Arnie on the big screen
Sir: There’s no truth in Fraser Nelson’s suggestion that Governor Schwarzenegger changed his schedule in response to polls or any other political considerations (‘This will be Cameron’s finest hour’, 29 September). The Governor was delighted by the opportunity to speak to the Conservative conference, and only regrets that other responsibilities prevented him from making an appearance. We’re grateful that technology allowed the Governor to appear via a video link. Governor Schwarzenegger appreciated Mr Cameron’s invitation and was pleased to highlight how California’s move away from hardline partisanship has helped the Governor’s administration achieve groundbreaking new policies. Mr Cameron is realising a similar opportunity with the Conservative party, and the Governor was proud to share the stage with him.
Adam Mendelsohn
Deputy chief of staff for communications, Sacramento, California
The Treaty — to and fro
Sir: Nigel Lawson is wrong to claim that the Reform Treaty will abolish the need for parliamentary approval of changes to the EU treaties (‘Sorry, minister’, 29 September). The Reform Treaty will introduce a new, general ‘passerelle’ that provides for simplified treaty revision procedures. Its use will still need to be agreed unanimously by all national governments and all national parliaments. So MPs and peers at Westminster will retain a veto. It should also be noted that ‘passerelle clauses’ were first introduced by the Single European Act under Margaret Thatcher.
Jim Murphy MP
Minister for Europe, London SW1
Sir: Nigel Lawson is absolutely right. Here in Holland the Dutch government has also decided to dodge the thorny subject of a referendum on the Reform Treaty in exactly the same way — by pretending it isn’t another EU constitution.
The administration here knows full well that, as in 2005, the people would once again vote a resounding ‘no’ to a European Union that has doubled their cost of living, has no democratically elected government, has a parliament that rubberstamps its every decision, and has backtracked on most important commitments it made.
Most notably it betrayed the Stability Pact that was to safeguard the Union’s healthy economies against overspending by weaker member states. Net contributors such as Holland and Britain are now effectively subsidising the budget deficits of the usual suspects: Italy, Greece and Portugal.
Only last May Wouter Bos, the Dutch Labour finance minister, stated that, in view of the earlier rejection of the constitution, a referendum would be a logical step. Now, with a steely mendacity that matches Mr Jim Murphy’s, he tells the nation the current Reform Treaty is an entirely different proposition.
The parliamentary faction of Dutch Labour, in government coalition with the Christian Democrats, has just decided to back the Cabinet’s decision. In joining this political con game, it has torpedoed not only the chance of a parliamentary referendum initiative, but also what little trust citizens had in mainstream politics.
Bart Roozendaal
Amsterdam
Rommel’s beating
Sir: Taki writes with his usual humour and light touch (High life, 22 September). On the subject of Rommel, however, he is wrong to state that no British general ‘could match (him) in panache and military acumen’. In fact, two British generals gave him a beating at the First Battle of El Alamein in June–July 1942 and, on all fronts, out-generalled him to such an extent that on 17 July Rommel wrote to his wife:
Dearest Lu,
Things are going downright badly for me at the moment, at any rate, in the military sense. The enemy is using his superiority, especially in infantry, to destroy the Italian formations one by one, and the German formations are much too weak to stand alone. It’s enough to make one weep.
These two generals were General Sir Claude Auchinleck and his chief of staff Major-General E.E. Dorman-Smith MC. The rewards that these two generals received for this achievement were to be sacked on 6 August 1942 and thereafter denigrated.
Christopher Dorman-O’Gowan
Northumberland
In Anita’s defence
Sir: It seems a little unfair that Judi Bevan’s critical summing up of Anita Roddick was based on the fact that she wasn’t perfect (‘Moral superiority in cheap plastic bottles’, 22 September). I don’t think Anita ever said she was. What’s so despicable about eating chicken?
Despite her ‘imperfections’, she contributed a huge amount to British entrepreneurialism and helped an awful lot of people, myself included, get innovative ideas off the ground. She taught us that profit can fit with ethics, and that if you want to help people and causes you believe in and if you want to support innovation, then business is a valid way of generating funds to do so — and it’s more effective than bleating that the government should ‘do something about it’.
Perhaps the City couldn’t cope, but she helped and employed far more people than I or Ms Bevan ever will!
Richard Little
Southampton, Hants
No Turkish delight
Sir: Bravo to Simon Hoggart for exposing the staged-looking Turkish restaurant scene in Michael Palin’s latest BBC travelogue (Arts, 29 September). It was an embarrassment to the usually excellent Palin and to the beleaguered Corporation. However, this cringeworthy mezze interlude was probably the least of the programme’s sins.
Palin kicked off the series by promising a fascinating insight into an oft-overlooked chunk of ‘emerging’ Europe. Being a regular visitor to (and investor in) Turkey, I awaited eagerly Palin’s analysis of this fascinating and globally significant country.
So what was the viewer’s reward? Oil-wrestling (with some amusing gripped buttock action), camel-wrestling (enough with the wrestling already), strolling musicians, belly-dancing (my goodness, the originality), a mystic lady who reads coffee dregs and a German chap living a troglodyte existence (in a popular tourist area).
If the BBC wishes to produce a shallow and cliché-ridden travel show pandering to the quirk-seeking package tourist, then it should bill the programme as such. Michael Palin’s lame effort seemed to have little relevance to the modern Turkey that I’ve seen. This is an enormous shame given what the country has to offer to an imaginative journalist who can see beyond the tassels on the belly-dancers’ outfits.
Stephen Ogden
Bowdon, Cheshire
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