SIR – I do not understand the government’s logic in choosing such an incredibly heartbreaking day to announce that it has suspended arms export licenses to Israel (Report, 3 September).
At the same time reports of this ludicrous decision were being broadcast, I watched clips of a victim, Rachel Goldberg-Paulin, eulogizing at the funeral of her son, Harsh – one of the Israeli hostages found dead in the Gaza tunnels on Saturday.
David Lammy, the foreign secretary, says the government is concerned about the risk of “serious violations of international humanitarian law” by Israel. What about the six innocent civilians murdered after 330 terrible days of captivity by Hamas?
For the first time in my life I am ashamed to call myself British.
Rebecca DoctorsLondon N3
SIR – The government’s suspension of military export licenses to Israel is clearly virtue-signalling for a vocal minority and constructively beneficial to no one.
That’s bad politics – and we deserve better from our leaders.
JL GreenwoodLondon SW18
SIR – Jeremy Corbyn must be very proud of the Craven Foreign Secretary, now that he has surrendered to Labor Party activists.
In doing so, it has provided cooperation, encouragement, and a public-relations victory to the ruthless killers who seek to destroy Israel.
David KriegmanBirmingham
SIR – What message is the British government sending to the world other than that Iranian state sponsored terrorism is OK, but Israel is not allowed to defend itself?
Kim PotterLambourn, Berkshire
SIR – Nothing better illustrates the difference between Hamas and Israel than the overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations taking place in Tel Aviv against Benjamin Netanyahu and his government (Report, 3 September).
Citizens of these are the only democracies in the Middle East who exercise their right to protest against the war and call for an immediate ceasefire – an option that is sadly not open to the long-suffering citizens of Gaza.
Stan LebovichWindsor, Berkshire
SIR – It’s a good job that the Israelis will not respond to our government’s idiotic suspension of arms export licenses by banning the export of medical devices and pharmaceuticals to Britain – which is probably as important to us as our need for arms.
Gary ShawLondon NW11
Low national pride
SIR – It is not surprising that according to the British Social Attitudes Survey, pride has sunk to a record low in British history (Report, 3 September). Our schools, universities and cultural institutions regularly spread the myth that Britain’s past can be summed up in two words: brutality and exploitation.
Instead, we need to remember the proud role Britain played in the abolition of slavery and the defeat of fascism. The British Empire brought honest administration, rule of law and economic development to its subjects. If we are to survive as a cohesive nation, we desperately need to emphasize these historical truths.
John HicksManchester
SIR – According to research by Sir John Curtis, the nationalism behind support for Scottish independence involves a “rather different” concept of nationalistic identity than that underpinning Brexit (Report, September 3).
Focusing on sovereignty and immigration, the argument for Brexit was more specific in tone than the campaign for Scottish independence, which promoted a civic sense of who the Scottish were.
Over the years, Scottish nationalists have been labeled anti-English, racist, parochial and parochial. Yet Sir John’s research now shows that in Scotland, 59 per cent of those opposed to independence say being born in Scotland makes being Scottish more important. Among supporters of independence, the figure is 50 percent. Indeed, 51 per cent of unionists say Scottish descendants value being Scottish, while only 42 per cent of independence supporters agree. So it appears that those who support independence are more inclusive in nature than those who oppose it.
Union supporters want to consider this report.
Alex OrrEdinburgh
Ofsted rating
SIR – The Education Secretary has said that replacing one-word Ofsted classifications for schools with report cards (Letters, 3 September) will make it easier for parents to choose schools.
When I was a trustee of an academy in the Midlands, I was told that less than half of parents actually chose a school for their children. It is difficult to see how a more complex classification system would improve this.
On the other hand, I have been involved with schools and education in four countries and three continents, and one common factor was a strong distaste for any assessment among teachers.
I suspect that teacher unions have more to do with this decision than parents.
Richard DuncanGuildford, Surrey
A multitasking milkman
SIR – Reading People’s Experiences with Milkmen (Letters, 31 August) reminded me of when we were in Devon when I was a teenager.
