I’m often puzzled by the antagonism that so many on the left express towards religion (“Faith groups want more say in secular Britain. Labour should tell them to go to hell”). Keir Hardie, no less, made no secret of the fact that his passion for social justice was founded in his Christianity, and there are countless other examples of prominent socialists who were inspired by their faith. Up and down the land, religious charities of all denominations give practical help by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and comforting the bereaved.
Wilson Firth
Colkirk, Norfolk
Gulf states’ role in Sudan war
What your editorial fails to ask is why Sudan is fighting this civil war (“A humanitarian disaster we choose to ignore”). The reality is that Sudan is being turned into a gigantic militarised ranch to supply livestock for the Gulf states and this requires the removal of peasant farmers and their villages from those parts of the country with higher rainfall and good soils.
Since January, this process of land clearances has been initiated by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Gezira in Sudan’s largest irrigated agricultural scheme. A UN intervention didn’t stop the killing in Darfur and it wouldn’t achieve this in Gezira, either. What is needed is the adoption of ethical trade policies by the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia.
Nicholas Stockton
Broughton-in-Furness, Cumbria
Elephant in the student room
In the debate about the desirability of having large numbers of international students at our universities, one aspect is never mentioned; accommodation (“‘Self-defeating’: senior Tories warn Sunak against clampdown on international students”). True, these students bring money with them, but they do not bring houses. The result is that in university cities and towns accommodation has to be found for the equivalent of the population of a city where there is already pressure on the supply of housing, thus forcing up rents and exacerbating the shortage of housing for locals and UK students. In the next government, can the minister of housing have a say in the debate?
Les Masters
Bleadon, Somerset
The trouble with Catholicism
Julian Coman’s suggestion that the downsizing of the Catholic church is due to its failure to make concessions on married and female priests is touchingly naive (“A dearth of priests suggests the Catholic church should widen recruitment”). Recruitment to the priesthood below replacement levels is also the case in the Church of England, where priests have always been allowed to marry, and female vicars are at parity in new ordinations.
There are two more plausible explanations. The first is the general disenchantment with religious belief, which, outside the US, has been the case in developed countries for decades. Better education and communication has moved a worldview based on implausible supernatural assertions, and reverence for scriptures imbued with the ignorance and brutality of their era, from the mainstream to the fringe. Its promises of heaven and threats of hell are no longer fit for purpose. The second is the worldwide scandal of the church protecting paedophile priests at the expense of their victims, and the irreversible loss of moral authority that engendered.
Tinkering with recruitment, or any other administrative issue, will not be enough to stop the church drowning in the tide of history.
Alex Watson
Stroud, Gloucestershire
Our pride in Mumsnet
Stewart Lee wrote that the location of his family home was posted on Mumsnet (“Context is vital. That’s why I’m filming everything I say and do from now on”). We have found and removed a reference to the general location of his house which, had it been reported at the time, would have been swiftly deleted in line with our forum guidelines. Regardless, his characterisation of Mumsnet as a “schools advice, recipes and hate site”, and his pejorative use of “furious old lady” is telling.
Mumsnet is the only large-scale social media platform in the UK run and used overwhelmingly by women. Our 9 million predominantly female users discuss pretty much every topic you can think of, from global politics to fashion, to yes – education and food. They also provide each other with invaluable support and advice – our own data shows that about 1,000 women a year are helped out of abusive relationships by other Mumsnet users. We don’t allow hate speech or personal attacks, but we are proud to provide a space where women can express their opinions on controversial topics, speak openly about their own experiences, and robustly criticise those who stereotype and diminish women.
Justine Roberts, founder & CEO, Mumsnet, London NW5
What price a good doctor?
Does Mark Steggles of the BMA not grasp the glaringly obvious reason why many GP surgeries cannot afford to hire the locum GPs they once used (“Locum GPs in England can’t find work as surgeries buckle under patient demand”)? He must know that the agencies providing locums charge extortionate fees, often for a pre-negotiated minimal workload. Is it not more cost-effective to use fewer of these prohibitively expensive locums and to fill more salaried posts with hardworking part- or full-timers?
Charlie Foster
Storth, Cumbria
Autism diagnosis freed me
I was moved to read Danyah Miller’s words (“Being diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult has made me happier”, Magazine, 5 May). I was diagnosed as autistic at 45 (I am now 50) and, like Mrs Miller, have often wondered if I were diagnosed earlier, would the trajectory of my life have been different?
Mrs Miller certainly has a way with words. I loved the analogy that, despite the lateness of her diagnosis, her life worked out the way it was meant to – like the film Sliding Doors. She asks if a diagnosis of neurodivergence is liberating or whether the labels restrict and prohibit us. For me, it was liberating exactly because it defined my problems that I had been unable to explain until someone else confirmed it. It was validating.
Thanks for publishing her words. It is good to remind myself that I am not alone, and that I am finally coming into myself.
Emmalene Brunés
Birkenhead, Wirral
Genghis Khan was a liberal
The comment by a resident of Dover that Natalie Elphicke is “slightly to the right of Genghis Khan” is an understatement (“Was Natalie Elphicke’s defection a step too far for Labour?”). Genghis Khan, or Chinggis as he is known in Mongolia, could indeed be brutal to his enemies, but when it came to running his vast empire, he was remarkably liberal.
He could neither read nor write but he welcomed literate administrators from many nations. He himself worshipped the spirits of his homeland but he issued edicts supporting religious freedom among adherents of Islam, Christianity and Buddhism. Above all, he promoted international trade with Europe by issuing accredited foreign traders with a gerege. This was a carved and inscribed token that was a cross between a passport and a credit card. It gave the bearer the right to protection, plus food and lodging at towns and relay stations along the Silk Road, and so avoided the need for the trader to carry large sums of cash across dangerous terrain. In short, Natalie Elphicke is well to the right of Genghis Khan.
Stephen Tricks
Wigginton, Tring, Hertfordshire
