Letters: A widow's grief

A widow's grief is a poor guarantor of our human rights

Sir: The emotional outburst by Frances Lawrence over the decision of an immigration court to not deport Learco Chindamo, the murderer of her husband, does not serve justice well.

Chindamo was sentenced to life in 1996 for murdering Philip Lawrence. The punishment was the denial of his liberty. Once he has served his sentence then the punishment will be completed. The decision regarding deportation was one entirely for the courts. What Mrs Lawrence appears to be asking for is the power for her personally to go on punishing him. While the hurt she has suffered must be immeasurable, she cannot now declare herself judge, jury and executioner.

She does herself no credit by calling into question the Human Rights Act (HRA). Indeed, she demonstrates only a misunderstanding of the concept of inalienable human rights. Mrs Lawrence appears to be saying is that human rights are not inalienable but tradeable; that she, as the widow of the victim, should have the power to take away the human rights of the offender.

Unfortunately, Mrs Lawrence's outburst has been seized upon by the right-wing opponents of the HRA as another reason to do away with the legislation. In what other country would people be campaigning for the removal of their own human rights? In an increasingly authoritarian country the Human Rights Act is an important guarantor of everyone's human rights - there will be times when people violently disagree with decisions but those decisions must remain with the courts, not populist politicians or even grieving widows.

PAUL DONOVAN

LONDON E11

Blighted life under the flightpath

Sir: I live in Hammersmith, and I can assure you the area is already completely blighted by aircraft noise ("Thousands more homes face life in shadow of the flightpath", 21 August).

One of the busiest flight paths into Heathrow cuts straight across the borough, crossing the Thames just to the east of Hammersmith Bridge. Most days of the week the first jumbo flies in at 04.25 and the last one screams overhead at 23.00. There are also intermittent, and noisy, flights in the small hours. The frequency of flights is about one every 90 seconds.

The airline industry promises quieter planes, but that's a matter of degree. For most people in west London they will still be too noisy, too frequent and too close.

The health and peace of mind of hundreds of thousands of people living in the greater London area are utterly irrelevant in terms of the income generated by Heathrow, and in view of this summer's tide of complaints about delays, lost luggage, rude staff etc, the airlines, BAA and the Government will want to press ahead as soon as possible with the third runway.

I suggest a short-term experiment - switch the flight path straight over Westminster for a month, particularly Downing Street. Once the Prime Minister and his young family are woken before 5am every day, and having to shout to be heard, there might be more official appreciation of what voters and taxpayers are putting up with.

CANDIDA WATSON

LONDON W6

Sir: Returning from the Climate Camp I nearly dropped my tent when I read a letter by Justin Dubon of Airbus claiming that the aviation industry has a "good record of reducing emissions" (21 August).

Mr Dubon appears to believe that the huge increase in emissions from aircraft is having less effect on our climate simply because CO2 output per passenger kilometre has gone down.

Aviation expansion is rapidly outstripping technological developments in aircraft design. The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution noted that anticipated changes to design will only deliver relatively small reductions in CO2 per passenger and that any radically new aircraft design is decades away, by which time it will be too late to prevent the worst effects of climate change. Meanwhile, according to the Tyndall Centre, the UK will have to remove all carbon emissions from the rest of its economy to meet its long-term emissions targets if aviation expands to the extent predicted.

The Airbus claims are part of an aggressive effort by the aviation industry to defend its plans for massive expansion. Waiting for an aeroplane that doesn't cause climate change is like holding out for a cigarette that doesn't cause cancer. The only sensible response is to cut down or quit.

BEN STEWART

LONDON N16

Sir: Justin Dubon is being naïve when he states that the aviation industry does not receive subsidy from the Government. The industry receives tax-breaks of at least £9bn a year through tax-free fuel and its zero-rating for VAT.

