Letters: The right to protest is part of Britain’s history of defending freedom

SIR – On Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, we remember all those brave Services personnel who gave their lives for freedom.

That includes the freedom to demonstrate within the law by those who choose to do so, and at a time when they choose to do so (“Met chief urged to ban Armistice Day protests”, report, November 6).

Peter Baker
Worthing, West Sussex

SIR – Protests on Armistice Day would divert attention from honouring the British and Commonwealth people who died in defence of the freedom we have today.

We promised never to forget the debt we owe them and their families. Disruption cannot be allowed.

Dudley Price
Wells, Somerset

SIR – Pro-Palestinian protests over Remembrance weekend will only reduce sympathy for the cause. 

The Government and police have a duty to ensure that these most solemn of days in the British calendar are observed with peace and dignity. 

Lionel Anderson
Peñíscola, Castellon, Spain

SIR – Will those politicians calling for a ceasefire in Gaza explain to us how it will bring an end to attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah and now the Houthis of Yemen, all supported by Iran and with the aim of the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people?

Bill Todd
Whitton, Middlesex

SIR – I agree with David Miller’s comments on the difficulty of achieving a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians (Letters, November 6).

My understanding is that since the 1940s there have been numerous negotiations on this matter. Israel has accepted the terms, only for them to be rejected by the Palestinians. 

For realistic further talks to take place, all significant parties must accept Israel’s right to exist. Without this, any negotiations will be meaningless.

Dr Chris Staley
Bredwardine, Herefordshire

SIR – Those arguing for a ceasefire are told that it would threaten Israel’s security because Hamas will not have been annihilated. 

That is no doubt true, but it ignores the inevitable consequence of an increasingly bloody and destructive conflict: even if Hamas is destroyed there will be others to replace it, spawned by hatred towards the Israeli government because of its current actions. 

Wars only end when weapons are laid down and talking begins. This is not to deny Israel’s right to defend itself, only to recognise the repeated lesson of history.

David Lander
Old Woking, Surrey
 

Transformative tax cut

SIR – It is reported that Rishi Sunak is looking for “wedge issues” ahead of the next election, in order to pose headaches for the Opposition. 

The most effective wedge issue has to be the mooted abolition or – at the least – reform of inheritance tax (report, November 6). Such a measure would provide a significant trap for Labour. 

This is one tax cut that would not be inflationary, would save HMRC a small fortune in administration costs, eliminate the distasteful probing into private affairs that follows a bereavement, and let us help our children in an increasingly tough world. It could even prove beneficial to the economy, as the inheritors are more likely to make constructive use of the money.

Lauren Groom
Salisbury, Wiltshire 
 

Addiction and free will

SIR – Bryony Gordon criticises my treatment of the late Matthew Perry during a televised debate about drugs (“The reaction to Matthew Perry shows the stigma associated with addiction”, Features, November 6).
 
But in saying that I describe addiction as “a quality people actively go looking for”, she is right. Mr Perry could not give a consistent definition of addiction or any objective, falsifiable way of discovering its presence in the human frame. This is because it is an idea, held by those who wish to eliminate free will from life and ethics. 

I can see why my contrary view is unpopular. But I cannot see how it is kind or merciful to tell others they are powerless to break damaging habits. Nor is it true. Most people of my generation know many who have successfully defeated such cravings.

Peter Hitchens
London W8
 

Where Churchill erred

SIR – Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, was unwise to invoke Winston Churchill in support of his view that the European Convention on Human Rights needs “serious reform” to curb immigration (report, October 25).

Churchill had nothing but praise for this common European “charter of human rights, guarded by freedom and sustained by law”, as he put it in 1948. He would have approached reform cautiously, after careful private discussion with fellow signatories, instead of making wild public statements. 

His own record on immigration policy was inglorious. As prime minister in October 1954 he said that “the problems arising from the immigration of people into the UK required urgent and serious attention”. He did nothing, however. 

If a coherent, cross-party legal framework for the control of immigration had been established then, this country would have been spared many of the grave difficulties and social strains that have afflicted it since.

Lord Lexden (Con)
London SW1
 

No-sloe area

SIR – Elizabeth Brimmell (Letters, November 3) is not alone in noticing a dearth of sloes this year. Our usual spot, where there is normally an annual abundance of sloes, had nothing to offer. 

