas cannot be overestimated (Letters, August 30). 

For example, the loss of traditional sliding sash windows in our built environment, particularly in Victorian and Edwardian suburbs, has greatly diminished their architectural and aesthetic integrity. A delightful feature of older windows is that their panes reflect the light at different angles, which is particularly true in the case of leaded lights. 

The loss of the sparkling reflective quality of traditional crown glass in Georgian and early Victorian buildings (where panes were cut from a hand-blown circular disc) and later forms of cylinder and drawn glass, has a major negative impact on the buildings.

However, I also fully appreciate the need to improve insulation and energy efficiency. In the case of listed buildings and conservation areas, this can be achieved using improved, less intrusive secondary glazing methods.

Generally though, most uPVC windows have a life of 20 to 25 years, after which the sealed units or their fittings tend to fail, which in most cases requires the replacement of the entire unit. I have great sympathy with owners of post-war buildings where unseasoned timber has been used, as this can be a maintenance nightmare. 

But if it is looked after, seasoned timber can last a great deal longer than uPVC, and repair is definitely a sustainable option that should always be considered before replacement, since it often proves more cost-effective – and attractive – in the 
long term. 

Charles Brooking
Cranleigh, Surrey

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