Letters: British civility

An American visitor's praise for the civility of Britons amid chaos

Sir: On 10 August, the one place a traveller did not want to be was flying into Heathrow Airport. Yet I landed there hours after police thwarted an alleged terrorist plot. But a day that could have been a nightmare proved inspirational.

The incident wreaked havoc. Sweeping flight cancellations and the emergency security measures left masses of people stranded and nervous in the face of indefinite delays. Though I braced myself to endure aggravated people, the British were shockingly civil. If the tired travellers had become agitated, cranky, and rude it would have been warranted. Huge lines of people snaked back and forth. Parents held sleeping children while struggling with baggage. Elderly people stood on shaky legs as hours extended into days.

But I did not observe rudeness or disorder. Where chaos should have ruled, a pervasive sense of calm descended.

The spirit of decency was oddly foreign to me, an impatient American. Everyone queued in tidy lines. People were polite. Passengers at the ticket counters were courteous to airline personnel. Volunteers worked tirelessly to direct the crowds. The exceptional character of the British continued to delight me when I finally stopped trying to get out of London and decided to head further into it. I took a taxi driven by a delightful old man with a thick accent and rosy cheeks. He whisked me to Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and a host of other sights. My guide cared for me as if I was his personal guest. He even shut off the meter.

Though my time in Britain was short, the warmth of the people left a lasting impression. Seeing others endure adversity with civility inspired me. As our global community faces increasing threats, I hope that we too could embody such gracious perseverance.

LISA LIGUORI

POWAY, CALIFORNIA

The age of the deskilled worker

Sir: For the past 30 years, British companies have been busy deskilling their workers. In many cafés and restaurants, staff are no longer required to know how to cook; they just need to know how to press the button on the microwave or how to sprinkle the topping on the pizza.

There are few hardware shops where the staff know what a countersink is. We have bubble-pack warehouses with staff who say, "Have you looked?" Still, when the GCSE and A-level results are published, at least we have the annual entertainment of hearing Sir Digby Jones complaining on behalf of the CBI that school-leavers cannot do simple calculations and do not know how to write, other than in text-speak.

Surely Sir Digby cannot be representing Floorz-4-U, or Toys "R" Us, or those companies that regularly send me letters written in corporate gobbledygook, liberally sprinkled with apostrophes, using "presently" when they mean "at present" and telling me that a 29.8 per cent rate of interest is a bargain?

His time would be better spent getting all employers to pay at least the minimum wage, identifying those disregarding health and safety legislation and helping the authorities track down employers who are evading tax. Better still, he could go back to iSoft and sort out the NHS IT fiasco and make way for those who are a better informed to comment on educational matters.

SHAUN PYE

HEADINGLEY, LEEDS

Sir: Prior to Thatcherism, governments both Labour and Conservative supported government training centres (later Skillcentres) to teach trades and skills, such as engineering, draughtsmanship, joinery, hairdressing and many other disciplines to the unemployed.

I know several people who benefited and prospered from these publicly sponsored courses. Sir Digby Jones (article, 22 August) may remember the scheme.

When the Iron Lady swept away publicly funded projects such as this, she was damaging our industrial infrastructure. After this, most large companies, in the interest of shareholders, abandoned the long-established system of apprenticeships.

If the skills gap is as serious as Sir Digby says, perhaps he could persuade his contacts in industry to re-establish the apprenticeship scheme, even if it means putting only two or three hopefuls on the payroll. The expense will not make shareholders demand a change of directors.

MIKE MITCHELL

HOVE, EAST SUSSEX

Why French is off the curriculum

Sir: I did my PGCE dissertation in 1961. My subject was relevance of vocabulary in school French courses to pupils' lives. But I did not need to take a sociological look at schoolchildren's lives to consider motivation.

In 1979, the country elected Margaret Thatcher as prime minister, and from that day, the media bombarded everybody with a steady stream of anti-European rhetoric, focused mainly on the French and the Germans.

Children do not live in some sort of culture-free vacuum. By 1983, I noticed in my work as a language teacher that boys were becoming clearly demotivated about learning French.

After a year or two, I conducted a survey of where pupils spent foreign holidays, and Spain won hands down. The school governors rejected a suggestion that we should convert to teaching Spanish, my other language.

The anti-European rhetoric has never abated. Tony Blair is indeed Baroness Thatcher's rightful heir and successor. As a good French speaker, he has intensified the anti-European and anti-French rhetoric. Should his government be surprised that people always take their cue from their leaders?

We are now in the third decade of steady, media-supported hostility to Europe. Is anybody really surprised at the loss of interest?

DAVID MEDD

INGLEBY BARWICK STOCKTON ON TEES

Sir: Despite the large numbers of young people who have dropped modern languages in favour of another subject, I doubt whether we have lost many potential linguists.

Each year, we see that if pupils are entered for subjects they are interested in and feel competent at, they do very well and get a high proportion of A- and B-grade passes.

An A-grade in French does not make you a linguist. Telling young people that they should take a modern language because it will be good for them, or worse, because it will be good for the economy, is unhelpful and somewhat dishonest.

However many subject passes this cohort of 16-year-olds has accumulated, the knowledge acquired will vanish like snow in summer.

It is a matter of "use it or lose it", and unless these young people end up working in a field where they can apply it or they have the self-motivation and interest to rehearse it constantly, most of their hard-won knowledge will be lost in the next few years. That is especially the case with languages.

