Bad friend
Sir: Tim Shipman’s examination of Reform’s success in attracting female voters contains an important warning for Nigel Farage (‘March of the mums’, 9 August). He cites Luke Tryl of More in Common, who points out that Farage’s main Achilles’ heel when it comes to support among women is his closeness to Donald Trump. The US President has undermined Nato and western security, fawned over our enemy Vladimir Putin, damaged the world economy with his tariffs and promoted dangerous conspiracy theories, not least by appointing a vaccine-denying health secretary. Unless Farage can distance himself decisively from this arrogant and ignorant narcissist, it is not only women who will turn against Reform.
John Hicks
Manchester
Douglas’s triumph
Sir: What a joy to read about the trial involving Mohammed Hijab and Douglas Murray (‘My victory over Mohammed Hijab’, 9 August), and of the triumph of common sense over absurdity. Douglas was vilified because he put his head above the parapet, like so many of The Spectator’s journalists and writers do. (Rod Liddle also springs to mind.) Those of us who question and ‘call out’ wrongs look to them as inspirational. Thank you.
Linda King
Harefield
Following the syllabub
Sir: Philip Womack bemoans the dumbing-down of language in modern children’s literature (‘Book smart’, 9 August) as a result of publishing trends in America, and recalls the rich vocabulary of Ursula Moray Williams’s Gobbolino (1942), one of the first books he read. In a speech 30 years later, Williams spoke fondly of her own childhood reading, of books by Twain, Scott and Stevenson, and of ‘the joy of discovering a new word like syllabub’, while deploring American books with ‘spectacular illustrations but shallow story lines’. Was it ever thus?
Colin Davison
Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
Kentish kingdom
Sir: Toby Young’s advocacy of Kentish independence raises issues other than migration (No sacred cows, 9 August). The early medieval Kingdom of Kent, which lasted 400 years, was England’s first and foremost, so a restored Kentish monarchy would be only natural. As a sovereign power accustomed to fending off foreign adventurers, Kentland would seek to reverse London’s unrelenting incursions. King Nigel – a true Kentishman – would doubtless demand the return of territories, from Deptford outwards, colonised by Westminster in 1889 and 1965, along with reparations. Kent nationalists might additionally pursue the return to Kentish suzerainty of a major Cantiaci city recorded by the great geographer Ptolemy, namely Londinium. Inevitably David Lammy would be denied further access to Chevening, but Maidstone would magnanimously welcome as UK ambassador that born-and-bred Kentish maid, Rachel Reeves.
John Bunyard
Egerton, Kent
Test of time
Sir: It was splendid to read Henry Blofeld in your pages, and especially his defence of Test cricket as the highest form of the game (Cricket notebook, 9 August). Comparisons with the one-day versions of the sport are unnecessary: we still speak of 2005, of Botham’s Ashes in 1981, and other great matches and series from decades ago. Who now remembers the result of a Hundred game from one year to the next?
Tom Stubbs
Surbiton, Surrey
In praise of PMQs
Sir: I disagree with Amol Rajan (Diary, 9 August) that a monthly interrogation by the liaison committee would be preferable to having PMQs each Wednesday. After the bombing of the House of Commons in May 1941, Churchill argued for the rebuilt chamber to be deliberately adversarial. The UK parliament website reminds us of his thoughts on the rebuilding: ‘He referred mainly to the debating chamber which he suggested should remain the confrontational assembly it had been before the fire… that its shape should be oblong and not semi-circular; that members should not have their own seat and desk, and that a small chamber space would create the sense of urgency and intimacy that lifted the affairs of the House into a “human sphere”.’ It’s thanks to Churchill, who couldn’t have foreseen the televising of PMQs, that we are now able to watch it with all its ‘urgency and intimacy’.
Jeremy White
Buxton, Derbyshire
Wrong winner
Sir: Barometer (9 August) says that Franz Beckenbauer played half an hour of extra time in the World Cup semi-final in 1970 against Italy with his arm in a sling. It then states: ‘His German team beat Italy 4-3.’ But the Germans actually lost 4-3 and Italy went on to lose 4-1 to Brazil in the final.
Alan Haile
London SW6
Horatio’s Garden
Sir: Charles Moore described the restorative properties of a Horatio’s Garden (Notes, 2 August). My brother is currently in St George’s Hospital in Tooting and benefits from the garden there. There are shady and sunny spots, a variety of tactile and sweet-smelling plants and a pond full of goldfish. It has the added advantage of giving some privacy, not always available on a busy ward, for family discussions in its various nooks and crannies.
Mary Moore
Croydon, London
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