Letters: Suella Braverman, Armistice Day protests and the views of the silent majority

SIR – In her comments about the pro-Palestinian Armistice Day protests and the actions of the police, Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, was bravely stating what the majority of the country thinks (report, November 10).

Isn’t that what we want from our MPs?

Alison Jones
Basingstoke, Hampshire

SIR – The calls for Ms Braverman’s sacking have shown that many MPs are out of step with the public. They are the ones who should go.

David Glithero
Kettering, Northamptonshire

SIR – Once again the Prime Minister has shown his cowardice in refusing to fire Suella Braverman immediately.

This Government places self-interest ahead of the national interest. It is time for a general election and the removal of a Conservative Party that has betrayed every value it ever stood for.

Mark Peaker
London W1

SIR – Those who have applauded Suella Braverman for attempting to browbeat the Metropolitan Police into banning a peace march on Armistice Day should be careful what they wish for. 

The Met commissioner has no choice but to obey the letter of the law. If the pressure on him from Ms Braverman had succeeded, it could have been the first step on the slippery slope towards a police state here in Britain.

Hugh Lamont
Southport, Lancashire

SIR – Those commemorating our war dead this weekend will wonder how on earth the proposal to hold a pro-Palestinian protest march on Armistice Day could have been authorised by anybody in the first place. 

That is where the problem fundamentally lies.

Sir Bill Cash MP (Con)
London SW1

SIR – Clare Gardner (Letters, November 10) suggests that participating in a pro-Palestinian march is merely a display of solidarity with the ordinary people of Gaza. 

Given the number of anti-Semitic placards seen and chants heard at these marches – which suggest that they are not actually pro anything – she should remember that many consider the quality of a person by looking at the company they keep.

If she is concerned about the plight of Palestinians, there are more practical ways of helping than marching alongside extremists.
Gareth T L Kreike 
Bury, Lancashire

SIR – This weekend my thoughts turn to my father, who served six years in the Army during the Second World War. He fought in the jungles of Burma, in atrocious conditions, for four years. The experience ruined his health in the long term, and he died relatively young as a consequence.

Did he – and the many who never returned – sacrifice their lives for democracy and free speech only for this freedom to be abused?

A C Proctor
Selby, North Yorkshire

SIR – My son, who works in Thailand, was walking through Bangkok airport proudly wearing a poppy.
Suddenly he was accosted and berated by a white British woman in her early 20s, who asked why he was wearing a “racist anti-Palestine symbol.” 

Taken aback, he asked her what age she was when she stopped studying history, then walked on. I hope that such ignorance – conflating annual Armistice commemorations with the current situation in Gaza – is uncommon. However, it could perhaps be a consequence of the over-reliance on soundbite social-media “news” among some members of the younger generation.

Cdr John R M Prime RN (retd)
Havant, Hampshire

Seeing a GP

SIR – Delays in the diagnosis of serious illness (Letters, November 8) are symptomatic of the increasingly parlous state of general practice. Many of these incidents have two things in common: the increased use of telephone medicine, and lack of continuity of care (Letters, November 10).

NHS England responds by saying that there have been half a million extra general-practice appointments since before the pandemic. This, of course, does not mean half a million appointments with a GP. On the contrary, adding to the risk of misdiagnosis is the fact that many of these additional appointments are carried out by non-clinical healthcare assistants. This also has an impact on the surveillance of patients with chronic disease. 

A relative of mine, who has a long-standing chronic musculoskeletal disease, received an invitation for a “long-term conditions review”. This turned out to be an appointment with a healthcare assistant, who simply took blood for routine tests. There was no clinical consultation or inquiry as to any problems with the illness or its impact on daily life.

The face-to-face clinical consultation with a GP has always been the cornerstone of good medical care. In the years I was in practice and involved in education, we spent much time and effort refining consultation skills, emphasising the value of continuity and the importance of verbal and non-verbal cues, as well as the risks of “the hidden agenda” and its role in spotting serious disease.

Sadly, the pandemic appears to have led the current cohort of GPs to bypass these skills and avoid face-to-face contact. I fear tragic tales of misdiagnosis and poor care will only become more common.

Dr Robert Walker 
Great Clifton, Cumbria

SIR – In the 1970s, consultants did domiciliary visits to patients. As a medical secretary, I once inadvertently sent my consultant to the wrong address. 

However, when he saw the gentleman who opened the door, he immediately had him admitted to hospital.

He was also kind enough to give me credit for my mistake.

