There are two main reasons why protests against badger culling are likely to be so widespread and so heated ("Police: we won't be able to cope with badger cull protests", 20 November). First, the proposed cull will be completely non-selective. Second, all the research so far carried out suggests that, at best, the cull will result in only a marginal reduction in cattle TB. It is true that research has shown that reactive culling (culling from setts close to a recent TB outbreak in cattle) proved counterproductive. But it is clear from articles and letters in the local press that there are farmers in the South-West who have studied badger behaviour in detail and are confident that they can identify badger setts infected with TB. Indeed, they claim that culling the badgers only in these setts has already curbed local spread of the disease.
Such activity is, of course, illegal, which may be why these anonymous individuals have had difficulty persuading ministry officials to take their claims seriously and to sanction pilot trials to test them. But since a TB-infected badger is destined to die in protracted pain, trials based upon humane culling only of these animals and those that have been in close contact with them within a sett seem much more likely to be acceptable to protesters than blanket culling within large areas.
Francis Kirkham
Crediton, Devon
I am sure that many other farmers are not convinced that bovine TB is spread by badgers. To make dairying viable, the number of animals in a herd has increased dramatically. The consequent overcrowding mirrors what happens in the human population where TB cases are also rising. If it comes to the crunch, I am not sure what powers the police will have to trespass on my land to allow culling of badgers. But I am prepared to test the law on this matter and, if needs be, will stand on guard to defend the badgers on my land.
John Bovington
Shoreham, Kent
In Britain we have a long tradition of having the freedom to make peaceful protests; this should not be sacrificed for the sake of a three-week sporting event, however prestigious ("Demonstrations 'to be banned during Olympics'", 20 November). I seem to remember that there were several protests in this country when we heard that the Chinese authorities were preventing demonstrations near the Olympics in Beijing. So would it not be only right and proper for us to demonstrate to the rest of the world the freedom we enjoy in our country by allowing visitors to see those who wish to protest peacefully?
Of course, one way the Government could prevent the sort of demonstrations we have seen recently would be to address the underlying causes. A start would be to pass a law to make it illegal for anyone in any organisation to receive total remuneration in any form worth more than, say, 20 times the remuneration of the lowest-paid person in that organisation whether employed directly or by a sub-contractor. And the inclusion of politicians' pensions in the "discussions" about public sector pensions would also help.
Malcolm Morrison
Swindon, Wiltshire
I can reassure Richard Branson that we already operate "accelerated university degree courses" ("We need a nation of young entrepreneurs to meet this challenge", 20 November). Our distance learning courses in community engagement and governance enable students to study full- or part-time from anywhere on the planet and relate to the real world. They are also supported through the calendar year. We have more than 1,000 graduates contributing to what this government terms localism and Big Society.
James Derounian
University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham
One way of helping the unemployed, both old and young, would be to relax the rule by which those on jobseeker's allowance can earn only £5 on a pound-for-pound basis. This would encourage those out of work to take part-time employment, which is often a way of entering or re-entering the labour market.
Tim Mickleburgh
Grimsby. Lincolnshire
Would "Natty" Rothschild, the Cambridge graduate and friend of infamous Cecil Rhodes you cite as a Good Banker ("Before bankers went bad", 20 November), by any chance be the same Baron Rothschild Paul Vallely quoted as saying in The Independent on 16 April 2004: "I care not what puppet is placed on the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man who controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire, and I control Britain's money supply"?
M A Qavi
London SE3
US religious types are ahead of the curve on buy-nothing days ("New world order", 20 November). Every Sabbath day, once a week, is a "buy-nothing" day. We've been already doing it for thousands of years.
George Tasker
posted online
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