Mr Dubon also underplays the contribution of aviation to climate change. The figure he cites - that aviation accounts for 2 per cent of worldwide emissions - is correct, but misleading. The figure fails to take account of the uniquely severe damage aircraft emissions do to the climate because of the altitude at which they are emitted. Aviation is also the fastest growing contributor to human-induced climate change emissions worldwide.

JOHN STEWART

LONDON SW9

Sir: In view of BAA's ambitions to expand Heathrow, with the inevitable distress and financial loss to many thousands of households, would it not be socially just to require all BAA senior and middle management to live within five miles of the airport, and directly under a flightpath.

GRAHAM PARRIS

ISFIELD, EAST SUSSEX

Myth of the student grants 'racket'

Sir: Sean O'Grady ("The sums don't add up for next generation of graduates", 14 August) was wrong about tuition fees and grants "not so long ago". In fact, the maximum grant would actually barely "cover the majority of living costs" during the academic year. In vacations it was still necessary for undergraduates to find work in order to make ends meet. This is certainly what I, and the undergraduates I knew, had to do.

Furthermore, the system of grants and free tuition was far from being "a middle-class racket". How can free tuition be fairly so described if the tuition is free to working-class students as well? O'Grady also seems to have ignored the fact that grants were strictly means-tested. Those who had BA or BSc after their names a couple of generations ago usually had higher incomes as well (unless they were teachers!) and therefore their children's grants were correspondingly lower and sometimes non-existent. My father, who had neither BA nor BSc after his name, had a very modest income yet the grant I received was well below the maximum.

"Not so long ago" was neither a "golden age" nor a particularly corrupt one as far as higher education was concerned. What should concern us all is the present likelihood of clever working-class students being deterred from entering higher education by the prospect of incurring horrendous debt. This must be formidably daunting and must make higher education seem something of a high-risk activity best left to the better-off. This was not the case "not so long ago".

PETER CROOK

MIDDLEWICH, CHESHIRE

Broader access to successful schools

Sir: At last a leading article (17 August) that not only recognises the success of the independent sector but also calls for government analysis of why the sector is so successful. There is no doubt that you identify the key qualities and you are right to say that these qualities could and should be replicated in all schools.

You are right too to raise the issue about "broadening access to the independent sector" and Peter Lampl talks about the need to open up independent and grammar schools ("Private schools must be opened up to the poor", 17 August) although he only mentions day schools. It is worth saying that many schools in the independent sector, including boarding schools, are already taking active steps in this important area. For example, since 2004 all Rugby School scholarships have been offered at 10 per cent of fees with augmentation to 100 per cent available on a means-tested basis. We are fully committed to broadening access and ensuring that the maximum number of boys and girls can benefit by directing financial support where it is needed most. Parents of scholars receiving 10 per cent of fees are invited to consider leaving that sum with the school in order that it can be used to support bursaries for other pupils.

PATRICK DERHAM

HEAD MASTER, RUGBY SCHOOL

Sir: With the introduction of the International Baccalaureate in many private schools we are seeing the transformation of English public schools into multinational educational academies attended increasingly by a global elite.

The provision of a small number of "free places" at such institutions is a fig leaf that cannot disguise the fact that English public schools are by no stretch of the imagination "charitable institutions". They are businesses which should now be encouraged to stand on their own financial feet, charging fees that their customers can well afford.

The moneys gained for the Exchequer by this re-assessment could then be applied to the needs of the English education system, which sorely needs it.

PATRICIA GRAHAM

TONBRIDGE, KENT

GPs take the time to spot depression

Sir: Your leading article "When it's all in the mind" (18 August) is misleading when it states that GPs have only six minutes for each patient. The latest survey of GP workload conducted by the NHS Information Centre and published in July 2007 found an average consultation length in general practice of 11.7 minutes.

GPs have the capacity to spend half an hour or more with someone in need. Consultation length is flexible and this is essential to the delivery of good care in any complex illness. The presumption that doctors have no time can act as a deterrent to people seeking help, so it's important to spread the message that GPs do not have to hurry people in and out.