Elizabeth Bellamy
Malvern, Worcestershire

SIR – Robert Brewer (Letters, November 8) raises the issue of the NHS appearing to distance itself from mental health problems, with even a simple initial diagnosis sometimes taking years. 

This is exemplified by the “one strike and you’re out” approach to missed mental health appointments, which results in the patient going to the back of a GP’s queue. 

NHS administrators should realise that many patients in crisis – as a consequence of their condition – simply cannot always make themselves attend, or notify of absence in advance. Surely they would not expect a casualty with a broken leg to walk to A&E.

Bruce Denness
Niton, Isle of Wight

A toast to Dylan Thomas’s greatest lines

SIR – I very much enjoyed Ben Lawrence’s article (Arts, November 9) extolling the wonderful work of Dylan Thomas. My only tiny quibble is that there was no mention of the opening stanzas of Under Milk Wood – surely some of the most elegiac and beautiful words ever written.
Michael Oak
Stirling

NatWest atones

SIR – I am no fan of Nigel Farage, but I fully support NatWest’s decision not to give Dame Alison Rose the millions of pounds she had been due to receive after leaving the bank (report, November 10). It is not the place of a bank to judge an individual on his or her political views, and Dame Alison should have known that.

Kim Potter
Lambourn, Berkshire

Extra flight charges

SIR – As a traveller who has caring responsibilities that limit my trips to four or five days at a time, I am dismayed by the negative view of the “drip pricing” of airline fares (report, November 10) – that is, when expensive extras are added during the booking process.

I do not need to carry a large bag, and my companions – if there are any – do not need to sit next to me. I can see little or no need for fast-track security, additional travel insurance or airport transfers. 

Why should I have to pay an inflated fare – as charged by the legacy flag-carriers and package holiday-oriented airlines – when I don’t require the extraneous services? 

Nigel Stembridge
Newcastle upon Tyne

Traditional tills

SIR – How I wish I lived in the North. This would enable me to shop in Booths supermarkets. 

The company is to be congratulated for the removal from its branches of self-service tills (report, November 10). These are surely an absolute gift for shoplifters, as well as helping shops do away with employees and any element of customer service.

Jenny Jones
Bath, Somerset

Suspending Var

SIR – It was heartening to read Des Lynam’s comments on Var (“Var is ruining my love for football – let us put it on ice”, Sport, November 9), as he expressed what the vast majority of football fans have been thinking for a long time.

The way that Var has interpreted the rules relating to offside and handball has been both farcical and infuriating to watch. When offside was first introduced into football, its main purpose was to prevent players from loitering around the opposing goal area. To call offside because a player’s toe is in front of the final defender is a bizarre interpretation.

Similarly, when the handball rule was introduced, it was to prevent intentional use of the hands and arms against the ball to gain an advantage. Nowadays, handball is often called when the player hasn’t even been aware of it, let alone intending it.

Some amazing goals have been disallowed this season as a result of Var spending ages drawing lines and watching replays. It’s killing the joy and excitement of the game, and definitely needs to be suspended for a season as Mr Lynam rightly proposes.

Larry Oster
Southsea, Hampshire

SIR – Might I suggest that football adopts the system employed by cricket, which would return decision making (other than goal-line technology) to the on-field officials?

Each captain could be given two or three on-field appeals against the decisions made by the officials. If they succeed, they retain their appeals – otherwise they are lost.

This would speed up the game and stop the unacceptable delays in decision making, which take away the very things it needs – spontaneity and celebration. Players and managers make mistakes, just as officials do, but the constant emphasis on millimetres or hindsight interpretations detracts from the game – and the reason many of us love it so much.

Martin Hill
Liverpool 

Pipe therapy

SIR – Well done, Dr John Taylor (Letters, November 10), for speaking up on behalf of pipe enthusiasts. 

I too am in my eighties, and have smoked a pipe since giving up cigarettes at the age of 30. I have little doubt that the state of calmness and reflection induced by pipe smoking can help to prolong life. 

David Salter
Richmond, Surrey

SIR – My beloved father smoked a pipe all his life and died aged 91. 

I loved to watch him roll the tobacco, scrape and knock out his pipe into the fire hearth, refill the bowl and tamp the contents. He would then strike a Swan Vesta match and sit back to enjoy his first puff. 

Often I expected some pronouncement on a subject, or answer to a question, while this ritual took place. It was always well-considered, given the time he had to think about it. 

When he died, I put his pipe, tobacco and matches in his coffin so that he could enjoy his onward journey.

Barbara Norfolk
New Milton, Hampshire

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