Work harder, or lose tax credits

These letters were published in the 7th October edition of The Independent

There was lots of “this hurts me as much as it hurts you” in Osborne's speech to conference (Colin McPherson)

Jeremy Hunt appears to believe that tax credit cuts will make British people work harder. Quite possibly they will – but is that fair and just? People on zero-hours contracts already have to work all the hours God gives them, and even then just about survive.

Jeremy Hunt has already had a pretty rough reception from the good people of Manchester. He seems to want to pour petrol on the flames.

Andrew McLuskey

Staines, Middlesex

To make the rich work harder, the Tories cut their taxes; to make the poor work harder, they cut their tax credits.

Behold the new workers’ party!

Pete Dorey

Bath

Will the tax credit cuts make people work as hard as a member of the Bullingdon Club?

Ian McKenzie

Lincoln

NHS won’t kill you at the weekend

The Department of Health is wilfully misrepresenting statistical evidence.

They refer repeatedly to an association between excess mortality of 11,000 patients and hospital care at the weekend. This soundbite is currently being used to justify the imposition of punishing cuts to doctors’ pay and conditions.

This “weekend effect” has been observed in healthcare systems the world over and is not unique to the NHS. The kind of patients admitted, the types and severity of their illness and the reasons they attend are different at the weekend. Hospitals are different too. They are focused on providing emergency care and little non-urgent activity takes place.

The authors of the study in question wrote: “It is not possible to ascertain the extent to which these excess deaths may be preventable; to assume that they are avoidable would be rash and misleading.”

Even if statistics are used to adjust for sicker patients arriving at the weekend, it is not possible to prove that weekend hospital care causes increased mortality.

On the contrary, solid evidence exists to show that demoralised and tired doctors are more likely to make mistakes. Doctors, including myself, already provide a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week service and work very hard to provide it.

The proposed new non-consultant doctor contract represents a serious threat to patient safety by removing key safeguards to excessive working hours and the misuse of statistical evidence is a cynical attempt to mislead and distract the public.

Dr Alex Stockdale

Institute of Infection and Global Health

University of Liverpool

Tories ‘AT the centre’, so who’s on the right?

Steve Richards (6 October) observes that George Osborne, a man, regrettably, far more enthused by politicking than governing, has persuaded the print media and the BBC that his government occupies the centre ground.

This extraordinary sleight of hand raises real questions. If Osborne is believable, who, now, is on the extreme right of British politics, and what are their ideological positions?

Michael Rosenthal

Banbury, Oxfordshire

The BBC is supposed to be objective. Why, then, does it refer to Jeremy Corbyn as the “left-wing” leader of the Labour Party but never refer to David Cameron as the “right-wing” Prime Minister.

A recent news bulletin referred to the “tieless” Corbyn at the party conference. Aren’t his beliefs and values more important than what he is wearing?

Such tactics from the BBC encapsulate one of the central concepts of hegemony – the subtle way organisations with power try to reinforce the status quo by manipulating opinion with irrelevant comments or arguments.

T Maunder

Leeds

Tries still do win rugby matches

Stuart Russell (letter, 6 October) is concerned that rugby’s scoring system, which he describes as arcane and illogical, allows a game to be won by a team kicking two penalties against an opponent’s unconverted try.

While this can and does happen, he may be comforted to know that in the 281 matches played in previous Rugby World Cups, only 11 were won through penalty goals by the team scoring the fewer tries.

An overwhelming number of matches have always been won – and continue to be won – by the team scoring the more tries.

Corris Thomas

Cardiff

Osborne reverses Thatcher reforms

Surely many of the powers for local government that George Osborne claims to be creating do little more than restore powers routinely exercised locally until restrained under the Thatcher regime. I welcome devolution to local government, but its powers need to be upheld by a written constitution, not within the gift or confiscation of central government personalities.

Increased local government power is a necessary step in reducing the conflict of loyalties faced by constituency MPs – torn between what is best for the nation and what will damage the quality of life of their constituents. It would also facilitate reforms, including proportionally elected MPs, which would rectify many current absurdities.

R W Chaplin

Norwich

Human rights? Who cares?

While the news (report, 3 October) that the Foreign Office no longer really bothers about human rights is shocking at a moral and ethical level, it is hardly surprising.

A government that wilfully inflicts poverty and homelessness on thousands of its own citizens, via benefit cuts, benefit sanctions, the bedroom tax etc, while encouraging the imposition of zero-hours contracts (casual labour, in fact), has been demonstrating this approach for years.

Merry Cross

Reading

May raises asylum bar – and seeks Tory crown

Theresa May’s Tory conference speech attacking the level of immigration was cheap and nasty and a just criticism of herself as Home Secretary for the past five years.

Mrs May’s speech was a personal future campaign pitch for the Tory crown and premiership when the Conservatives finally dump David Cameron.

The 2015 Tory conference is nothing to do with the British people – indigenous and immigrant alike – but the personal campaign roadshow statements of Boris Johnson, George Osborne, and, of course, Theresa May.

Dominic Shelmerdine

London SW3

The points made in Theresa May’s speech at the Conservative Party conference would be a very welcome improvement to our leaking borders situation and will be applauded by the vast majority of people in the UK.

But we have heard much of this before without any improvements. So, Mrs May, you have proved you can talk the talk; now the whole nation is watching closely to see if you can walk the walk. If you don’t deliver you will be remembered as just another politician who made promises without any intention of keeping them.

If you do deliver you will be remembered as the Home Secretary who made a real effort to protect Britain and the British culture from being overrun and disappearing for ever.

Dave Croucher

Doncaster

Haunting images of bodies washing on to Europe’s shore expose the lengths to which refugees go to flee war in Syria. Many attempting a perilous sea crossing trust their lives to ruthless and predatory people-traffickers.

But it is a mistake to believe that setting foot in Europe means the end of their ordeal – they are vulnerable to being sold into modern slavery, including physical labour and sexual exploitation.

According to Home Office statistics we have 13,000 modern slaves here in the UK. The Modern Slavery Act, recently introduced to combat this shocking situation, is a step forward but much more could be done.

The law was revised to mean a victim’s consent was no defence in cases of slavery. But legislation still requires proof that force or compulsion was used against those held in slavery or servitude, which can be extremely difficult to demonstrate in cases involving children.

These young victims are controlled simply due to their vulnerability rather than by physical force or compulsion – for example through grooming for sexual exploitation or being trafficked by a family to become a domestic servant. Such victims may have no real understanding that what is happening to them is wrong.

It is no wonder, with such legal barriers in place, that so few child exploitation cases are ever prosecuted.

Until the law is tightened up, those same criminals who send refugees to their death in the Mediterranean will be free to operate with impunity here in the UK.

Kim Harrison

Head of Human Rights, Slater and Gordon

London WC2