Letters: Sadiq Khan’s Ulez cash grab is part of a wider attack on British freedoms

SIR – Following Sadiq Khan’s immoral and scientifically unjustifiable Ulez cash grab (Letters, August 23) – hitting the poorest and most vulnerable hardest – I wonder how long it will be before the middle classes wake up and realise they’re next. 

It is time to put a stop to this project before it’s too late. In addition, net zero is an impossibility, and I find myself unable to vote for any party that fails to recognise that fact. 

Democracy in Britain is broken and there will be serious consequences for the future of our society if we meekly allow our rights and freedoms to be removed for some vague greater good.

Simon Hubbard
Brownhills, Staffordshire

SIR – If blue-badge holders must pay the Ulez charge (report, August 23), why are MPs driving to work in Westminster permitted to reclaim it on their allowances? 

Raymond Jones
Modbury, Devon

SIR – British citizens from outside London face being taxed when they visit the capital. Such taxation without representation is plainly wrong. Perhaps the franchise for electing London’s mayor should extend to the Home Counties.

Keith Phair
Felixstowe, Suffolk

SIR – Rishi Sunak is certain he has “broad support” in the country for net zero (report, August 17), so why would he deliberately obstruct a referendum to prove it?

Paul Gaynor
Windermere, Cumbria

SIR – While in the short term the Ulez expansion will cause financial problems for the 10 per cent of drivers who own older non-compliant vehicles, in the longer term it will make the air much cleaner, not only giving health benefits to poorer people who tend to live in the most congested areas, but also helping to reduce the cost to the NHS of treating asthma, bronchitis and other chest conditions. Particulates have been found in almost all body tissues and are believed to hinder intellectual growth in children, as well as making heart attacks more likely. 

Yes, the transition to cleaner air will cause disruption, but it will have huge benefits for individuals and society.

Michael Miller
Sheffield, South Yorkshire

SIR – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard draws attention to the future period, only just over the horizon, when heating and cooling will be so cheap that fuel bills will be disregarded and charging electric cars will be almost cost-free.

This has echoes of statements made in the 1950s, which claimed that the introduction of nuclear power would make electricity so cheap that it would be given away. Somehow this never came to pass. I wonder why.

Nicholas Wightwick
Wrexham, Denbighshire

Pothole dodging

SIR – One has to sympathise with Trevor Kay (report, August 22), who was asked to identify the exact pothole that caused damage to his vehicle. This is typical of local authorities, which try to dodge the issue. The truth is that roads all over this country are in an appalling state. What has happened to the government money given to authorities to address the problem?

I have reported numerous faults on local roads, many of which remain unrepaired because the size or depth of the pothole is apparently not sufficient to require fixing. 

Authorities should also pay much more attention to the shoddy repairs done after water, electricity and gas utilities have been at work.

Ian Crimp
Pangbourne, Berkshire

Doctor strikes

SIR – A photograph in this week’s British Medical Journal depicts junior doctors on strike. Of the 30 or so banners being held, two-thirds say: “Strike to save the NHS … Kick out the Tories.” What began as an outrageous demand for a 35 per cent pay rise appears to have morphed into political activism, which hardly justifies continued disruption to healthcare.

Junior doctors should return to work and focus on what should be a vocation, while accepting the Government’s pay offer.

Dr A C E Stacey
Rustington, West Sussex

SIR – While we try to come to terms with the horror of the Lucy Letby murders (Letters, August 23), I find it difficult to comprehend that as many as five highly trained and – we assume – competent clinical experts could not only be challenged by administrators, but were also forced to issue a letter of apology in the face of overwhelming evidence for their concerns.

Is the fear of being accused of “unfair dismissal or treatment” now so strong that it outweighs common sense and could cost further lives?

These consultants would also have been acutely aware that at least two of the administrators concerned were being paid significantly more than them. No wonder expert consultants feel justified going on strike. 

The NHS should reward the right people and penalise the incompetent.

Michael Walters
Bushey, Hertfordshire

Big cat sightings 

SIR – The Loch Ness monster may well be a mythical creature (report, August 16), but big cat sightings in rural England (Letters, August 23) are likely to be more grounded in fact.

In the mid-1980s in my part of Hampshire, both the local policeman and our county councillor saw what they described as a puma or mountain lion in Weston Common – a heavily wooded area nearby.

However, neither reported it officially, fearing the damage it would do to their reputations and careers. I knew both well and they were people of stature, intelligence and integrity.

