The climate grandstanding in Glasgow leaves ordinary voters cold

SIR – The first week of Cop26 has seen hundreds of private jets, Tesla cars recharged by diesel generators, the obscene emissions of Joe Biden’s entourage, India stating it will take 50 years to reach net zero, and China not even present – and all for the sake of some unenforceable pledges.

Meanwhile, the British public is being forced to participate in Boris Johnson’s green vanity project. I did not vote for this. We need politicians who live in the real world.

Nigel D Moore

Devauden, Monmouthshire

SIR – Suzanne Moore (Comment, November 2) feels disconnected from Cop26 in Glasgow.

However, I suspect she feels more connected than most of us living and working here, being made strangers by mulish police, while politicians and activists alike come to wag their fingers at us before disappearing – and leaving a gigantic mess to clean up.

Mark Boyle

Johnstone, Renfrewshire

SIR – If those countries seeking dominance through investment in hypersonic missile technology put the money towards environmental initiatives, I am sure we could save both humanity and our planet. We might even have some cash left over.

His Honour Ian Morris Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex

SIR – The most powerful voice heard at Cop26, and the one that will go down in history as the most significant, was that of the Queen urging world leaders to “rise above politics for the sake of our children and their children”.

Lance Warrington

Cirencester, Gloucestershire

SIR – We are encouraged by the Government to think about how we can travel in an environmentally responsible way.

It was not just the great and the good (and the not-so-good) travelling by train to Glasgow this week who were affected by the disruption of their rail service. On Wednesday I was due to be in London. South Western Railway trains south-west of Andover were still not running due to the accident at Salisbury, so I was advised to go to Castle Cary and get a GWR train. There, however, all trains to London were cancelled because of a signalling failure (cause not disclosed). As such, a significant part of south-west England had its rail service to London cut off.

If we are to go green, a much more reliable railway service is essential.

Hilary Leavey

Sherborne, Dorset

SIR – I second Ros Hurn’s call (Letters, October 31) to ban leaf-blowers.

The petrol-powered ones are very noisy and of course contribute to global carbon dioxide emissions. Electric leaf blowers are hardly silent, either, and the use (and manufacture) of both devices entails the unnecessary consumption of fuel.

I, in turn, propose a ban on those energy-hungry patio heaters.

George R Taylor Croydon, Surrey