Obviously such flexibility isn't possible unless appointments can overrun. People sitting in waiting rooms if their doctor is running late can be comforted by the knowledge that time would be available for them if necessary.

GPs who know their patients well over time are excellently placed to diagnose depression quickly and accurately. The provision of much-needed increased psychotherapy and counselling services to treat mild to moderate depression does not require the proposed construction of larger local clinics and widespread relocation of GPs that you refer to.

DR PAMELA MARTIN MRCGP

LONDON SE14

Sir: Marjorie Wallace ("Tougher definition for depression 'poses suicide risk' ", 18 August) seems to take the view that in order to prevent a relatively small number of suicides, a large number of people should be treated for a condition they don't have. The whole problem, including many of the suicides, is of sadness and melancholia being medicalised. So instead of learning to live with part of our humanity, we try to get rid of it, and inevitably fail.

CHRIS PAYNE

LONDON NW1

A brave decision on abortion

Sir: May I offer my congratulations to Amnesty? While their brave and wonderful decision to support abortion for rape victims may cost them some members I have no doubt that it will attract even more (myself included).

The Rt Rev Michael Evans and his like (male, celibate) have no ability to consider the issue of pregnancy at all, let alone pregnancy caused by rape, and as such have no valid opinion on the subject ("Catholic bishop quits Amnesty over abortion", 21 August). Morality is only concerned with happiness or suffering. Much better for a ball of cells to be aborted before it has a spinal cord and brain (when it is therefore incapable of feeling pain) than to allow an unwanted and unloved child to be born as a result of violence.

PAUL WILLIAMS

NORTHAMPTON

Green speed limits

Sir: It has been suggested we should lower the speed limit on motorways to improve fuel efficiency (letter, 21 August). I drive a 10-year-old VW Golf turbo-diesel. It gives me 53 miles per gallon at 70mph. I suggest that rather than limit speeds to miles per hour, we could limit speeds to miles per gallon. Gas guzzlers would be restricted to perhaps 30 mph, while the outside lane would be left to us lightweights.

JOHN PEDERSEN

TOTNES, DEVON

Honest exam results

Sir: Why allocate grades to exam results? A simple alternative would be to report the individual's result as a percentage. The school's average percentage mark and the national average could then be given for comparison. Whether the exam is easy or difficult becomes largely irrelevant as the average marks would just vary accordingly. No Pass. No Fail. Just the facts. I suspect that this is everything that many teaching professionals actually wish to avoid.

ROGER OUTING

HUDDERSFIELD

Civilised Asbos

Sir: I was sorry to see you repeating the mantra that "overzealous use of Asbos risks criminalising a generation" (leading article, 21 August). An Asbo is not a criminal penalty; it is a civil order instructing someone to refrain from certain forms of conduct. It does not even appear on the criminal record of the person affected. Only when it is infringed does it attract penal sanctions. Asbos are a civilised response to a very uncivilised phenomenon - harassment and nuisance which can make some people's lives unbearable.

WALTER CAIRNS

MANCHESTER

Warm work

Sir: As well as making me feel guilty about my yearly trip to see my family in Australia, could the Heathrow protesters perhaps add to their campaign another group? The people throughout the country who want to work in their shirtsleeves in the middle of winter and over-heat their offices to do so? I suspect one or two decent sweaters all round would make a dent in greenhouse gasses that would gladden the protesters' hearts, and mine.

DAVID FOSTER

IPSWICH, SUFFOLK

Lost and found

Sir: Your headline of 17 August "Immigrant found lost on mountain" provided me with great hilarity. Next time, please "Lost immigrant found on mountain".

DEREK BRUNDISH

HORSHAM, WEST SUSSEX

Deaf and 'D'oh!'

Sir: Is everyone deaf? Homer Simpson doesn't say "Doh!" - he says "D'oh!"

R MARKLAND

WICKHAM MARKET, SUFFOLK

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