DR LES MAY

ROCHDALE, LANCASHIRE

Modern fungicides are less harmful

Sir: Peter Melchett is being disingenuous (Letters, 26 August) when he claims that the Soil Association-certified farmers use only "naturally occurring substances such as copper, sulphur, soft soap and derris". Copper spray is in the form of Bordeaux mixture, a combination of copper sulphate and calcium hydroxide (slaked lime), neither of which occurs in nature. You might as well claim that DDT is naturally occurring carbon, hydrogen and chlorine.

The reason for the Soil Association's attachment to Bordeaux mixture seems to be that it is in some way traditional and dates back further than the organic movement. Modern synthetic fungicides are more effective, less harmful to non-target species and rapidly biodegradable.

If a substance is naturally occurring, so what? Derris is a natural plant by-product whose active ingredient rotenone has been linked to the development of Parkinson's disease. Pyrethroid sheep-dips, also sanctioned by the Soil Association, are "natural", but have been responsible for wiping out invertebrate life on miles of British rivers.

Government safety regulations may not be perfect, but at least they are based on scientific advice rather than the Soil Association's approach, which seems based on tradition and faith.

PETER FATTORINI

SKIPTON, NORTH YORKSHIRE

Police violence at 'peaceful rave'

Sir: On Sunday, there was an atrocious abuse of power ("Raves turn violent after police step in", 28 August). The rave at Great Chesterford, Essex started, as almost all raves do, as a peaceful gathering of like minds, with the intention of having a good time. I know; I was there.

Yes, the rave was on private property. But the police reaction was arrogant and unnecessary. I was there from Friday evening till Sunday and I saw no justification for the savage beatings of some ravers.

Thirty-five party-goers were charged with "suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance". The only sign of civilisation was the nearby M11, and I challenge anyone driving at 70mph to have really noticed what was going on, let alone say it was causing a "nuisance". Anyway, a raver who has not slept or eaten for 48 hours is in no state to "conspire" to anything.

If a peaceful gathering of music-lovers is set upon by a wall of police, in full riot gear, that reaction can be understood better. The police approach was inexcusably violent.

A raver is one of the most passive breeds. All they want to do is to listen to loud music and get silly in the mud. They do not want violent confrontation, but in this case the police gave them no choice. Admittedly, drugs, lack of supervision and trespassing are negative aspects of the rave culture. So, often a police response is understandable. But any values held by the authorities and used to justify this sort of reaction are undermined in a situation like this.

The drug culture in the rave scene is no worse than that in any city club on a Saturday night. Can we really say that riot gear, helicopters and dogs are necessary for trespassers? How can we say that what is essentially an expression of basic freedoms is reason enough for violence?

PIERS COLBY,

NORWICH

Iran's right to protect itself

Sir: Iran is threatened on three sides by nations with nuclear weapons, Pakistan to the east, Russia to the north and Israel to the west ("Turn up the pressure on Iran", 22 August).

It would be irresponsible of the Iranian government if they did nothing to protect the country. And they may legitimately be trying to secure alternative sources of energy through nuclear power.

I have not noticed William Hague or the Conservative Party campaigning against Britain acquiring more Trident nuclear submarines. Nor do I see them campaigning against new nuclear power stations. So it is OK for us, but not for them?

DR JOHN NEWTON

LONDON SW6

Make-up madness

Sir: The daughter of a friend flew to New York last week. A security guard refused to allow her to take £200 worth of personal make-up on the plane. When she asked if she could post the make-up back to her home, the guard refused, so she had to abandon the lot and buy replacements later. Could the authorities not use just a tad of discretion before applying draconian rules, causing innocent people financial loss?

JOHN RICHARDS

ST IVES CORNWALL

Sir: I have a suggestion for resolving the Ryanair vs Government argument ("Ryanair sues government for £3m over 'nonsensical' security", 26 August). The Government should allow security measures to be relaxed only on Ryanair flights. As long as the travellers (and potential terrorists) are fully aware, passenger numbers and any bombings on Ryanair flights should be a true test of whether the security measures are truly "nonsensical and ineffective".

LOUISE TAYLOR

MUSSELBURGH EAST LOTHIAN

Recycling politicians

Sir: There is a simple method of funding political parties without burdening the taxpayer. If each former cabinet (or shadow cabinet) minister were to donate 25 per cent of their fees for after-dinner speaking engagements, autobiographies, publishing diaries etc, the coffers would fill quickly. After they leave office, there is a premium on their services purely because of their political position so it would seem reasonable for them to recycle some of this.

DR MALCOLM STEBLES

MAIDENHEAD, BERKSHIRE

An old chestnut?

Sir: In the article "Census call to help conquer horse chestnut threat" (26 August), Glen Atkinson claims that a homeopathic treatment is showing good results over a two-year period. Given that homeopathic remedies are in fact pure water, I am interested to know what the control treatment applied to diseased horse chestnut trees was in this experiment.

DR ROBERT D C SAUNDERS

ASPLEY GUISE, BEDFORDSHIRE

Come blow your horn

Sir: Why has nobody mentioned the greatest Iowan of them all (Letters, 24 August)? I mean, of course, Bix Beiderbecke, the sublime cornet player, still revered more than 70 years after his death.

MURIEL THORNE

BOURNEMOUTH

ANC were terrorists

Sir: David Cameron cannot rewrite history (article, 26 August). Margaret Thatcher was correct to brand the ANC as a terrorist organisation. Rosa Parks, unlike Nelson Mandela, never resorted to terrorism to achieve her aims. Mr Cameron should take note.

DOMINIC SHELMERDINE

LONDON, SW7

Wishful thinking

Sir: Although some (most?) of us wish for Tony Blair's resignation, this is pointless; George Bush would never accept it.

BRYAN CLARK

STORNOWAY, ISLE OF LEWIS