Letters

Letters

Letter of the week

Statistics set straight
I’m sure Peter Wilby’s point about quoted statistics is, as a general point, correct (First Thoughts, 29 June). But in the particular case of pheasants I am afraid the figure of 15 million thrown away annually is probably an underestimate. The big shoots raise batches of more than 10,000, at a time in conditions worse than the average broiler chicken’s. As they are game birds, drugs and additives banned elsewhere can be included in their feed, and when they are a few months old they are turned out to the guns. Most of those shot are too mangled, or simply too immature, to be eaten. A few are taken home, but most of the 20 million raised annually are simply buried in trenches.
William Douglas-Mann
Petrockstowe, Devon

Bankers’ balance
Vince Cable is right that we must not lose momentum for improved governance and regulation of the banking system (“Back from the dead”, 29 June). But he is not right to characterise the approach of UK Financial Investments as “institutional passivity”. UKFI has overseen sweeping changes at the boards of our investee banks, and at both RBS and HBOS we have negotiated fundamental changes to remuneration structures which we believe have set benchmarks for avoiding reward for excessive risk and failure. The successful restructuring of RBS will result in a significant return of value to the taxpayer and a meaningful contribution to the public finances, which should be welcomed by parliamentarians of all parties. But given the size of our holdings, this will not happen overnight.
Glen Moreno
Acting chairman, UKFI
London SW1

Eastern promise
Martin Jacques writes that China will be the world’s mega-power before the century ends (NS Essay, 29 June). I see no evidence of a renaissance in Chinese culture under the present rigid regime – which Jacques presumes will last for decades more. All I can see is a vast region dedicated to manufacturing.
China is clearly destined to become a vast economic and military power. Let’s hope something of value will rise for a populace who for so long have deserved better from their rulers. But I can only see this happening in a society of free peoples under governments they choose for themselves.
Tim Symonds
Burwash, East Sussex

National treasures
The argument put forward in support of Lord Elgin’s decision to chop some of the marble statues off the top of the Parthenon (Letters, 29 June) invokes an elusive concept: internationalness. Apparently, London is an international destination and Athens is not. Whose international-o-meter should we trust? If London scores so highly, perhaps we need to hack off the tip of the Eiffel Tower and bring it to London. Perhaps New York is even more international, in which case we should send Big Ben’s hands there; we should not leave British culture out of world heritage.
Konstantinos Dimopoulos
Lancaster University

Ken on cash
Ken Livingstone writes that if London is to sustain its position as a great international city, “it requires huge investment on all levels” (Commentary, 29 June). Whether some diminution of London’s role as a financial institution is a good thing or a bad thing, huge investment, such as that going into the Olympic Games, is not the way to improve the lives of Londoners. I suspect that Ken’s fondness for expensive prestige projects is an important reason why people with no particular fondness for Boris found themselves unable to vote Labour in last year’s mayoral election.
Stephen Plowden
London NW1

Count on Scots
George Eaton writes that Andy Murray was “carrying the weight of a 202-year-old political union on his 22-year-old shoulders” (“Game, set . . . and Scottish flag”, 29 June). In fact it was 302 years ago, in 1707, that we were united. I know, it’s not in the English schools’ curriculum. Advantage: Scottish education. Especially when it comes to subtraction.
John Robertson
Ayr