Letters: The Prime Minister and Chancellor must hold firm and see their reforms through

SIR – It takes great strength of character and conviction to stand up and face a baying mob, especially a political one. Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have my admiration.

I always wondered why Boris Johnson did not attempt to enact some of his early policies after Brexit, for which he had great public support. Perhaps he understood how the pro-EU and socialist contingents in Parliament and the wider political world would react, and was fully aware of the force that would be against him.

I wish Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng good luck. They have shown enough courage in their beliefs to see this challenge through.

Bea Martin
Ferring, West Sussex

SIR – At a time when so many people are having trouble affording the basics of life such as food and energy, how can it be morally, logically or tactically sensible to give the richest of our nation a tax gift?

Anthony Chapman
Morton, Lincolnshire

SIR – Has the looming mortgage crisis not been caused by the Bank of England base rate being allowed to drop to the ridiculously low level of the past few years, allowing people to take on huge, unaffordable mortgages?

If the base rate had never fallen below 3 or 4 per cent, house prices would not be so high and we would not all be panicking now.

Stuart Gould
Peterborough

SIR – The Government seems to be taking a lot of criticism for what is the Bank of England’s fault.

The Bank has persistently failed to forecast and control inflation, advising that it was transitory and would be modest. It fell behind the curve of action and has remained there, while inflation has galloped ahead. Consistent with this has been the failure to raise interest rates to more credible levels.

For years it has been happy printing money to the tune of £900 billion, which any O-level student could tell you leads to currency debasement, inflation and economic ruin.

The Bank has also failed to regulate the pension sector, which has become highly exposed to £1.5 trillion of liability driven instruments that are tied to bonds and low interest rates.

The Bank is failing the nation and the Government. More competent people should be in charge.

Stuart Moore
Bramham, West Yorkshire

SIR – It seems that we have exchanged a prime minister who is a proven election winner, but is not considered a true Conservative, for one who has no shortage of Conservative values but whose chances of winning an election have already been written off by many. I wonder which Conservatives prefer.

Peter Snow
Whittlesford, Cambridgeshire

Solar energy costs

SIR – In common with many people, I am now looking to reduce my energy consumption by installing solar panels.

The power will obviously be generated during the day, whereas I need it mostly in the evening. The logical solution is to take advantage of the ability to feed electricity into the grid during the day, which will offset the evening consumption. In America, power companies typically take a 10 per cent cut for effectively storing the energy, but the meter runs backwards when feeding electricity into the system. So if I produce 10kWh during the day, then use 9kWh in the evening, my net cost is zero.

If this Government is serious about encouraging people to invest in solar energy and reduce the overall load on the grid this winter, I suggest we adopt the American model. If this necessitates investment in the grid then I suggest repurposing the HS2 budget.

Nick Hopkins
Hursley, Hampshire

SIR – If the soaring cost of energy is a wartime problem, a wartime measure may help. During the Second World War, British Double Summer Time was introduced as an energy-saving device. The extra hour of light in the evenings not only produced energy savings but research also showed there were fewer road casualties and that crime rates dropped.

A experiment keeping the hour forward from 1968 to 1971 was not continued due to resistance from Scotland, but under the devolved Scottish government a different time zone could be introduced.

David Saunders
Sidmouth, Devon

SIR – It seems to have escaped the attention of the past and present administrations that schools, hospitals and other institutions are part of the foundation of Britain. They should not have to fund essential heating and lighting from their budgets, which should be focused solely on providing the services they are there for – healthcare and the education of the next generation.

Costs for heating and lighting should be borne directly by central government, rather than hospitals and schools facing cuts because they are having to pay increasing bills, over which they have no control.

E W Parkman
Eastbourne, East Sussex

SIR – I can accept energy companies passing on the increase in the wholesale prices to their customers. However, maintaining their margins, and thus vastly increasing their bottom line, seems very much like profiteering at the expense of the public.

I fail to see how this can be justified in the present climate, and how the Government can let them get away with it.

Andrew Bebbington
Cheadle, Cheshire

SIR – It is said that if you put 10 economists in a room to solve a problem, you’ll get 11 answers. Listening to the various politicians and economists offering their solutions to the energy crisis, I feel we are very much in this territory.

Judith Barnes
St Ives, Huntingdonshire

Brock is not a welcome guest in every garden

SIR – I was interested in the letter from Pamela Thomas (September 25), who has been feeding badgers.

I find them to be repellent creatures. We have some here and this summer they dug up all of our bumblebee nests. We no longer have hedgehogs either.

