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Plus: Israel betrayed; care before death; talking to farmers; humming heat pipes; Jaguar’s decline; and John Prescott’s legacy in Wales
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SIR– It is essential that we support Ukraine as best we can, but we are not in a position to keep pouring money into that war effort while our own Armed Forces suffer funding cuts (report, November 21). We are living in very uncertain times and should be prepared for the worst.
John C IvesBury St Edmunds, Suffolk
SIR – The Government is making cuts to the Armed Forces at a time when a dictator is invading a European country. If only there was some historical precedent to show how dangerous this is.
Ian WatsonUckfield, East Sussex
SIR – On patrol in the North Atlantic is a Royal Navy submarine carrying the UK’s nuclear deterrent. It is there to let those who would do us harm using nuclear blackmail know that such an attack would be suicidal (“Putin raises nuclear stakes after Ukraine launches US missiles”, report, November 20). At the end of the Cold War, the UK relaxed its nuclear posture, reducing the numbers of warheads and missiles carried in the submarine on patrol. Even allowing for that, it can still destroy 48 targets, which one would hope is not acceptable damage – even to a thug like Vladimir Putin. He thinks he is being clever by making wild claims about the use of nuclear weapons, but doesn’t seem to realise the jeopardy engendered by his actions.
Admiral Lord West of Spithead (Lab)London SW1
SIR – I note with alarm that the Defence Secretary has announced cuts to the Armed Forces before the publication of the ongoing defence review.
The Navy’s Landing Platform Docks (LPDs), HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion, which are to be scrapped, had an expected out-of-service date of 2034 (I was a member of the design team), while their replacements, the Multi-Role Support Ships, are expected to be in service “from the early 2030s”. In theory this would have given us a sensible capability overlap. The Tories did defence no favours by, in effect, mothballing both LPDs, thus creating a capability gap – one that the current Government has now confirmed will continue for at least a decade.
Did the chiefs of staff really sign up to this dangerous removal of the country’s amphibious ships?
Ewen Southby-TailyourErmington, Devon
SIR – Given that the Government is planning to scrap the Navy’s Landing Platform Docks, two RFA tankers and a number of Chinook and Puma helicopters, I’d suggest that more savings could be achieved by doing away with the Royal Marines completely. After all, there seems to be no point in maintaining an amphibious force if we are unable to deploy it.
Peter TunksWeybridge, Surrey
SIR – The International Criminal Court has effectively declared equivalent the leaders of a legitimate sovereign nation under attack, and the leaders of a bloodthirsty, widely proscribed terrorist organisation (“Starmer backs ICC over arrest warrant for Netanyahu”, report, telegraph.co.uk, November 21).
In what possible context can that be justifiable, given the stated aim of Hamas was – and is – to eliminate Israel and all Jews from the face of the earth? In dealing with Hamas, Israel has undoubtedly caused civilian casualties, but many of those arose because of Hamas’s brazen use of its own civilians to shield its terrorist members from attack.
Rob MasonNailsea, Somerset
SIR – Sir Keir Starmer backing the “independence of the International Criminal Court” after an arrest warrant was issued for Benjamin Netanyahu is a betrayal of our only genuine ally in the Middle East.
Dominic ShelmerdineLondon SW3
SIR – What a sad state of affairs that Stephen Kinnock, the minister for palliative care, is in favour of doctors and judges ending a human life (report, November 20). How can any vulnerable person feel safe?
Gerda PopeWeybridge, Surrey
SIR – If the waiting list for assisted dying exceeds six months, the problem is solved.
Barbara ThomasMonmouth
SIR – I am writing from our 500-year-old farm house, the hub of our 600-acre farm. I have had 66 Christmas Days in this place, and three generations now live here together. What’s happening to farmers breaks my heart (Letters, November 21).
The Chancellor has hit one of most loyal, law-abiding communities in the UK. Just look at the numbers that were at the protest in Whitehall: not one masked face, not one arrest, not one scrawl of graffiti. Doesn’t that say a lot?
Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves should sit down with us and talk, so we can continue to look after this land, and they can concentrate on running the country – with our support.
Oliver EdwardsExmoor, Somerset
SIR – If the Government really wanted to stop wealthy people buying up land to avoid inheritance tax, they would have the support of farmers.
Here in the Peak District, whenever farmland goes on sale, it is snapped up by investment companies, pricing out ordinary farmers. A better and fairer solution would have been to insist on five years of actual farming accounts to qualify for agricultural property relief, thus ensuring it would only be available to bona fide farmers.
