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Letters: The mini-Budget marks a refreshing return to core Conservative principles

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng unveiling his plan to the Commons - AFP
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng unveiling his plan to the Commons - AFP

SIR – I was most encouraged that our new Prime Minister has implemented tax cuts and a other initiatives to kick-start our economy. Liz Truss has the makings of being the first proper Tory PM since Margaret Thatcher. How utterly refreshing.

Dr Alistair A Donald
Watlington, Oxfordshire

SIR – I am delighted by the cuts to taxation rates and other exciting measures taken by this properly Conservative Government yesterday.

As a small business owner running an antique shop and restoration business – cruelly but correctly labelled as non-essential during the Covid pandemic – may I send out a clarion call to all in the upper tax bracket who have just received their own windfall? Spend, spend, spend.

Get out on to our city and town high streets, and into rural farm shops and establishments such as mine. Employ local tradespeople, commission objects from craftsmen and women, eat drink and be merry in our hotels, restaurants, cafes and pubs. Tip generously. Your country needs you.

Clarissa Reilly
Pewsey, Wiltshire

SIR – If we’ve just heard a mini-Budget, I can’t wait to hear the main one.

Nigel Lines
Ferndown, Dorset

SIR – It’s hard to believe what the Government has done. This will fuel resentment among all those struggling to cope with the cost-of-living crisis and be manna from heaven for Sir Keir Starmer and his colleagues.

Richard Marshall
Stoke D’Abernon, Surrey

SIR – In recent months, several items on our weekly shopping list have not only increased in price, but also decreased in the quantity contained within the package.

For example, our brand of coffee is in an identical tin, but contains only 90 grams instead of the original 100 grams, a sly way of increasing profit by 11 per cent. Similarly, our tube of toothpaste has been reduced from 100 grams to 75 grams – an increase in our costs of 33 per cent.

These are just two examples, but the same underhand tactics have been used on many of our other weekly purchases.

Not only is inflation in double digits, but if these examples of manufacturing profiteering was taken into consideration, I dread to think what the true rise in the cost of living has been

John Hinchsliff
Longridge, Lancashire

Russia and the UN

SIR – Given the litany of his illegal acts, what more must Vladimir Putin do before the UN ejects Russia from the Security Council?

If Russia is not sanctioned in this way, what is the point of the UN?

Douglas M Jacobs
Highworth, Wiltshire

SIR – It is clear that Vladimir Putin intends to annex the Donbas region of Ukraine via a sham referendum there.

However, Ukraine is a sovereign state, as recognised by Russia when co-signing the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. Within the UN there has been widespread condemnation of Putin’s intent, so why can it not intervene to stop him?

If Putin was to succeed it would presumably encourage him to continue his warring aggression against democratic nations in Europe and elsewhere.

Russia should be expelled from its privileged position with the power of veto in the UN Security Council. If this is not possible under the constitution, why not disband and then reform the UN, including Russia only as a member without special powers?

Dr David Denby
Hale, Cheshire

SIR – After presiding over a well-equipped professional invading army, now in disarray, what makes Vladimir Putin think that sending droves of reluctant, inexperienced reservists to Ukraine will help his cause?

Bruce Denness
Niton, Isle of Wight

SIR – With Putin mobilising anywhere between 300,000 and one million reservists, there will undoubtedly be a problem of arming and transporting them to the theatre of war, and providing the heavy armour they need.

Nick Woolmer
Sherborne, Dorset

SIR – Some Russians must wonder what the point of their revolution was, if they merely replaced one autocratic form of rule with another. How callously Putin dictates that Russian men must risk their lives in a meaningless pursuit of his imperialistic vision, which reflects that of Tsar Nicholas II.

Ultimately, Nicholas’s downfall was a result of terrible losses in 1917. Hopefully, Putin’s overthrow might follow the same pattern.

Norma Murray
Ulverston, Cumbria

A broad Church

SIR – Madeline Grant (Comment, September 22) makes a valid point – that there is a longing for good expressions of Christian faith. However, she draws conclusions relating to forms of worship and language that are not appreciative of the range of contexts in which the Church ministers.

Language and music appropriate to a state occasion, with the best choirs in the world, let alone the country, do not work equally well in all parish settings. Growing churches that draw people back to church are found in all styles of worship, including high Anglo-Catholic, contemporary charismatic, Book of Common Prayer and others. Decline can be found across all traditions as well.

Welcome, good preaching, pastoral care by all – not just the priest – and worship inspiring in the context are all essential as well. We are blessed with many cathedral and larger choirs that can sing the great choral works, some of which we heard at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, but for many smaller churches this is not realistic.

