• God save the Queen
Sir: Robert Hardman (‘The Queen’s manifesto’, 22 October) is right to say that we should respect the Queen for more than longevity and never putting a foot wrong. One of her great strengths is that she is so willing to take advice from those placed (or elected) to give it. There are times when she has been known to ask ‘What should the Queen do?’, much as a parent has to ask what line to take towards a child.
The Queen has invariably agreed to do as bidden by her government, for example in entertaining figures like President Ceausescu of Romania in 1978. He was a far from easy guest, digging up the floorboards at the Palace in quest of electronic bugs, yet he was extended the traditional hospitality by the monarch. She cannot be blamed for inviting him. The person to blame is David Owen, the then foreign secretary.
She does not express her views in public, so we do not know what she is thinking. This does not mean she does not express them in private. When the files are eventually opened, I suspect we will find she held some surprisingly robust views.
It is a good idea to have a head of state above politics and one who has been trained from birth for the job, with all the benefits of continuity and absorbed experience. Also we know exactly who the Queen is and where she has come from. She is one of the very few people in public life that we can wholly trust. Robert Hardman’s book is a wonderful clarion call to the forthcoming Jubilee celebrations.
Hugo Vickers
Hampshire
• The right to fail
Sir: Ross Clark (‘The free market in danger’, 22 October) is right to say that the masses and the young ought to be given more of a stake in our capitalist society. I am not sure, however, that his proposed solutions would help. Tweaking the rules to ‘maximise’ home-ownership sounds promising, but further government meddling in the housing market almost inevitably gives smart, well-connected people more opportunities to exploit loopholes in the system.
We don’t need tweaks; we need to return to the fundamental principles of the free market, starting with the idea that irresponsible financial institutions — even ones of ‘systemic’ importance — should be allowed to fail. It might hurt, but at least it’s fair.
Philip Edmondes
Glasgow
• Gaddafi and the IRA
Sir: Douglas Murray’s article on Martin McGuinness (‘Skeletons in the closet’, 22 October) raises the interesting question of whether any damning evidence will now emerge from Libya regarding the relationship between the IRA and Gaddafi.
Charles Pugh
London SW10
• Power plays
Sir: Antony Black (Letters, 22 October) accuses William Cash of ‘naivety’, but ends his letter with the following sentence: ‘Wind turbines are not, actually, particularly ugly, and certainly less so than the pylons we have lived with for decades.’ Does he not know that wind farms are the most prolific generators of pylons that have ever been invented? Wind farms — which depend on their distance from the centres of population where their electricity can be put to good use — require anything from four times to perhaps more than 20 times the number of pylons that server a conventional power plant of equal output. In the ‘naivety’ stakes Antony Black is a gold medallist compared with William Cash.
William Oxenham
Edinburgh
Sir: Will someone kindly tell Chris Huhne (Letters, 15 October) that we don’t want the ‘greenest government’. We want responsible government that does not waste billions of pounds of our money on useless wind turbines that destroy our countryside and wildlife, but could use the abundant natural gas, as described by Matt Ridley in his excellent article of the same date, saving energy prices for us all.
J.M. Moore
Cardiff
• Let Tintin run
Sir: Sad to see how dismissively Charles Moore prejudges Steven Spielberg’s Tintin film (Notes, 22 October). Thousands of Belgians turned out this weekend to applaud Spielberg’s treatment of their national treasure. So did great quantities of Parisians. Critics in both countries are equally impressed by the way the film remains faithful to its source.
Gerry Lewis
London
• Dog whispers
Sir: I was delighted and relieved to read Sarah Wardle’s wonderful letter about her golden retriever puppy who chewed everything in sight (Letters, 22 October). Cydney continues to chew diligently while adding new elements to her puppy repertoire: last night she decided to throw herself in the bath.
Most reassuring was the news that Ms Wardle followed none of the advice on training which seems to be forthcoming from every direction. So far I have been told to get my dog off the lead, keep her on the lead, take her for long walks, take her for short walks, give her chews, and on no account ever give her chews. ‘Are you going to work her?’ ask fellow dog-walkers intensely. Yes, I say, I’m training her to empty the dishwasher. Yesterday a woman in the park ordered me to take her immediately to something called Push Ball. Competitive parenting has nothing on competitive dog-owning.
Melissa Kite
By email
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