Plus: the human costs of lockdown; punitive stamp duty; defining ‘working people’; Nigel Farage’s fanbase; and marmalade droppers
: Stefan Rousseau/PA
SIR – Does Sir Keir Starmer really want to be remembered as the man whose first priority was to disrupt the education of thousands of children by charging VAT on private schools (“Private school levy will be harmful, says ex-Ofsted boss”, report, June 16)?It remains to be seen how many parents will bite the bullet and find the extra money. Contrary to what Sir Keir clearly believes, many parents make considerable sacrifices to afford school fees, and will continue to do so. Inevitably, there are going to be problems for both them and some schools, so perhaps the Labour Party would like to make it clear what it is going to do to provide extra places in state schools, particularly for children with special needs for whom there is already a chronic lack of facilities.David WedgwoodCowlinge, Suffolk
SIR – As well as offering greater educational choice to families within Britain, boarding schools are an export product bringing millions of pounds from international markets directly into local economies. Many of our boarding schools provide work for hundreds of people from a variety of backgrounds and skill sets, often in coastal or rural communities where large-scale employment can be sparse.Adding 20 per cent onto the fees of independent boarding schools is going to put a lot of this at risk. It is also going to make access to them more exclusive, particularly as those that do not close will undoubtedly have to increase their fees and reduce their scholarship and bursary funds in response.I would, therefore, urge Labour to reconsider the wider potential damage this policy may inflict.Charles SharpHousemaster, St Lawrence CollegeRamsgate, Kent
SIR – Christ’s Hospital (founded in 1552 by Royal Charter) is probably the school which enables the most social mobility among its 900 pupils, with the vast majority receiving bursaries for their education and boarding and many not paying any fees whatsoever.Applying VAT will not significantly increase the fees paid to the school because the affordability rules would negate it. All the charity’s income comes from endowments and donations; it is clear that these cannot suddenly increase by 20 per cent.Nearly all students proceed to further education, an opportunity many would simply not have been able to dream of achieving without this particular school.Surely Labour’s intention cannot have been to reduce the number of young people from challenging backgrounds who are, without doubt, granted a life-enhancing educational opportunity through Christ’s Hospital. But this will be the consequence of such a policy.Declan SalterChenies, Buckinghamshire
The costs of lockdown
SIR – Janet Daley is right to stress the colossal and enduring economic and social costs of the Covid lockdowns (Comment, June 16). As we show in our recent paper in Issues in Law & Medicine, those costs were one of the reasons the lockdowns breached established principles of public-health ethics.Coercive public-health measures need to be shown to be effective, proportionate and necessary; to adopt the least restrictive infringement of liberty possible; and to be honestly and publicly justified. Lockdowns in Britain and abroad fell well short of meeting these requirements. Not only were lockdowns ineffective in averting deaths, but the human suffering they have caused around the world, especially to vulnerable groups such as the poor and people with disabilities, is incalculable and indefensible.It is regrettable that to this day so many people in positions of power fail to grasp the gravely unethical nature of the policy they imposed or supported.Professor John KeownKennedy Institute of Ethics,Georgetown UniversityWashington DC, United StatesProfessor David PatonProfessor of Industrial Economics,Nottingham University Business School
Working definition
SIR – James Charrington (Letters, June 14) asks who “working people” are. Times have changed and the old definitions of working, middle and upper class are outdated. Society is far better divided into the dependent, the working and the independently monied, the last two groups being the ones that actually make a material contribution to national wealth.Today’s real working class encompasses anyone rendered liable to taxation by their efforts to make a living, so might include everyone from manual workers to investment bankers. Politicians clinging to an old class system to attract votes are being disingenuous at best.Charles Smith-JonesLandrake, Cornwall
Prisoners after war
SIR – Reading the obituary (June 10) of the German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, I was startled to discover that after the war he was detained as a prisoner of war in Britain until 1948, despite the Geneva Convention stating that POWs should be repatriated “as soon as possible after the conclusion of peace”.It seems that the postwar Attlee government put many German POWs to work in agriculture because of food being scarce and labour shortages. At one point, it was estimated that German POWs made up one-quarter of the agricultural workforce. Protests were made by German anti-Nazis and by church leaders, MPs and many others in Britain. In September 1946, the government began repatriating German POWs at the rate of 15,000 a month. I suggest that this chapter of history ought not to be forgotten.Stephen Hamilton-JonesLondon SE27
A class apart
SIR – As a teacher of eight-year-olds, I never fail to be amused by the things my pupils say. I recently asked the children in my class what they would like to be when they grow up. One girl told me that she would like to be a normal person, or a teacher.I smiled sweetly and suggested that she go with her first choice.Catherine KidsonBradfield, Berkshire
Punitive taxes
SIR – The various party manifestos give us an opportunity to shine a light on the injustices in our current tax laws and allow us to challenge policies that have been ingrained in the system for years. Family homes present one example (“Labour forced to deny CGT on family homes”, report, June 15). Many people view their homes as an “investment”, so charging a capital gain on any profit made on this investment seems perfectly reasonable. Stamp duty, on the other hand, is a punitive tax on a necessary purchase which disproportionately penalises first-time and younger buyers. It should be abolished.Paul ArcherDerby
Sir Alan’s honour
SIR – Yesterday, we opened a bottle of champagne and toasted the health of Sir Alan Bates (report, June 15). Never has a knighthood been so richly deserved.Richard BrownHeathfield, East Sussex
SIR – How refreshing to see someone rewarded for their service to others outside the remit of their job. Too often we see people rewarded for failure, or underachievement. Others receive honours because it goes with the job or because of who they know. Sir Alan Bates is the exception to that rule.G E A Farr-VollerDoncaster, South Yorkshire
Book smart
SIR – There is an easy way to make sure that you get back a book you love which you have lent (Letters, June 15): stick a label on the spine, where it can be seen.Dorothy WhitehouseEpping, Essex
SIR – I once lent a book to a friend and it turned up when I was helping with a charity car boot sale.Mary KingFarnham, Surrey
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