Letters: The Gurkhas

Stop attacking Lumley, just worry about the Gurkhas

The criticism of Joanna Lumley (report, 10 March) fails to address the key problems facing many Gurkhas, and risks taking attention away from the needs of these retired servicemen.

The fact is that many Gurkhas feel they have to resettle in the UK in order to get the financial and social support that they need in their old age, which is not available from the state in Nepal, and denied to them by the modesty of their MoD pension entitlements. Many of those that have remained in Nepal have found themselves reliant on charity in order to ensure the most basic of living conditions.

Those retired and often elderly Gurkhas that have relocated to the UK have fared no better, and have often had to take on crippling loans to finance their travel – leaving them living in shabby interim accommodation with little hope of employment or income aside from basic benefits, which is a reality far removed from the picture being painted for them by unscrupulous third-party agents.

It is true that many Gurkhas have been misled as to what support they can expect in the UK. However, rather than focusing on criticism of who should or should not be clarifying this situation, it is more important that the needs of the Gurkhas are addressed so that these retired servicemen have the opportunity of a peaceful and comfortable retirement.

Tikendra Dewan

Major, retired, Chairman, British Gurkha Welfare Society

Farnborough, Hampshire

So Kevan Jones, Under-Secretary of State for Defence, is irritated by Joanna Lumley's failure to monitor the implementation of the Government's revised policy in relation to the Gurkhas.

I am one of the many who signed Ms Lumley's petition, but I did not know when I signed that she would be expected to monitor the implementation: foolishly, I had assumed that the Government, to which I pay a significant amount in tax, would be responsible for this.

Did Mr Jones use his appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee to reveal a new approach to government – that if members of the public successfully challenge a government policy, they become responsible for monitoring implementation. Or was he just trying to pass the blame to Ms Lumley?

Rita Hale

London N1

Polls are misread by the media

Dominic Lawson (16 March) makes some interesting and valid points about the possible negative effects of opinion polls on politics. Political polling is indeed obsessively covered and widely misinterpreted – but the fault for this lies to a large extent with a 24-hour media that combines an insatiable appetite for headlines with a minute capacity for serious attention or in-depth analysis .

Pollsters like the envied Bob Worcester make most of their money from private commercial clients; the revenue gained from political polling is small beer in comparison. And smug grins are as common on the faces of political commentators as opinion pollsters.

Jonathan Knott

Research Editor, PoliticsHome.com, London SW1

In addition to Dominic Lawson's quite reasonable criticism of opinion polls during election time, that they lead to a distortion based upon a desire to follow the opinions of others, I see a similar way of thinking, that of "backing the winner" – some people like to be on the winning side.

More worrying in its practical consequences is the likelihood of political parties changing their stances out of sheer short-term panic.

Cole Davis

Minsk, Belarus

BA cabin staff deserve better

We seem to be vilifying British Airways cabin crew for exercising their right to strike. Everybody is allowed to withdraw their labour. Or are we heading back to the days of the mill owner and the peasants?

This dispute is not about wanting more. In fact, cabin crew are prepared to have less, but not 33 per cent less. BA will be back in profit once this recession ends. In 18 out of the last 20 years, they have shown a profit.

Cabin crew give up a lot of things in life in order to do their job, such as Christmas, weddings, birthdays, funerals. What must it be like to be in Luanda and receive a phone call from your mum that dad has died? Or missing your child's first steps or school play? All of these things have happened to staff, but they get on board that aircraft and give you a smile and the best service possible.

They are trained for medical emergencies, the evacuation of aircraft, the restraint of unruly passengers – the list goes on. They are fighting to save what is left of a British company to be proud of.

Jim Madge

Fordingbridge, Hampshire

Employers profit from cap on fees

Graduate employers are suggesting an end to the cap on university tuition fees ("Call for universities to be able to charge unlimited tuition fees", 9 March). They seem to miss the point of what is important for today's graduates and their future employers.

Removing the fee cap could mean that only those rich enough to afford the fees would go to university, thus decreasing the diversity of our graduate population and closing the door on higher education for some very capable people. Even though financial safeguards would protect those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, what about those from middle-income families?

Employers are looking for capable graduates who have the personal qualities required to succeed in the job and fit with the culture of the organisation. Introducing university elitism based on ability to pay and reducing the diversity of our graduate talent pool could mean that many talented young people are excluded and employers could suffer in the long run.

Paul Levett

Thames Ditton, Surrey

Get on and build high-speed line

You have published letters expressing doubts about the necessity for a high-speed rail link to Birmingham and points north. The doubts are based upon the view that the existing trains are already fast enough. But the main justification for the line is additional capacity, not faster journey times.

My experience travelling to London on the west coast main line on the Virgin Pendolinos is that they are usually full. The Department for Transport has approved some extra carriages for these trains, but that won't be enough, particularly if we want to get people out of their cars.

