Stubborn Civil Service
SIR – Your Leading Article is right to criticize the actions of both the civil servants who refuse to return to their offices, and Jacob Rees-Mogg in selling off redundant buildings.
By removing the infrastructure, the Government is essentially giving carte blanche to civil servants to dictate their own working practices.
In the likely event that Liz Truss becomes prime minister, she will have much to do – but mastery over the Civil Service and public sector has to be the number-one priority.
Meanwhile, instead of selling off buildings, Mr Rees-Mogg should tell civil servants to return to work or be sacked for breach of contract.
Dr Chris Topping
Pilling, Lancashire
Lock down science
SIR – Rishi Sunak’s suggestion – echoed by some of his Conservative colleagues – that scientists had too much power during the pandemic is outrageous.
The scientists were endeavoring to protect the public from a deadly virus by advising the Government on the best possible course of action.
I do not believe that without their guidance the Government would have pursued a more successful strategy.
Sharon NM Aldridge
Enfield, Middlesex
Fox v Jerome
SIR – I hope Freddie Fox is not feeling too smug about the “vindication” of his great-great grandfather Samson Fox, following the outcome of the 1897 libel case he brought against Jerome K Jerome and his journal Today.
In his summing up, the judge made his sympathies with the defendant quite plain, regretting that on a legal technicality he was “bound” to find a verdict for the plaintiff. “But,” he continued, addressing Fox, “when we weigh your character we put it at one farthing.”
Though Fox was awarded ¼d damages, the case was ruinously expensive for Jerome, costing him £6,000 in legal fees (nearly £423,000 in today’s money). Incidentally, the money Fox gave as “a philanthropic gesture” to the foundation of the Royal College of Music did not come from his own thrift or savings but from the money raised from investors in his fraudulent “water-gas” scheme.
I’m sure these facts will be reflected in the forthcoming play about Fox, in my view a decidedly dodgy character.
JeremyNicholas
President, Jerome K Jerome Society
Great Bardfield, Essex
Wonky but nice
SIR – Surely the first thing most people do with their vegetables is cut them up in preparation for cooking – so what difference does the shape make (Leading Article, August 27)?
When I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, “wonky” fruit and vegetables were simply called “food”.
Anne Fox-Smythe
Rusper, West Sussex
Optical illusion
SIR – Martin Rowling (Letters, August 27) is skeptical when waiters say, “Excellent choice.”
The biggest offenders are opticians.
When selecting new glasses frames, how often one is told, “Those glasses really suit you.” (Since you are not wearing your glasses, you can’t see them.) Then you get them home and the family just laugh.
Lynne Waldron
Woolavington, Somerset
Worn down police
SIR – Camilla Tominey is right about Theresa May’s disastrous leadership.
I was a serving officer when she began her flawed police reforms. She was unable to anticipate the consequences of her actions, and ignored wise counsel.
In 2015, she allegedly dismissed the legitimate concerns of the Police Federation as “crying wolf”. Her budget cuts were directly responsible for the loss of more than 22,000 mainly experienced officers and the closure of over a third of police stations.
Neighborhood policing teams—at the forefront of tackling antisocial behavior, preventing knife crime and obtaining intelligence—were decimated. Roads policing teams were reduced. The efficiency of air, dog and mounted support was reduced. The introduction of a 28-day bail limit has resulted in thousands of suspects being released under investigation without restrictions. The formation of the College of Policing and the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners were costly initiatives that have failed to support policing.
Before 2010, crime was falling. This was the result of a properly resourced and supported police force. Mrs May destroyed this and, more than 10 years on, Britain is a less safe place.
Clifford Baxter
Wareham, Dorset
Postal strikes
SIR – Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communications Workers Union, has accused Royal Mail of trying to “level down” (report, August 25), and says he is “confident the public will support us” in striking.
Is that so? Or does Royal Mail need to change its working practices to improve efficiency and provide a better service to its customers?
Trevor Steggles
Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire
What women want
SIR – Regarding pocketless women’s clothes (Letters, August 27), I recently went to the Conservative hustings in Perth. Bags were not allowed in the hall, much to the dismay of the women attending.
I, however, was wearing a Boden dress; in my pockets I had my phone, security clearance documentation, credit card, handkerchief and, most important of all, lipstick. Johnnie Boden knows what a woman wants.
Kate Mason
Menstrie, Clackmannanshire