Thank you to Catherine Pepinster for a great piece (“In blessing same-sex couples, the church’s compassion has triumphed over blind faith”, Comment). I am a gay married woman who serves as a licensed lay minister in the Church of England: the outcome from synod speaks to me of hope.
Anything that moves in the direction of love and inclusion is worth celebrating, however small those crumbs. I need to be realistic that the institution takes a long time to change and move but it doesn’t mean change and movement isn’t happening, quietly and unseen in those places where love and inclusion are already celebrated.
The biggest “win” for me is the fact that this vote is going to illuminate the safest spaces for me as an LGBT+ Christian. It affirms church leaders have the permission they were seeking to offer same-sex blessings. As a gay Christian, I will see those spaces of light where I will find acceptance, love and celebration and I will be able to steer away from those darker places.
This move is a shield for all LGBTQIA+ people. We will know where we can worship without fear and attend a church where we can bring our whole and beautiful selves. Those crumbs are being multiplied. My heart longs for full equity in the Church of England – for same-sex marriage and ordination for those in same-sex marriages to be a reality. We have a long road still to walk.
Charlie Houlder-Moat
Upwell, Norfolk
Sánchez is no threat
How disappointing to read in your editorial that Pedro Sánchez is a threat to democracy (“Pedro Sánchez’s election deal has too high a price – it undermines democracy”). This accusation has led to more than two weeks of rioting by the right and extreme right outside the Socialist party headquarters in Madrid, and given frustrated fascists an excuse to dust off their salutes, flags and slogans.
Contrary to your claim, the rightwing Partido Popular did not “win the election”. Its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, was given the first opportunity to form a government but failed to do so, and has spent his time since claiming that the new government is illegitimate.
The real threat to democracy in Spain is Vox, the extreme rightwing party with which Feijóo would have gone into government. Its leader, Santiago Abascal, refuses to call out rioting fascists, accuses Sánchez of carrying out a coup d’état, and compares him to Hitler. Finally, far from being a “bad deal, reached in bad faith, secured at too high a cost and unlikely to stick for long”, and despite the orchestrated campaign against the amnesty granted to Catalan separatists, over half the Spanish population recently polled agree with it.
Andrew Dobson
Valencia, Spain
Catalans tried democracy, unlike the Basques and us Irish, to deal with an imperial power. They got jailed as a result. Making democracy work, even if Spanish imperialism loses, is good for democracy. Spain has no more right to rule Catalonia or Basque country than it does Argentina or Chile. The empire is dead. Long may democracy win.
Tom Carty
Ballinamuck, Co. Longford, Ireland
The ‘idea’ of Israel
In his article assessing the rise of antisemitism in the UK, Andrew Anthony boldly states that the majority of Britain’s Jews – those not on the extreme left or right – hold “varying shades of support for the idea of a Jewish state” (“On the frontline of blame: how it feels to be Jewish in Britain today”, Focus).
This is manifestly wrong. Jews share wholehearted support for the “idea” of Israel, though certainly not for its government nor the current Zionist movement itself.
Grant Feller
London, W4
Rwanda plan doesn’t fool me
There have been times when governments have elevated a relatively minor issue to become a touchstone of their success or failure. On occasions, this is to cut through to a particular part of the electorate, and to signal a determination to deliver on a policy. On occasions, it is to ensure that others get the blame for government failure. For instance: judges, the House of Lords or the opposition.
The so-called Rwanda policy is just such an example (“Rwanda was a shameful plan destined to fail”, Editorial). When you cut away all the blither and bluster, the government is talking about a few hundred men and women each year being transported and having their asylum claim processed at the most enormous expense, while the rest of the asylum system continues to demonstrate failure.
This country is pursuing a policy that even the ultra-rightwing leadership of Giorgia Meloni in Italy is not contemplating. In her case, offshoring the processing of asylum claims would lead to those granted asylum returning to Italy, and would involve Italian immigration officers taking responsibility for the assessment of claims. The same is true of the exploratory steps being taken by other European countries, including Germany.
Only the UK government is proposing a one-way ticket. The supreme court has clearly laid out the facts and the unacceptability of pushing ahead with this complete distraction, which is intended to fool the electorate into believing that the government has “got a grip of our borders”.
David Blunkett
House of Lords, London SW1
Fatal cost of illegal drugs
Your news report does not address the additional harm caused by certain drugs being illegal (“Police county lines strategy ‘cruelly targets’ black youth”). There is no problem of children being coerced or lured into the alcohol or tobacco trade, as these drugs are legal. Prohibiting certain drugs ensures that criminals have the chance to make huge profits, and use violence in doing so. The prohibition wastes vast amounts of police time, and also ensures that drug suppliers have little incentive to quality control their product. Hence each year many people die from an overdose.
Dr Ines Weyland
London N4
Finding truth in satire
I think it’s great that Stewart Lee writes a satirical response to the events of 11 November in London, describing civil unrest, which is represented in much of the press as the contrived actions of the few (“When peace protesters came face to face with the Tories’ weapon of mass distraction”, New Review).
Comedians such as Lee speak for ordinary people, who are dismissed by Conservative politicians and “attack dog” media.
If we mis-label opinion, we will lose most of the threads, which make up the rich tapestry of life. We need diverse viewpoints on any event or topic, as the truth is found in the overlap.
Sophie Sweatman
Falmouth, Cornwall
Sun, sea and Saltburn
I am pleased to note that your reviewer describes Saltburn as a place where “every whim is there to be enjoyed, every impulse is to be pursued” (Film, the New Review). I recognise this from the eponymous north-eastern coastal resort, where I watched my wife learn surfboarding as I enjoyed a delicious bag of chips on the pier. I note there is a pop star named after a nearby resort: Redcar. All this should be harnessed for tourism promotion.
Jonathan Hauxwell
Crosshills, North Yorkshire
