Nothing beats the teamwork of a busy office
I SYMPATHISE with Sid Anning (Letters) who found his local council offices operated ‘ by appointment only’. I spent almost 40 years in local government before retiring as a principal officer and manager of a council tax section, and I don’t think it is possible to give the public any form of service without being readily available to them.
In my advancing years I’ve become more reliant on council services, only to find problems I’d have expected my staff to handle within two or three days have taken up to nine weeks because people are working from home.
Even then, they were only resolved because I made it clear I was quite prepared to make a nuisance of myself unless speedy action was taken.
Collaboration between colleagues in an office is vital. MAURICE HAYWARD,
Ratby, Leics.
Weight in line
TO ENCOURAGE Whitehall staff back to their places of work, their London weighting should be adjusted to reflect the number of days they turn up to the office.
JOHN HUDSON, Lincoln.
Caught on camera
WIMBLEDON fortnight reminded me of the time, years ago, when my father managed to get Centre Court tickets for my sister and five of her tennis-mad friends.
He hadn’t bargained for the advent of matches being televised and the girls being revealed on TV in the front row when they should have been at school. He was summoned by our headmistress, Miss Adams, and given what he described as the biggest dressingdown he’d had since he was at school himself. He was deputy mayor of Croydon at the time. SHIRLEY HARRIES,
Andalucia, Spain.
Immigration lesson
STEPHEN GLOVER (Mail) is right to highlight the migration issue revealed by the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, which showed that the population of England and Wales grew by 3.5 million in the ten years to 2021, and that most of this growth was caused by immigration.
The way to tackle this is to set up a demographic authority to look at the facts of immigration and population growth and their effects, and establish a proper long-term strategy. This has been proposed by my colleague Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts and debated in the House of Lords. The Government would be well advised to adopt it immediately. LORD HORAM OF GRIMSARGH,
House of Lords.
Golden girl
SARAH VINE (Mail) asks why Emma Raducanu was wearing her Tiffany jewellery at Wimbledon. The answer? Because she’s young and on the world stage. Why not? Gone are the days when we saved our ‘good’ dress, coat and jewellery for formal occasions.
KAY EVERTON, Henlow, Beds.
Ascent of Mann
FURTHER to Gillie Coghlan’s letter about Status Quo, appearing as special guests on Quo’s Xmas22 Tour in Germany will be Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, fronted by Manfred, who’ll be 82 this year.
GRAHAM CHAPMAN, Beckenham, S. London.
Raise voting age
GLANCING at Answers To Correspondents (Mail) from June 13, I came across Dr Ian Smith’s reply to ‘Are some parts of the brain not fully formed until we are in our 30s?’ The answer was that indeed they are not, which demonstrates the absurdity of lowering the voting age. This should, of course, be raised, at least to 30.
BILL SWANSON, Hampton Hill, SW London.
Burial backfires
THE decision to bury the outcome of the Meghan bullying inquiry (Mail) is a pyrrhic victory for the Duke and Duchess of Montecito. One suspects if the inquiry showed no such bullying had taken place, the Duke would be very vocal in defence of his wife. The Palace has pulled a blinder.
CERI REES, Tonyrefail, Mid Glamorgan.
All that’s satin
LAST week’s Money Mail had an article about misleading descriptions that mentioned a garment being sold as satin which was actually polyester. I’d like to point out that ‘satin’ refers to the weave, not the fibre (polyester, for example) from which it is made.
CHRISTINE DODD, Birmingham.
Sherwood strengths
I WAS surprised to read Mail TV critic Christopher Stevens’s damning review of the BBC series Sherwood. I lived in a pit house right next to a Nottinghamshire pit during that time and had my car searched by police several times on returning home from a night shift. In 2004, I drove to work past the forest areas swamped by
police search teams. Sherwood is a drama, but the idea originated from two real brutal murders.
The atmosphere evoked in the series — the homes, the people, the sticky-carpeted social club — took me right back. I loved it.
HELEN GILES, Ambergate, Derbys.
Chart of shame
WITH so many people on strike or threatening to strike — academics, teachers, doctors, barristers, rail staff — I’m sure many of us would like to see a chart showing the average salaries of those in each group (and how these would rise if their demands were met).
The chart should cover not only people in traditional professions but carers, office workers, shop workers, delivery drivers and others, not forgetting pensioners.
If some people could see how relatively well-off they were, they might stop trying to hold the country to ransom.
B. E. JIBSON, Mountsorrel, Leics.
Chest kidding
BORIS JOHNSON suggests getting his pecs out to combat Putin. Please don’t.
J. GILMORE, Chelmsford, Essex.