Crowded isle
Sir: You spell out the complexities of the immigration issue clearly in your leading article of 5 April, but the overriding problem, the nettle that simply has to be grasped, is its effect on the overall size of our island’s population. At more than 60 million it is already uncomfortably large, but a projection of its present growth trend puts it at more than 85 million by 2081!
So where on earth is it going to end? Courageous decisions will have to be made by those political leaders whose love of this country is genuine. It is no good depending on those who have a visceral distaste for our nation state and what it represents, and who would be only too glad to see it subsumed in a larger ‘multicultural’ entity — which is, I fear, the mindset of the Labour party.
Christopher Arthur
Durham
Stuck in the mud
Sir: I read Simon Nixon’s article on banking regulation with great interest (‘A crisis of credibility’, 5 April). And as someone who spent well over 30 years working in Whitehall, I found his comments on the destruction of the Civil Service depressingly true.
I agree that it was in Nigel Lawson’s time that the rot at the Treasury started. But the real damage has been done during the past ten years. The thoroughbreds and workhorses have been turned out, and replaced with prancing show ponies. It is no wonder then that when the carriage of state gets stuck in the mud there is nothing adequate to help pull it out. To be fair, this is not something confined to the public sector. In the private sector, too, those with expertise and experience have been driven out. All of which has made no small contribution to the current malaise.
Ian Holt
Beaumont, Carlisle, Cumbria
Women make good Apostles
Sir: How good it was to read Paul Johnson’s piece on Mary Magdalen, and the absurdity of barring women from the priesthood simply because they are female (And another thing, 29 March). One of the chief reasons given for this bar is the fact that Jesus chose only men as his disciples; his chosen followers were not only all males, but also circumcised orthodox Jews, which is no longer, as I understand it, a necessary qualification for the Christian priesthood.
Times change. The devotion of women followers of Christ today remains as constant as when Mary and her companions stood at the foot of the Cross, while the men skulked behind locked doors; and Jesus’ choice of Mary to bear the good news of the Resurrection should convince all but the most prejudiced that women make Apostles at least as good as men.
W.N.J. Howard
Hampshire
Don’t throw in the towel
Sir: ‘Your Problems Solved’ is required reading for tired Tory MPs. But I was shocked to read a letter and answer in the 5 April edition concerning the unavailability of ‘really big bath towels — six foot long or so’ in SW1. The answer came that they can be found from a specialist company near Sloane Square, but only in white.
Readers will have heard of ‘the John Lewis list’ chosen by the House of Commons to judge MPs’ expenses because of that company’s reputation for good value. Checking with a friend of mine who works for John Lewis, I learn that their branches sell several qualities of very large bath towels, 180 cm by 100 cm, each in a range of colours as well as pure white.
And may I disagree further with Mary when she says that ‘white is the only acceptable colour’? In my view, white will only accentuate still further the appearance of the over-large figure. I can think of a number of Members of Parliament on both sides of the House who fall into that category. Surely blue going on green is now the ‘in’ colour — especially as we approach the London Mayoral elections? I just know that Tamzin Lightwater would agree.
Michael Fabricant MP
House of Commons, London SW1
Survival skills
Sir: In her article on Dom Hugh Gilbert, abbot of Pluscarden (‘A holy man tipped to lead the nation’s Catholics’, 22 March), Mary Wakefield asks ‘can such an unworldly man survive such a very worldly job?’ She then reports that he feels ‘it is time to leave’ Pluscarden, to which the abbot replies (Letters, 5 April) that ‘I can find no trace of these words in the recording I made of the interview’.
Recording? I believe Dom Hugh has perfectly demonstrated his survival skills.
Allan Mallinson
The Cavalry and Guards Club, London SW1
Lawless OAPs
Sir: Deborah Devonshire (‘Death of a Post Office’, 5 April) asserts that the old are disregarded because ‘they don’t stab each other after a bout of drinking and have never bothered the police or a councillor in their lives’. What cocoon does she live in? She should come up north and watch the blood flow as we lawless OAPs practise our bladework in the bingo halls and drop-in centres (though to be honest it’s more the drugs than the drink these days).
Basil Ransome-Davies
Lancaster
Canapés are correct
Sir: Further to Charles Moore’s item about upside-down toast (The Spectator’s Notes, 29 March) and your correspondent’s follow-up (Letters, 5 April), taste buds only respond to the primary tastes — sweet, sour, bitter and salt. The flavours and aromas which make food attractive are sensed by the olfactory mucosa in the vault of the nasal cavity, so it makes sense that the tastiest ingredients should be on top. Canapés and our bodies are correctly constructed.
Keith Ferris
(FRCS, DLO, long-retired ENT surgeon)
Coxheath, Kent
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