Although he was called Ernie, he was the slowest, not the fastest, milkman in the West. It took him until late afternoon to make his rounds, partly because he liked to chat, but also because he did so many things. He collected prescriptions, took shoes for repair and clothes for dry cleaning.
He had a lovely Devon sound to his voice, which was perhaps surprising, as he was German. He was a PoW near where we lived, married a local girl and stayed.
MC MooreWoodbridge, Suffolk
Council tax discount
SIR – Chancellor’s Council Tax (Report, 3 September).
I receive a state pension, and so this year I am facing an extra seasonal payment loss. If I had to pay the full rate of council tax, the increase would be around £500 per year. I am sure there are many elderly people living alone who will fall into this trap.
These “adjustments” mean I’ll be up to £1,000 worse off every year. I wonder if the Chancellor has any ideas on how I should budget for this.
Caroline LyonsPrestwood, Buckinghamshire
Tricks of Ticketmaster
SIR – I was recently unable to attend an event for which I had purchased tickets through Ticketmaster (Letters, 3 September), so I decided to resell them using his platform – a convenient feature.
However, despite successfully selling tickets, it’s now day 12 of waiting for my payment, Ticketmaster says it could take up to 17 working days. I can’t help but wonder if this delay is just another way for Ticketmaster to turn a profit – by withholding customers’ money and charging interest in the meantime.
Kevin KrautCogshall, Essex
SIR – Back in the day, when you read in the NME that a band was playing at a certain venue, you sent a letter to the venue requesting tickets for the date you wanted. A stamped addressed envelope and postal order will be included for the ticket price. You knew you were in luck when a fat letter came back with the tickets closed. A slim letter will be the return of the postal order. It seemed to work.
Duncan CarrsHevant, Hampshire
Wasp cornered
SIR – Nigel Williams (Letters, 3 September) flapping his arms over Batman’s wasp. Perhaps he should have gone to Moelfray in Anglesey instead, as I did last week, where the enterprising owner of Ann’s Pantry Cafe has come up with a clever solution.
In a corner away from the customers was a small jam jar containing a sticky (honey, perhaps), and a large flypaper nearby. Both were full of wasps, which were not interested in anything else.
Edwina CurrieHigh Peak, Derbyshire
Ancient War Monuments in Central Macedonia
SIR – My wife and I have just returned from a week’s holiday in central Macedonia, a part of northern Greece.
The countryside is stunning, with incredibly fertile land producing everything from cotton to peaches. The whole area is green and a stark contrast to the more familiar parts of Greece, where the scenery is often empty and dry in August.
The most interesting part of our trip was inheriting the Macedonian campaign in the First World War – about which I knew nothing. It is a theater of war that is rarely mentioned now, but more than 10,000 British soldiers were killed and a large number died of malaria in appalling conditions. We were fighting the Germans, Bulgarians and Turks alongside our then allies, the Russians, Serbs and Greeks.
We visited three cemeteries: one at Doiran on the Macedonian border; One at Kilkis – the scene of a fierce battle between the Greeks and Bulgarians in 1913, which the Greeks won with heavy casualties – and the third at Axiopoli. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is to be congratulated for the wonderful maintenance of these memorials.
Anyone looking for a tourist-free holiday in the beautiful Greek countryside should consider visiting Thessaloniki and renting a car. These cemeteries are only an hour or so northwest, and the experience will be emotional and very rewarding.
Christopher CornellCirencester, Gloucestershire
Rural Britain is plagued by faulty broadband
SIR – The previous government awarded contracts to private companies to install fiber broadband in rural areas. On July 31, a company installed its system in the houses of our small village.
It worked – with a few glitches – until last Saturday, when it stopped completely. It still doesn’t work.
Of course, the telephone is no longer functional, and the mobile signal here is weak to non-existent anyway. Being 80 years old and knowing a thing or two, I retained the BT copper wire system until the new system was proven.
Our neighbors are now queuing at the kitchen door to use our phones. The suggestions that we should get compensation is dismissed on the ground that it is a mass outage and therefore no compensation is payable. Which civil servant wrote this contract?
Mike CroweCullompton, Devon
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