Ian K Watson

Carlisle

Lord Adonis deserves praise. He has, at last, achieved consensus that a new railway line is needed. It is a small start.

The west coast main line is one of the most intensively used railway lines in Europe. It is near capacity and strangling economic development north of Luton. There can be no debate that extra capacity is needed urgently. If we are building anew, then why invest in old technology? The new line must be capable of high speeds and is long overdue.

Choosing the route is a potent source of delays. In the run up to the election, we already have the politicians wrangling about the most appropriate route in the hope of gaining electoral advantage. A hung parliament might accept the advice of the experts.

Having chosen the route, we must not get bogged down in endless public inquiries. It is not enough of an objection to say that the new line will be visible in the distance from Milton's Cottage. Having decided the route, the cheapest option is to give generous compensation to the people whose lives and property are damaged by the development, and get on with it.

Brunel would have built the line in three to five years. We have to ask ourselves if we want to do it that quickly, or perhaps, spread the employment over a longer period. Maybe we should follow Brunel's example and then press on to extend the line north. It could be open and running by 2015.

David McKaigue

Wirrall

Why we need the NHS data system

In arguing that the NHS Summary Care Record doesn't adequately allow opt-out by patients, Colin V Smith (letter, 16 March) missed the core issue: efficiency.

While it's inconvenient to be killed by A&E staff not having access to your records, or to have your records lost entirely, those aren't the main reasons for the change. Anyone who has had to deal with data in that volume knows that the most efficient (and safest) way is using a centralised digital system. This system should be able to reduce the cost of administration, while improving patient care.

Running an opt-out scheme is a huge project, let alone the complexity of running the two systems safely side by side. If this were my project I wouldn't allow anyone to opt out.

Richard Marr

London SW15

The anger over Jon Venables

The belief that the boys who killed James Bulger were not properly punished stems from the treatment they received once convicted. What enrages people is that it appears that the only way children in a deprived area can get educational opportunities and one-to-one attention is to commit a horrible crime.

This is not the fault of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who were known to be in urgent need of just such treatment before they took James Bulger, and never received it. It is the fault of a Labour government who have had 13 years to rectify this situation, and have failed dismally, despite the money they have thrown at it.

People in these communities know the solutions, but their views rarely form policy. In a few weeks they will have a chance to make their voices heard.

Sierra Hutton-Wilson

Evercreech, Somerset

'Jobseekers' who can't be bothered

I recently placed an advert for a job vacancy which received a big response. Of those invited to interview, 25 per cent were no-shows on the day, with no explanation or contact made.

Unemployment? Recession? You will forgive me for asking. The cynic in our office suggested these were probably people on jobseekers allowance, who needed to demonstrate they are still actively seeking work to keep their benefits.

Companies get a bad press for not contacting people who have applied for jobs. It would appear this lack of respect is mutual.

Nigel Cubbage

Merstham, Surrey

Briefly...

Men of realism

I wonder what makes Adrian Hamilton (Opinion, 11 March) think that only Ken Clarke and Alistair Darling have an acceptable manner of "sober realism and acceptance of uncertainty" appropriate to these fiscal and economic times? The people, of all parties and none, consistently and overwhelmingly see it in Vince Cable.

Spencer Hagard

Cambridge

Blair's riches

Tony Blair's "journey" at my expense has taken my country from a position of financial credit and moral status in the world, to one of substantial debt and international suspicion. I have long considered the inside information of political memoirs as state property, and much of the proceeds of sale should be returned to the state. This country has made Blair a wealthy man and I would expect him to contribute most of his anticipated £4m in sales to charity.

Steve Osgood

Bath

Demonised drugs

Your article (15 March) talks of a genetic "breakthrough" paving the way for production of artificial opiates. However there are already many such opiates available (synthetic and semi-synthetic), some much more powerful than morphine itself. The problem is that neither morphine or these synthetics are available in most countries, especially in the developing world. Even in the developed world there is much evidence of underuse, especially in care of the dying. This is one of the often ignored consequences of their indiscriminate demonisation as a result of anti-drug campaigns.

Don Aston

Solihull, West Midlands

Music of the spheres

It is rather incongruous that there are planned performances at the Barbican of Holst's Planets suite accompanied by Nasa's space photographs (report, 12 March). Holst composed his suite with the astrological, not astronomical, attributes of each planet in mind. That is why Patrick Moore, way back in 1957, decided not to use the music as the theme for The Sky at Night.

Eric Fitch

Hereford

Papal gaffes

The gaffe-prone Pope's problem ("Edge of reason", 15 March) is that he does not have a wife. If he had to return after one of his pronouncements to someone who said, "What were you thinking?", he would soon spend more time on redrafting.

Jim Fisher

London W2