Spectator letters: Remembering Clarissa Tan; and Hugo Rifkind replies to Matt Ridley

In loving memory

Sir: When Clarissa Tan covered last year’s Good Funeral Awards, it quickly became apparent that she was a woman facing her greatest fears with a gentle and courageous spirit. She left an enduring impression on all who met her. In her subsequent article for this magazine (‘The ideal death show’, 14 September 2013) she wrote of the hope she derived from her belief in God: ‘It is the hope not that I will live. It is the hope that I am loved.’
You were, Clarissa, and you are.
Charles Cowling

Director of the Good Funeral Guide

Redditch, Worcestershire

Mitigating circumstances

Sir: My colleague Matt Ridley is correct to note that in the press release which accompanied the IPCC’s most recent publication ‘the word “adaptation” occurred ten times, the word “mitigation” not at all’. Possibly, this has something to with the fact that this was part two of a four-part report, and called ‘Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’. If Matt remains keen to learn what the IPCC feels about mitigation, he might be better off waiting for the press release on part three. Perhaps this won’t mention it either, but I’d be surprised. It is to be called ‘Mitigation’.
Hugo Rifkind London N8

Base treachery

Sir: Hugo Rifkind is correct to classify tuition fees as a tax (5 April). They kick in at a specified threshold, they are levied as a percentage of income, and they are not written off during bankruptcy. Moreover, as a tax, they are targeted at the Conservative party’s core supporters — middle-class families and their aspiring children. They could scarcely have been more focused if the legislation simply read: ‘A 9 per cent supertax for anyone unfortunate enough to fit the demographic of our base.’ History will judge how the base responds.