Fortunately, we gathered enough of the fruit in other areas to make three demijohns’ worth of sloe gin, but we had to search.

George Adams
Brading, Isle of Wight
 

Meat and climate

SIR – Guy Hands (Business comment, November 2) identifies “siloed thinking” as a problem in addressing climate change. He cites the example of militant pressure to reduce meat consumption, which he says ignores the negative impact of growing and importing more vegetables. 

He needn’t worry. Livestock farming is a highly inefficient use of resources. Globally, we use 77 per cent of agricultural land for livestock (including feed), from which we derive only 18 per cent of our calories. The reason is simple. It requires more crops and more land to feed animals for human consumption than to feed ourselves directly. For every 100g of protein that we feed to beef cattle, only 4g is ultimately consumed by us. The rest is wasted. Per gram of protein in our diet, beef produces 50 times the greenhouse gas emissions of beans. 

The beef industry is the primary driver of deforestation in the world’s tropical forests. With levels of demand ever increasing, in line with growth in population and affluence, this inefficiency is not sustainable; the numbers do not add up. 

Professor Richard Barker
Christ Church, University of Oxford
 

Better Var decisions

SIR – There has been controversy over the role of the video assistant referee (Var) in the goal awarded to Newcastle United against Arsenal on Saturday (Sport, November 6).

Var would benefit from artificial intelligence. Proper camera placement and the programming of AI would enable completely accurate judgment regarding referee decisions. The question is whether it is acceptable to allow a computer to make a decision.

David Langley
Macclesfield, Cheshire

SIR – The infield referee declared it a goal. Var couldn’t find a clear-cut reason to overrule him, so the goal stood. Without Var it would have stood. Arsenal’s manager, Mikel Arteta, has nothing to complain about unless he believes Var adds value generally, just – sadly for him – not in this case. 

Kevin Croot
Colchester, Essex

SIR – Mikel Arteta’s rant against the allowed goal was unprofessional.

In addition, Arsenal’s Kai Havertz should have been sent off for a clear “off the ground” lunge endangering a Newcastle player. What would the score have been if Arsenal had had to play with 10 men for 70 minutes?

John Wright
Hull, East Yorkshire
 

Pointers on pest control from intrusive AI

SIR – Sitting in our living room, I said to my wife: “I took a photo of a rat in our back garden early this morning.” 

Later that day I went on to a popular shopping website, only to find several advertisements on the homepage for “rat catching devices”. 

One wonders what else Alexa has heard. She is now turned off.

Morgan-Jones
Tonyrefail, Glamorgan
 

How the Chancellor can tackle NHS waste 

SIR – The Chancellor wants to wage war on public-sector waste (report, November 5). With greater headroom than expected for his Autumn Statement, Jeremy Hunt should tackle the scandalous waste in the NHS caused by osteoporotic fractures.

Broken bones among adults are the second greatest driver of hospital bed occupancy. Anti-osteoporosis therapies can prevent 74,000 fractures over the next five years, but only half of NHS trusts have fracture liaison services – the early diagnosis tool used in 55 developed countries. This postcode lottery leaves 90,000 people without drug treatments, causing a revolving door of fracture patients in hospitals. Every year, painful spinal and hip fractures force 27,000 older workers out of work and on to benefits.

As the longest-serving health secretary in history, Mr Hunt knows where the NHS is broken. He also knows our ageing population will see costs spiral if he misses his chance.

Craig Jones
CEO, Royal Osteoporosis Society
Bath, Somerset

SIR – Does Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, imagine that there is a huge, underused private health sector in parallel to the NHS hospital service, which is capable of taking on a significant portion of the demand for health care (“Use private sector to clear NHS waiting lists, says Barclay”, report, November 1)? 

Does he not realise that the private sector is largely staffed by the same consultants who are fully engaged in the NHS – except without the help of their juniors – using their spare time to do private work? These busy doctors could not make a significant difference to the numbers waiting for NHS surgery even if they wanted to – and in most cases they don’t.

R B Berry FRCS
Bretby, Derbyshire

SIR – I’m 88 and recently visited our medical practice to obtain a doctor’s referral for a hearing aid test. I was told there were no appointments and that I should telephone the next day at 8am, which I did. After several minutes’ waiting I was offered a telephone consultation in two weeks’ time. Why was this not offered to me when I visited the day before? 
Desmond Mulvany
Shepperton, Middlesex
 

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