LETTERS

Hooray for Harry

I AM delighted with the news that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are engaged.

His late mother diana would have been so happy and proud, not only about his impending marriage but about the fantastic work he does.

By opening up about his feelings surrounding the issue of bereavement and mental health issues he has helped many people, particularly men, who are often too scared to be honest about such issues.

And his incredible work with the Invictus Games has raised awareness of disability. He has his mother’s sense of compassion, fun spirit and down-to-earth nature.

However, I am sure there will be many heartbroken single girls now he is no longer Britain’s most famous and eligible bachelor!

GORDON KENNEDY, Perth.

I Wish Harry and Meghan every happiness, but cannot help feeling sad at how Princess Margaret’s life was ruined when she was not allowed to marry the man she loved because he was divorced. Thank goodness we live in more humane times. VALERIE CREWS, Beckenham, Kent. PRINCE Harry’s engagement? Suits you, sir. MIKE PEIRSON, Penarth, Glamorgan.

Voices of hate

WHY is the Stop Funding Hate campaign trying to control how we think (Mail)? A healthy democracy needs left, Right, Centre and green.

The UK is sleepwalking away from democracy, a long, slow walk that began more than 40 years ago.

I am a retired teacher and can recall left-wing bullying throughout my career. I had the misfortune to attend a school assembly just before the 1992 General Election.

A teacher spoke on the topic of social injustice and concluded: ‘Things are gonna change when we win.’ She then made the ridiculous gesture of punching the air. ‘They’ didn’t win.

S. M. TOWERS, Wigton, Cumbria.

Flying in the face of need

IT HAS been suggested that one way to ease the housing crisis would be to build new housing developments on old airfields instead of cramming them into towns (letters).

If only it was that easy. I own a site on a world war II airfield and while it is recognised as brownfield, I have had several proposals for housing developments turned down by town planners.

Yes, it is in an area of outstanding natural beauty (AoNB), but I have a letter from the Secretary of State that confirms development would not harm this.

Yes, it is possible to appeal when the planners turn you down, but if you wish to contest the verdict, it is by a judicial review.

This process is expensive and if, as in my case, the planned houses are mainly low- cost, it is not economically effective.

until the planning procedure is taken away from local councils, where ridiculous decisions can be made, and a central planning administration set up, the NIMBYs and local pressure groups will continue to hold sway.

StEVE COEN, Wroughton, Wilts.

Out of the culture club

THE Eu is really getting desperate since its bullying tactics don’t seem to work. First, it threatens to stop us taking our dogs to Europe on holiday and now it has announced the UK will not be allowed to host the European Capital of Culture in 2023. How long before things get really dirty and it bans the UK from the Eurovision Song Contest?

PETE WIDDOWS, Heacham, Norfolk.

FIVE cities — dundee, Nottingham, leeds, Milton Keynes and Belfast/ derry — were to make their presentations to be European Capital of Culture in london today, but the spiteful and petty Eu Commissioners have pulled the plug on those hopes.

we shouldn’t bank on getting a sensible Brexit deal out of them, so we might as well walk away from talks and spend the £40 billion Brexit ransom where it is desperately needed at home.

GERALD AUSTIN, Bournemouth, Hants.

THE Eu may be able to reject our bids to be European Capital of Culture, but it is unable to dictate the boundaries of the Continent.

And though it rejects the Brussels dictatorship, the UK is still geographically part of Europe, whether the Eu likes it or not.

MICHAEL NORTHOVER, Norwich.

So Europe has decided the UK is not eligible to host a Capital of Culture. I don’t recall such a rebuff in the Forties when, as part of the Royal Navy, I helped it regain its freedom.

A. BAILEY, Dover.

ISTANBUL, which is not in the Eu, was Capital of Culture in 2010. For the Eu to exclude us is pure vindictiveness.

LEONARD ALLEN, address supplied.

Each to their own

READER Salma Khan is rightly proud of her mother who didn’t allow others to dictate to her what she should wear and stuck to wearing her hijab (letters).

why then is she so disparaging about the mini skirts, high heels and low- cut tops of her classmates’ mothers? If a woman chooses to wear such an outfit that is also her choice. She shouldn’t be demeaned because it doesn’t fit in with another person’s religious beliefs or lifestyle.

ALICE NAYLOR, Southampton.

Dickens of a problem

WITH apologies to Charles dickens, when annual immigration is 100,000 a year and annual house building is 200,000. Result: most people are happy.

Annual immigration is 300,000 a year and housing building is 200,000. Result: misery.

PHIL GRANGER, W. Malling, Kent.

Economics lesson

Wages used to increase to keep up with the cost of living. In the past few years, governments were assessed by their ability to control inflation and keep costs down, so why should we be surprised that wages have not risen significantly?

NICK FELTGOOD, Didcot, Oxon.

Cat’s ninth life

THE hibernating hamster who was buried by accident (letters) reminds me of the day my friend Patsy’s cat went missing.

A neighbour told her that the poor unfortunate animal had been run over and was lying in the gutter by the local shops.

Patsy brought the cat home and she and her son conducted an appropriate service and buried the cat in the garden. Not long after, their own unharmed puss, dusty, walked through the cat flap. They had buried some other poor cat.

ROSEMARY HYDE, Slough, Berks.

I BURIED a neighbour’s hamster called Chester in the garden after he died. later that day, my cat Jasper sauntered in with Chester in his mouth, having dug him up, and dropped him.

Chester was warm and well cared

for by the cat, who had revived him from his hibernation. SHELAGH HUNTER, Huddersfield, W. Yorks.

Numbers game

WHY has there been a decline in Lottery players (Letters)? Camelot lost out when the draw was no longer broadcast live on television.

Millions bought their £ 1 ticket, then sat and watched a pleasant half-hour with Dale Winton as they ticked off their numbers. Now it’s a £2 ticket with lower odds of winning and you have to struggle to find that week’s numbers to see if you’ve won. No contest! PETER STEVENS, Faversham, Kent.

Driverless disaster

TWICE in my career as a coach driver I had the unfortunate experience to have a front tyre blow-out. I’d like to see what measures makers of driverless vehicles have taken to deal with this kind of mishap. I can vouch for the fact that a driver really has to concentrate to avoid a major accident if it happens. DOUGLAS NEAL, address supplied. WHO would want a driverless car? Not me — as a back-seat driver, I’d become obsolete. SANDRA PARSONS,

Keston, Kent. AS A former tanker driver with 25 years’ service, I’d like to know how driverless cars and HGVs would work. Who checks the oil and water levels, the lights and brakes? D. R. AUSTIN, Wigan, Lancs. THERE is already a driverless form of transport available, worthy of investment and capable of expansion to suit those who don’t drive. Trains.

ROGER SHERLOCK, Leeds.

Tough on the streets

MPs say they are shocked that people are sleeping rough. They shouldn’t be surprised. I slept rough years ago when the only people handing out tea were the Salvation Army — and instead of sleeping bags, it was rolled-up newspapers and a cardboard box.

It’s dangerous on the streets, in particular for the young and vulnerable — many with mental illnesses, alcohol, drugs and gambling problems.

If anyone thinks a change of a week in granting universal credit will help, they don’t realise that when you’ve starved for five weeks, seven days makes little difference.

S. T. VAUGHAN, Birmingham.