A strange situation, indeed.

Richard Longfield
Weston Patrick, Hampshire

A propitious picnic

SIR – On a first outing with my new date, he brought sandwiches and a flask (Letters, August 23), which had been made by his obliging mother.

Maybe this was a propitious move. We’ve been married for almost 54 years and we still take a packed lunch on a day out.

Margaret Reed
Trowbridge, Wiltshire

Affordable food clubs

SIR – A growing number of Britain’s food banks are searching for an exit strategy that can prevent another decade of lengthening queues for, and growing dependency upon, emergency food parcels (“Food banks are on the rise across the world – but are they the answer?”, report, telegraph.co.uk, August 22). 

One such strategy entails either adding on – or converting into – an affordable food club such as a pantry or social supermarket. Food banks in 30 towns and cities across our network have done this. Each has reported an immediate reduction in – and in some cases a total elimination of – the need for emergency food parcels, as well as a transformation in residents’ experiences of accessing the service. 

They are members of a club rather than clients of a crisis service. They come to shop rather than be handed an emergency food parcel, and they choose from a wide range of fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and other fresh products. They access the service in return for a manageable contribution.

Crucially, this dignified and co-operative food offer is accompanied by advice and even credit-union services to maximise incomes and address the root causes of poverty. Meanwhile the social element is tackling the loneliness and isolation that poverty so cruelly imposes on people’s lives.

This fundamental shift in frontline provision – from food bank to food club – must form a key component of any anti-hunger programme.

Andrew Forsey
National director, Feeding Britain
Newcastle upon Tyne

Smartphone phobia

SIR – Life without a smartphone (Letters, August 22) is now a challenge, if not a punishment. 

I don’t want a smartphone because I disapprove of the lifestyle it encourages and the risks involved. I don’t want Big Brother and every crook in the universe to know who I am, where I am, what I am doing, what I buy, where I park, when I’m away from home and every other detail about me. I don’t want to waste my time with my nose on a screen. I don’t want to subject my life to computer fiddling. I don’t want to become an easy target for thieves and muggers, and I don’t want to be the slave of an expensive object that I am likely to lose, misplace or break. 

The odious pressure is increasing. How long will I be able to live my life out of that sad herd?

Yves Lombardot
Godalming, Surrey

Confusion over pears at Covent Garden market

SIR – I was introduced to avocado pears (Letters, August 23) in 1961 by a young veterinary student. He had received a consignment from his parents, who lived in Kenya. 

I was so impressed that I went to Covent Garden flower, fruit and vegetable market to try to find some. Clearly the young porter had no idea what I was talking about, and pointed me towards sweet Conference pears.

Dr Philip Hickman
North Curry, Somerset

SIR – In the 1970s, my cook in Manila refused to serve the delicious local avocado pears that I bought in the market. This was on the grounds that they were only good for pigs.

Cathy Johnson-Hill
South Harting, West Sussex

SIR – In the late 1970s, my husband and 10 other British Airways crew members enjoyed a secondment to Air Lanka.

During the long school summer holidays their families were able to join them in Sri Lanka, where we were introduced to the luxury of huge, ripe avocado pears with baked beans. The avocados were very cheap and plentiful; the luxury was the baked beans, which the chaps had to buy when they flew to the UK.

Mangoes, pineapple and other tropical fruit never taste the same when they have been imported – usually partly ripe – to this country, but baked beans remain a permanent fixture on my cupboard shelf.

Margaret Higgs
Shillingstone, Dorset

The misery of downsizing amid property chaos

SIR – Having recently experienced the misery, disappointment and wasted time involved in dealing with the UK property market (report, August 21), I agree that it is high time this situation was resolved. For me it began in February this year, when I engaged contractors, suppliers, estate agents, legal professionals and accountants in order to sell my property.

I quickly found a buyer, who enthusiastically committed to buying my home in April. I then committed to purchasing a new property in June. Not only is this process costly, but all concerned invest a huge amount of time in it. Sadly, the buyer of my house reneged this month, a few days before the final signings.

Like me, many elderly people downsize in later life to find more suitable living conditions. The present process is grossly inefficient, causes immense frustration and disappointment, and wastes time, money and energy. Surely a first-world country such as ours could adjust the procedures and legalities to repair the gaping flaws in the process of buying and selling property in the UK.

Peter Trentham
Stanford Dingley, Berkshire

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