The consequences of a reduction in PE in schools are far more serious than your article suggests (“Tories under fire after dramatic fall in school sport in England”, News). Alongside overeating and the consumption of ultra-processed foods, a more sedentary lifestyle means that a third of children are overweight or obese: a problem that will only get worse, given that younger generations are becoming obese at earlier ages. It is now well known that lack of exercise and obesity put people at greater risk of major illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and mental ill-health. More than ever, PE should be treated as a valued component of the school curriculum.
The main cause of cuts in PE time is the increased pressure on schools to produce good examination results in the core subjects that are part of the Ebacc, a school performance measure that excludes PE and vocational, creative and technical subjects. Labour intends to keep the Ebacc, adding one creative or vocational subject, which will continue to marginalise PE. As the prospective government after next year’s general election, Labour needs to seriously consider ceasing the Ebacc performance measure so that pupils can enjoy and reap the benefits of a much broader curriculum, including leading a healthy lifestyle.
Chris Pratt
Adel, Leeds
Blue-note Birmingham
I have good news for Chris Hodgkins, who wants to see music colleges encouraging their classical students to work alongside jazz students and holding classes in improvisation (“More jazz, fewer robots”, Letters). Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has been doing both for many years.
Julian Lloyd Webber, emeritus professor in performing arts
Birmingham City University
Unconscionable airlines
For sheer nastiness and money-grubbing, Ryanair’s treatment of Ruth and Peter Jaffe takes the biscuit (“Apps are everywhere. Who’s counting the human cost”, Focus). Any charge, to anyone of any age – let alone a couple in or near their 80s – is unconscionable. A punitive £110 for being inconsiderate enough to press the wrong key and recklessly squander two sheets of A4 printer paper defies understanding.
I retired from airline customer service 25 years ago, when serving customers still meant something. Today, only balance sheets and self-awarded “performance” bonuses are all that seem to matter to “budget” airline management. In the meantime, passengers – or “guests”, as they’re risibly called in modern airline parlance – shuffle disconsolately towards check-in desks and whatever indignities await.
Part of my company’s business involved shipment of live Charolais cows by charter flight from Canada to Belgium. I recall a cartoon of the day showing a line of unhappy-looking cows lining up to board a DC-8 freighter. The caption read: “We should complain to Customer Service, Clarabelle. They’re treating us like people.”
Barrie Wall
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Cutting costs harms justice
I recently spent 10 years working at a major crown court centre in an administrative role, witnessing prosecutions of the most serious crimes. The CPS, the police and the legal aid system were under financial stringency then; the cutting back of staff and resources has continued apace to this day. Failures of disclosure often held up trials or, in the most extreme cases, led to them collapsing. In the egregious case of Andrew Malkinson, an innocent man was imprisoned for 17 years while the perpetrator of the crime was at liberty (“The terrible power of the state to ruin lives was exposed by the case of Andrew Malkinson”, Comment).
There are those who feel the state is a bloated bureaucracy: unchecked, it would employ ever-expanding numbers of people, pen-pushers at best, a “woke hindrance” at worst. The constriction of the state’s resources leads to failures of due process in law, social workers being unable to protect vulnerable people from abuse or even death, probation officers being unable to supervise those released on licence and many other failures. If we wish to prevent injustices such as Malkinson’s, it requires the necessary number of state employees to deliver, monitor and rigorously scrutinise the activities of the state.
Hugh Peters
Golcar, West Yorkshire
Starmer must appeal to all
Jane McLoughlin claims that the “gender criticals” in Labour do not speak for the majority of party members and voters (“Proud to be a trans ally”, Letters). That’s probably true, but Keir Starmer may have realised that he needs to appeal to all voters, not just existing Labour voters, if he wants to win power. The latest YouGov survey in 2022 shows that attitudes to trans activist demands are hardening as more of the public are exposed to the implications for women’s spaces, sports and healthcare. All voters are becoming far more negative about trans issues, especially non-Labour voters, and this will have to be taken into account in party strategy as the general election approaches.
Richard Gilyead
Saffron Walden, Essex
Scotland the Brexit brave
In his analysis of Brexit – “the nightmarish experience of failing to take back control” – William Keegan says the public is ahead of politicians, citing in particular Keir Starmer’s head-in-the-sand position (“Politicians can always be voted out. And so could Brexit”, Business).
In Scotland, two of its leading political parties – the two parties in government at Holyrood – are firmly in tune with Scottish voters. The SNP and Scottish Greens are unequivocally for EU membership. Scotland voted 62% remain in 2016. Since then, polls have put support for Scotland in Europe as high as 72%. Keegan says it is for the British to recover their nerve by admitting Brexit was a mistake. It is not the British who need to do that; it is the English and Welsh. Scotland and Northern Ireland (55.8% remain) got there in 2016.
Martin Roche
Glasgow
Brushing up on hair care
I am 59 and my hair reaches below my waist. Contrary to what Barbara Ellen thinks about long hair requiring a high level of expenditure, mine is the product of not spending any money on it (“Princess hair – the mid-life power mane which shows the follicular is political”, Comment). I only go to the hairdresser every couple of years and don’t even wash it very often – it just needs brushing regularly.
Anne Chapman
Lancaster