Rosemary SpaltonHope Valley, Derbyshire
SIR – I didn’t even get a chance to play in our Anderson shelter (Letters, November 20).
My father dug all day to make a deep pit in which to install one. The next morning the pit had become a pool. The high water table where we lived had filled it overnight.
All his work was for nothing.
Shirley PuckettTenterden, Kent
SIR – My father-in-law’s parents, who lived in high-risk Chatham in Kent, slept in their Anderson shelter at night.
However, they left their son in the house under the stairs. Fortunately, he was evacuated to south Wales.
Rob DorrellBath, Somerset
SIR – Ministers have said they will change the current rules that block homeowners from installing a heat pump less than a metre from their property’s boundary (report, November 21). So, noise pollution is to be encouraged.
I cannot stand a hum that is inescapable and continuous. My garden, which provides invaluable peace, will be ruined.
Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, whose department is responsible for this move, is an inconsiderate zealot, and unfit to have this much control over our lives.
Keith AllumChristchurch, Dorset
SIR – It is not the noise, size or cost of heat pumps that deter consumers from installing them in place of gas boilers.
Older houses will require insulation to the inside walls of all rooms, and new double glazing in every window; the floor will have to be pulled up to allow the installation of pipes with a larger diameter, and all the radiators must be replaced to cope with circulating water that is colder than that used in a gas-fired system. Each room will then need remediation and redecoration. If the Government were to meet the very considerable costs of these modifications, there might be less resistance.
Moreover, claims that heat pumps are three times more efficient are spurious when the cost of electricity per unit is four times that of gas.
David HemingwayOadby, Leicestershire
SIR – When Justin Welby announced that he was resigning on November 12, most people would have expected an early exit.
It now appears that he does not intend his resignation to take effect until some time in 2025 (report, November 21). This is a disreputable manoeuvre, devoid of honour.
The King should strip him of the knighthood conferred earlier this year, and the customary peerage given to retiring archbishops of Canterbury should be withheld.
Sandy PrattStorrington, West Sussex
SIR – The shops start advertising Black Friday a little earlier every year. I don’t mind, but I do feel it rather spoils the magic for the children.
Ian Coyle-GilchristFoxton, Cambridgeshire
SIR – John Prescott (Obituaries, November 21) will be remembered for many things – Jaguars and eggs come to mind – but as a politician he made important contributions.
In 1999 he overturned the recommendation of a public inquiry and approved the Transport and Works Act to allow the Ffestiniog Railway to rebuild the impressive Welsh Highland Railway. Running between Porthmadog and Caernarfon, through stunning scenery and the Aberglaslyn Pass, this is now a major tourist attraction, bringing visitors and revenue to north Wales from around the world.
Jonathan MannGunnislake, Cornwall
SIR – I’m not a Labour supporter, but I admired John Prescott because you knew what he stood for.
I suspect that if Sir Keir Starmer threw a punch on camera, his ratings would soar.
Tim OldfieldWye, Kent
SIR – The effectiveness of Jaguar’s rebranding and controversial new marketing campaign (Letters, November 21) will become clear in its 2026 sales figures. As a former owner of a classic 1961 3.8 Mark 2 “crouching cat”, beloved of gangsters and the Flying Squad, I am not optimistic.
For ecological and engineering reasons I shall not be buying an EV of any brand. The appeal of Jaguar has always been the beautiful British styling, and also a sense of wild automotive adventure. My sense is that those of us previously attracted to Jaguars are not the sort of folk who will find either EVs or the new marketing at all appealing, and those who do like EVs are unlikely to favour Jaguar’s new offerings over those of other brands.
John GriffinCatbrook, Monmouthshire
SIR – Through the 1970s and 1980s I was a big fan of Jaguar cars, especially when they weren’t in the garage being repaired. Eventually, on account of their chronic unreliability, I started buying German cars – and still do.
On the rare occasion these break down, even the most unusual parts for the rarest models arrive overnight, ready for the cars to be fixed with the minimum delay. Imagine my disappointment when talking to one of my oldest pals, who has remained faithful to Jaguar, to hear that his latest car has broken down again, been off the road for weeks, and will be for the foreseeable future, as Jaguar can’t source the parts to effect the repair.
I can’t see it matters much what the rebrand and latest advertising campaign does to the image of the marque if it still suffers from reliability issues and a prehistoric repair service.
Vincent HearneChinon, Indre-et-Loire, France
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