David Ellis
Ellon, Aberdeenshire

SIR – I urge caution to anyone who is tempted to feed badgers at any time of the year. While very beautiful, these animals can and do enormous damage in urban gardens. They often tunnel under walls to gain access and cause thousands of pounds' worth of damage to buildings and other structures – as I can attest – which the insurance industry refuses to underwrite. Badgers belong in the countryside, not in our towns.

Rev Roger Crow
Sutton on Sea, Lincolnshire

Britain needs HS2

SIR – Lord Wolfson (Business, September 30) joins the misguided calls for HS2 to be scrapped.

The population is increasing and the number of vehicles on the roads is increasing even faster, leading to long delays and atmospheric pollution. We should be taking steps to get traffic off the roads and on to public transport systems, of which railways are the best example. Faster rail connections and more direct lines are needed to encourage this, and HS2 should be only the first in a more comprehensive network of high-speed rail links.

Alan Shaw
Halifax, West Yorkshire

SIR – Lord Wolfson quite rightly points out that scrapping HS2 would save the country about £100 billion.

The works have already carved a path through a huge swathe of farmland from London to Birmingham. This pathway could be put to good use. It could be a route for a water supply to the South East, then covered with solar panels, which would save further farmland from destruction. In some areas it could be the site of housing.

Gill Jessop
Isley Walton, Leicestershire

GP appointments

SIR – Thérèse Coffey, the Health Secretary, says I will be guaranteed a GP appointment within a fortnight if my care needs are non-urgent (report, September 22), with same-day slots for the most urgent cases. But who decides whether it is urgent or not? Me? Or the receptionist?

Roy Corlett
Southport, Lancashire

SIR – I am thrilled by the news that I will be able to see a GP within two weeks. Just one slight snag: our surgery is about to close because one of the GPs is retiring early due to their own stress and health issues.

I have also been told I will have to wait for other “urgent” referrals: 20 months to see a neurologist; an unknown time for an orthopaedic consultant; and a three-month wait for spinal physiotherapy, which was requested in November 2021. I am also scheduled for a shoulder replacement surgery in January.

At this rate I may not be around to worry about any of them. That will save the NHS some money at least.

E J Roche
Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire

SIR – We have a growing crisis in primary care with challenges in recruiting full-time GPs. Other countries do not have the GP stage, but instead have direct access to local clinics and clinical specialities.

I am frequently referred to clinical services in Newark, Mansfield or Nottingham for tests and treatment. Why can I not go direct, without the two to six-week delay?

Guy Kenyon
Newark, Nottinghamshire

Shetland's schools

SIR – I was interested in Yolanthe Fawehinmi's feature (September 25) about the shortage of trained teaching staff in the UK. 

I recently visited the Shetland Islands, where I spoke to local residents about their schooling. The population of about 23,000 live in villages scattered across the islands, most of which have primary schools. For secondary pupils there are two large schools, which pupils attend as weekly borders.

Amazingly, there are 29 schools across these remote islands, including the boarding schools. They appeared to be modern and well-maintained, foreign languages are taught from the age of six and there are excellent sporting facilities.

The oil industry will have boosted the Shetlands’ economy, but it would appear that the UK’s educational funding is not being shared equally around the country.

John D Inman
Cullompton, Devon

Clean break

SIR – Chris Moore’s letter (September 15), about his cat signalling to guests that it wanted to go to bed, reminded me of a former colleague in Ethiopia.

Though he was a generous and frequent host, at about 10pm he would leave his assembled guests and start to run a bath. We said hasty farewells before the bath could overflow.

Roland Minor
London SE3

SIR – Once after dinner our host, clearly wanting us to go home, went upstairs and reappeared wearing his pyjamas and dressing gown. We left, but bought him a nightshirt and nightcap for his next birthday.

Pam Booth
Hathersage, Derbyshire

SIR – My late husband was not subtle when he thought guests had overstayed their welcome. He would play a recording of Time for Man to Go Home. It always worked.

Barbara Madoc-Jones
Cilcain, Flintshire

SIR – Letters regarding hints to guests who overstay their welcome have reminded me of the definition of hospitality: it is the ability to make people feel at home when you wish they were.

Derek Wellman
Lincoln

Letters to the Editor

We accept letters by post, fax and email only. Please include name, address, work and home telephone numbers.  
ADDRESS: 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0DT   
FAX: 020 7931 2878   
EMAIL: dtletters@telegraph.co.uk   
FOLLOW: Telegraph Letters on Twitter @LettersDesk