As to closing churches during the Covid pandemic, churches were shut in the first lockdown for several reasons. First, the Government asked the Church of England to do so to set an example of restraint. Secondly, at that stage little was known about Covid, especially whether it was catchable from surfaces, so everyone was asked to exercise immense care.

Since the death of Queen Elizabeth, churches have been doing what they do best: serving their communities with space for prayer, contemplation and worship, as well as giving thanks and performing acts of remembrance, to mark the accession of King Charles III. All of this is a tribute to the thousands of clergy and volunteers across the country. Without them, how different could the last weeks have looked?

Rt Rev Chris Goldsmith
Director of Ministry, Church of England
London SW1

Why a tax on tourism would cost Wales dear

A London, Midland and Scottish Railway poster from 1925, promoting travel in Wales - Alamy
A London, Midland and Scottish Railway poster from 1925, promoting travel in Wales - Alamy

SIR – The proposed Welsh tourism tax, linked to accommodation (report, September 21), would only penalise those who would spend more money in a destination as a result of staying there for longer than a day.

It would increase the cost of a visit, and the last thing the hospitality industry in any region of Britain needs is an increase in prices, which will act as a deterrent to visitors and ultimately benefit competitor destinations and activities.

David Curtis-Brignell
Former chair, Tourism Society
Cuckfield, West Sussex

SIR – Welsh tourism: RIP.

Charles Penfold
Ulverston, Cumbria

Rebuilding the NHS

SIR – Thérèse Coffey, the Health Secretary, is announcing NHS plans and targets that amount to no more than the usual political tinkering (Leading Article, September 23).

The crumbling health service needs a roots-up reorganisation, which would no doubt be fatal for any political party. If it is to be saved, this must be done by a cross-party team acting in the best interests of the people rather than a political party.

Alan Belk
Leatherhead, Surrey

SIR – I qualified some 60 years ago and witnessed a massive increase in managers appearing on the NHS scene.

Most are worthy people, but they cannot do the work that doctors and nurses are trained to do.

Indeed, front-line clinical staff would hardly notice if almost all these managers suddenly disappeared – an event that might vastly reduce the costs of the NHS and indicate confidence in doctors’ and nurses’ ability to run their own departments and look after patients. It would also be more in line with the original, excellent idea of the NHS.

Dr Alexander Macdonald
Bristol

National Trust votes

SIR – I have just received AGM documentation from the National Trust. Not only does it recommend which trustees to vote for, but also which resolutions to vote for or against as the case may be.

In those circumstances, I feel it is a waste of time voting (especially as the chairman may have many proxy votes) and as a member consider this approach to be patronising.

In deciding which potential trustees to vote for, they each give a summary of themselves, their background and why they may be considered suitable. Why, then, do the existing trustees think it appropriate to make recommendations? It smacks of wanting to maintain the status quo.

Surely a body such as the National Trust cannot consider this good governance. It is yet another stain on the trust’s management record.

Richard Tinn
Malvern, Worcestershire

Presidential behaviour

SIR – When Joe Biden, the president of the world’s most powerful nation, attended the funeral service of Queen Elizabeth, he sat where centuries of protocol determined (“Donald Trump mocks Joe Biden over seating position at Queen’s funeral”, report, September 20). By so doing, he showed the true purpose of the event as being to honour the late Queen and not to jockey for position or to be seen.

This simple act did more to cement the continuing relationship between our two countries than any other gesture could and demonstrated that America has no need to flaunt its power. President Biden has earned my admiration and respect.

Peter Wilcox
Oxted, Surrey

SIR – Amid the calls for the outstanding bearer party at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral to be awarded medals (Allison Pearson, Comment, September 20), it is worth noting there are precedents.

The Grenadier Guardsmen of the Queen’s and King’s Companies who carried Queen Victoria in 1901, King Edward VII in 1910, King George V in 1936 and King George VI in 1952 received the medal of the Royal Victorian Order – a medal that is the personal gift of the monarch.

Justin Davies
Vig, Zealand, Denmark

SIR – Scilla Phillips’s suggestion (Letters, September 21) that people plant a tree in memory of Queen Elizabeth is an excellent one.

It doesn’t need to be a sapling. I have successfully grown apple, plum, cherry and pear trees from seed, and it has been an excellent year for acorns.

Stephen O’Loughlin
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

SIR – Rather than arguing about whether or not to erect statues of the late Queen (“Queen Elizabeth II statue may be erected on fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square”, report, September 17), would it not be better to plant an English oak in Parliament Square?

Trees could also be planted in Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff.

Elizabeth Prior
London SW10

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