Ins and outs of early doors
Sir: Tim Shipman’s article on the reasons Andy Burnham may go for an early election (Politics, 31 October) omits one key factor: elections are unpopular. Brenda from Bristol spoke for the nation on that some years ago. If any PM goes early, that inevitably raises the question, what is he or she running from? In this case, is it the bond markets, an NHS crisis, a prison meltdown or – in the era of social media – some less-grounded but colourful spectre?
The problem for any prime minister is that the ‘unknown unknowns’ present asymmetric risks to a government calling a ridiculously early election, especially after making repeated pledges not to do so.
That is why Nigel Farage’s strategy of pressing for an election is right. It is also why Kemi Badenoch is probably wrong to gloomily predict one.
Julian Brazier
Canterbury
Rejoin reg
Sir: Charles Moore notes in his column (Notes, 31 October) that he has recently seen a chauffeur-driven car with the registration plate 27 EU. I have also spotted this car, about two years ago; a distinguished-looking man was getting into the back of it outside Waterloo station. I did some online investigating and it seemed the man was Pedro Serrano, then EU ambassador to the UK. It was a relatively modest car – a blue 2013 BMW 520d – and as an ageing diesel it would ordinarily have fallen foul of the Ulez restrictions and charges – though not in this case due to its diplomatic status.
Tom Evans
London N12
Thinking the unthinkable
Sir: Antony Beevor (Letters, 31 October) gives a strange reply to my article about Ukraine (‘The warmongers’, 24 October). I said nothing in support of Russia or Putin or President Trump. I have for many years dismissed Mr Putin as a sinister tyrant and denounced his invasion from the moment it took place. I am one of the few English conservatives who has never once flirted with Trumpism, which I view as loathsome. I said that opponents of British involvement in the war face accusations of disloyalty, which make debate difficult. I remarked that ‘dissent is dismissed as treachery’. Yet Sir Antony does not reply to this. Instead he responds to thoughts I do not think. He says my article ‘puts [me] in the Donald Trump school of logic, pretending that Vladimir Putin, the shameless aggressor in Ukraine, is a “humanitarian”’. It simply doesn’t. When he pens his history books, does Sir Antony likewise write about things people did not do in preference to the things they did do?
Peter Hitchens
London W8
Beats me
Sir: Upon reading Lara Brown’s article (‘Do I have your consent?’, 31 October), I remembered my time at prep school in the late 1950s/early 1960s. When receiving six of the best from my headmaster, I was expected to shake hands afterwards and say: ‘Thank you, Sir.’ I suppose that by shaking hands on the deal, I was giving retrospective consent?
Sebastian Allaby
Aldeburgh, Suffolk
More Lessing
Sir: How wonderful to read Genevieve Gaunt’s recommendation of Doris Lessing’s The Good Terrorist (Books of the Year I, 31 October). It drove me straight upstairs to my shelf of Lessing’s books for a re-read. But which one from this superbly gifted writer to choose? Her African books? Portraits of London following the war? Her dystopian novels? Communism? Social and political? Parenting a neurodivergent child?
The Good Terrorist’s not there; someone hasn’t returned it. So it will have to be Shikastra – one of the most thought-provoking SF books I’ve ever read. Hopefully a Lessing revival is on the way.
Jane Archer
Shrivenham, Oxon
Spread the love
Sir: I read that the Chancellor has removed import tariffs from jars of marmalade (Portrait of the week, 31 October). Why would anyone buy foreign marmalade when British-made from Fortnum’s, Tiptree, Frank Cooper and others is so excellent. Nothing is more triumphantly British than good marmalade.
Walter King
Chichester, West Sussex
Local hero
Sir: ‘Postmen got through, come snow or floods’ (‘Mail bonding’, 24 October) was more than a ‘patriotic Post Office myth’. I recall my mother suppressing tears at the news of the death of a former school friend in County Fermanagh between Christmas and New Year 1961. William Rooney was a postman who delivered to the islanders by boat on Upper Lough Erne. Having completed his deliveries, he was returning home when his boat got caught in ice. His brother James came out in another boat to try to rescue him but the following morning both brothers were found frozen to death, close to one another.
Robin Robb
Handbridge, Chester
Naming rights
Sir: We recently moved to a house in East Sussex and found a plaque on the front of it inscribed with the initials HBB 1877. On investigation we discovered HBB was one Hercules Brabazon Brabazon (1821-1906) – a name nearly as exotic as Mr Preserved Fish (‘The game of the name’, 24 October). HBB was a noted amateur Victorian painter and the owner of the local estate. Our house was his wash house. We often wonder what his family might have called him; certainly not Hercules or Herc. More likely, Brab.
Neil Mackwood
Sedlescombe, East Sussex
Magic wand
Sir: As Bruce Montgomery’s biographer I was delighted to see his film Raising the Wind get a mention from Richard Bratby (Arts, 31 October). Given that he composed the scores for the early Carry On films as well as the series started by Doctor in the House, Montgomery was in practice. But not only did he compose and conduct the score, he also wrote the story and screenplay. And just for good measure Montgomery is also known to lovers of crime fiction under his pseudonym of ‘Edmund Crispin’.
David Whittle
Oakham, Rutland
The truth about ASD
Sir: Matthew Parris includes autism among what he calls ‘hard-to-disprove mental-health disorders like stress, anxiety and depression’ (‘The uncomfortable truth about Neets’, 31 October). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disability. Diagnosis currently involves several years languishing on an NHS waiting list. Or – to have an outside chance of the vital early intervention that will hopefully ensure a child does not become reliant on disability benefits – several thousand pounds for a private assessment.
Flora Watkins
Norfolk
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