I was surprised to read in the Ed Miliband interview of the “successful social democratic project… in Canada”. This has not been my experience. The popularity of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 2011 was due largely to the magnetism of Jack Layton, and his message of pragmatic populism. It was an explicitly anti-Conservative-Party movement rather than an intentionally social democratic project. When Layton died, the NDP experienced a severe decline in popularity; now it doesn’t even have party status in the House of Commons.
Canada continues to be enamoured of the boringly grey “socially liberal and fiscally conservative” mantra espoused by both the Liberals and Conservatives. Our country is at most a reluctant liberal democracy with attention given to rights of the individual citizen. Government animation, as opposed to management, of the economy is lacking. And the market, with all its failures, reigns supreme. Social democracy, on the other hand, suggests to me the expansion of individual wellbeing by collective provision. We are nowhere near that now.
Timothy Wild, Calgary, Canada
Troyes story
Like Tom McTague, we also recently spent a night in Troyes as a necessary, as distinct from planned, stop. Driving through France with a small electric car, it was the only charging spot within range. And we also were delighted by the medieval centre – more so when we discovered that it had been the home of Shlomo Yitzchaki, otherwise known as Rashi (1040-1105). Rashi was a rabbi (and winemaker!), who founded his Talmudic school in 1070. His writings on the Bible and the Talmud are extensive and legendary. There is now an institute devoted to Rashi’s memory and an active synagogue.
It was a Friday evening, and, on asking a woman entering what was going on, we discovered there was an Erev Shabbat service, to which we were welcomed. The rabbi had good English and explained he had trained in Gateshead. We didn’t try the andouillette.
Ken Singer, Bollington, Cheshire
Tom McTague’s Francophilia omitted mention of a notable temporary resident of Troyes, the physicist Paul Langevin, held there under house arrest during the Second World War. Langevin’s public opposition to the rise of fascism during the 1930s, argued logically rather than emotionally, made him a leader to both the French intellectual left and the general population. Now remembered principally as the creator of modern ultrasonics, Langevin reportedly said “unless the political work is done there will be no science”. Henry Tizard saw him as a man “engaged throughout his life in the sheer pursuit of truth and of high ideals… that stretches far beyond the confines of his own country”. These truths and ideals have much to recommend them in today’s polarised world.
Francis Duck, Bath
Don’t be cruel
In response to Will Dunn’s latest Sketch, Elvis has more chance of a comeback than Liz Truss. Having seen EPiC recently at the pictures, I’m confident that he was an impressive enough a performer not to let a little thing like being dead 50 years keep him down. Besides, in order to “comeback” one has to have actually been somewhere: Truss was only prime minister for slightly longer than I was prime minister, and I’ve never been prime minister.
Fionnbharr Rodgers, Rostrevor, County Down
Gluttons free
Oh, the delicious irony. Your Easter edition’s cover picture features a gluttonous Donald Trump greedily smirking as he devours a chocolate egg. Then, Piers Morgan says he orders everything for breakfast at the BBC because it is “free”. “Out of the mouths of babes” comes to mind…
Kevin Harman, Southampton
Techno-pessimism
Nice interview with Ed Miliband, but he dodged the critical question: “Wasn’t his pledge to generate 95 per cent of electricity in Britain from low-carbon sources completely unrealistic?” Your reporter failed to hold his toes to the fire on how to achieve this. I admire the aspiration, but, as an engineer, I fear Miliband fails to show understanding of what his technological ambitions require.
Kimon Roussopoulos, Cambridge
Trump glitch
Ian Hislop says that Trump has broken international law as well as the laws of grammar and common sense. I suggest he also be accused of communing with dead spirits, in claiming to have the approval of a former US president for his actions in Iran: apparently the four still living deny it. Assuming, then, that he has added necromancy to his many self-proclaimed talents, and has communicated with a late, rather than live, office-holder, my guess would be Andrew Johnson, the only other resident to have been indicted – albeit (unlike Trump) just the once.
Tom Stubbs, Surbiton, Greater London
We pledge allegiance…
Nicholas Harris quotes Tony Blair saying that “if [the Americans] are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security… you had better show up when they want you to”. This speaks not of a “special relationship” but of servility. It means that though Trump has flouted international law by starting a war against Iran, we should nevertheless obediently join in. And it means that if Trump asks us to support an invasion of Cuba or the annexation of Greenland we should go along with this and offer moral even if not military support. We need to stop pretending there is, or can be, any “special relationship” between the UK and US so long as Trump is president.
John Boaler, Calne, Wiltshire
Hopes dashed to the floor
The Letter from Washington by Freddie Hayward took me right back to Bananarama’s smash hit “Robert De Niro’s Waiting…” (talking Italian): “A walk in the park can become a bad dream…” Robert De Niro was waiting to go on, waiting, like the rest of us, for the end of this godawful nightmare.
Sara Powis, Worcester
Flagging here
I am loath to contradict the excellent Rachel Cunliffe, but the Union flag did exist in 1660 when Charles II landed at Dover. It had been invented by his grandfather, James I, as a way of symbolising his kingship of two nations. James created an Order in Council in 1606 instructing all ships of the Navy to fly the flag. This is, fairly extraordinarily, the only mention our national flag gets in any written legislation. Its use is entirely de facto and we could change it any time we wanted.
Adam Penwarden, Brighton
Silver spoonerisms
I absolutely adore Finn McRedmond, and I always turn to her first (after checking the number of females on your letters page). So this is a mere quibble over her brilliant portrayal of Americans in west London. Are their teeth really “well manicured”? It sounds unlikely, although we know exactly what she means.
Hilary Patrick, Glasgow
How I agree with Finn McRedmond about rabbit. Forty years ago, when we lived in Norfolk, our four small children waited eagerly on a Saturday evening for the rabbit man to call with a string of rabbits slung around his neck. They loved eating rabbit and had no qualms about watching me skin one for supper. I blame British squeamishness on Beatrix Potter. What a wonderful writer she was. I still love her books, especially Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle-Duck, but her anthropomorphism has left us unable to buy an extra wild resource – even my excellent butcher rarely has any.
Janet Mansfield, Aspatria, Cumbria
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This article appears in the 08 Apr 2026 issue of the New Statesman, The Fall
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