We need countries to work together for a vaccine

I wonder how contrived our shock horror to Russia’s alleged hacking into UK Covid-19 research data is? Being a global pandemic and thinking of the examples of Tim Berners-Lee with the free and open world wide web and China’s release of the virus genome at the earliest opportunity, why are we so protective of the intellectual property to our research? I haven’t seen many news items on Russia completing phase one of the vaccine earlier this week. Are we getting ready to claim any Russian success is the result of their computer hacking? Again, we need international global cooperation, not national protectionism; the manufacture and distribution will depend on such cooperation, so start now.

Peter Smith-Cullen Norfolk

I found the vaccine espionage story deeply depressing. Here was me thinking the international scientific community was actually working together in the face of a worldwide threat, but no, the whole thing is taking place in national and commercial silos. Is there even such a thing as a scientific community, or does that only apply where there is no money to be made?

John Barnett Alvechurch, Worcestershire

Make sure we’re not hypocrites

Now that the chairmanship of the Intelligence and Security Committee is in the safe and sure hands of a disenfranchised Tory MP, rather than an extra from the Muppet Show, and the report on the Russian involvement in the Brexit referendum is to be released, possibly at a time to coincide with a further relaxation of lockdown rules, can we hope for a statement from the ISC assuring us that neither the UK nor its allies have ever indulged in similar activities?

Alan Mackay East Lothian

Shamima Begum’s rightful return

If ever there was a reason to be grateful for our courts, it showed itself brilliantly on Thursday. Whatever the circumstances, I don’t think we can go down a path of preventing people fully and properly presenting their case in court. What kind of nation would we be if we were to deny anyone that right? The court’s decision said nothing about the outcome of Begum’s case – and nor should it. But perhaps more importantly, it said that her case should be heard with the proper preparation.

Steve Mumby London

Where is everyone?

Early on Tuesday evening I had one of the weirdest and most extraordinary experiences of my life, which began nearly 64 years ago. For the first time since mid-March I got on a train from Buckinghamshire into central London. It was like being an extra in one of those futuristic films where some calamity has occurred and almost all of humanity has died, apart from a few baddies.

The train carriage in which I travelled had no more than half a dozen passengers in it at most, and Marylebone station, where I would normally have struggled to walk down the platform towards the ticket barriers against the tide of humanity heading in the opposite direction, had no more than 30 to 40 people walking around its new one-way system. Then again on the Bakerloo Line to Oxford Circus, at a time when I’d rarely get a seat and would often be squashed like sardines, there were no more than 15 people in the whole carriage. I must say I was shocked because the implications for the economy of our country are truly frightening if this continues.

Living in semi-rural Bucks (where things appear well on the way back to normal in many ways) had not prepared me for this total desertion of London, even though I had dropped shopping off to a friend in Goodge Street a couple of times at the height of lockdown and stopped to take photos of a totally empty Piccadilly Circus. Cafes, restaurants, pubs, and theatres, cinemas, museums and galleries will NOT survive (in spite of government help) if we continue to stay at home. If we want life to return to as near to normal as possible, we all have to play our part and start living again.

Chris Santry Buckinghamshire

Stop disrespecting older people

You published an article by Catherine Lux, claiming that the older generation is risking the lives of younger people by refusing to wear masks. What an unpleasant and peculiar piece this was. If the author stopped her attempts at promoting intergenerational resentment for long enough to visit the local supermarket, she would see that all generations are equally non-compliant; indeed most mask wearers are older people.

This is simply not a generational issue. Somehow the writer conflates mask wearing with the issues of poppy wearing and statue toppling, both topics where I also see no generational divide (for the record I am a baby boomer, I don’t wear a poppy, I do wear a face covering in the supermarket and I think the statue issue is tricky and one we need to discuss further).

Eric Wolff Hertfordshire