Queen’s brooch has given me a lifetime’s pride
I was interested in the picture of Her Majesty the Queen returning from Kenya after the death of her father ( Mail), particularly the brooch she was wearing, as I, along with five other children, presented it to her in 1947.
It was a gift from the schoolchildren of Rhodesia for her 21st birthday, which she celebrated on a tour of south africa in 1947.
I was eight at the time, and among my treasured possessions is a photo of the event at Government House, salisbury, which t he Queen autographed at my father’s request.
The first time I saw the picture of her returning from Kenya was on a TV programme shown in the NaaFI at Catterick after I’d joined the army: I almost jumped with joy.
after marrying and settling in Britain, I used to watch every Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph on TV, and until the demise of Rhodesia, she always seemed to wear my brooch for that occasion. after that, I believe for political reasons, she placed it in cold storage, until one December in the Nineties when she wore it again for her Christmas broadcast.
I still watch for occasions when that brooch appears.
DAVID CHARLES, Warrington, Cheshire.
Corbyn’s Argy-bargy
Given his reputation for fraternising with the ‘enemy’, I’m not surprised Jeremy Corbyn didn’t have the courage to answer when pressed by sky News interviewer adam Boulton on whether he would have taken Britain i nto the Falklands war (Mail).
He has been a longstanding and outspoken opponent of the British government’s recovery of the islands from illegal argentine invasion and occupation in 1982, despite then Labour leader Michael Foot having supported the mission. Corbyn had the audacity to describe the dispatch of the Task Force as ‘ a Tory plot to keep their moneymaking friends in business’.
He has also frequently, against the wishes of islands’ inhabitants, called on various governments to negotiate with argentina over the sovereignty of Falklands.
as recently as March 2013, when an internationally recognised referendum was held in the islands, Corbyn was the only British MP to attend a so- called Pro-Dialogue Conference in London.
But this was no more than a propaganda exercise organised by the argentine embassy to deflect the impact of an overwhelming vote of 99.8 per cent by the islanders to retain their British sovereignty.
It’s strange that this man who purports to be a strong supporter of human rights appears steadfastly to ignore the desire and rights of the Falkland Islands population who wish to remain British. PATRICK J. WATTS, MBE, Stanley, Falkland Islands.
Referendum’s return
THe disaster for the UK is that the election of Jeremy Corbyn has opened the door for a second independence referendum — earlier than sNP could have hoped.
The basis is already in Nicola sturgeon’s comments — ‘Labour is a divided party incapable of being a credible opposition.’
The sNP stance will be that you are as well having an independent scotland with a ‘ progressive’ agenda and in control of our own destiny as continuing with a westminster Government of the far Right or the far Left (if Jeremy Corbyn is Prime Minister).
Unfortunately, many will swallow this and the drive to independence will increase. so it may be the Left wing of the Labour Party will be the catalyst for a further period of vicious division that so personified the referendum.
whatever way you view it, Jeremy Corbyn is manna from Heaven for the sNP.
Alan Scott, Dunfermline, Fife.
Running scared
Whether Jeremy Corbyn proves to be a successful Labour leader and Prime Minister, he has already separated the men from the boys.
How revealing to see the Blairites running for cover when confronted with a real Labour politician. They obviously don’t want to be tainted with the old-fashioned policies the Labour Party was founded on and the fact that Corbyn won by a massive popular vote will have them quaking in their designer boots at the prospect of losing their well-paid seats at the next General election as the public replace them with real Labour candidates.
what’s the betting they’re already thinking of splitting from Labour and forming another party — Tory Brand II, perhaps?
George Dobbie, Alyth, Perthshire.
Reaping the whirlwind
Harry Bradbury (Letters) is right to remind us of our culpability in the present Middle east turmoil by making the point that it is deeply rooted to the fall-out from the Iraq war.
True, the decision for the stupidity was by due democratic process, but anyone who believes that a majority of our elected representatives — many of them wellseasoned politicians — actually believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction which posed an imminent threat to this country, would believe anything.
Many high- profile political supporters of the Iraq misadventure have seen the error of their ways but this only again raises the question of whether they actually believed the justification for the war.
a senior member of the cabinet of the time said in an interview that Iraq was a mistake, but an honest mistake. some honest mistake!
JIM Dundas, Wishaw, Lanarkshire.
We must bomb ISIS
Air strikes against Isis in syria are to be welcomed. Parliament’s earlier block on strikes was specifically aimed at stopping a foolhardy plan of going to war against the assad regime.
MPs wisely concluded that, as with saddam Hussein and Colonel Gaddafi before him, the likely alternatives to Bashar-al-assad are liable to be worse.
There is no such objection to the current action, and indeed we have already been hitting IsIs in Iraq.
John RISELEY, Harrogate, north Yorks.
Teen fashion tip
yes, it is difficult trying to discourage your teenage daughter from dressing so ‘grown-up’ (Mail.)
I remember a TV advert some time ago where the daughter was dressed outrageously and was daring her mother to ban her from going out like that.
The mother smiled sweetly and said how nice she looked. The look of sheer horror on the girl’s face as she raced back upstairs to change into something more suitable was a delight to see.
JACKIE Owsnett, Fochabers, Moray.
Picture poser
Re the sexism furore surrounding barrister Charlotte Proudman. If she is on Linkedin for business purposes why does she need to display a very obviously posed photograph of herself?
M. Forbes, Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire.
Dying wage
IF the ‘living wage’ is approximately £14,000 then is the state Pension — approximately £7,000 — the ‘dying wage?’
HARRY GRAY, via email.