I have a cousin who is a surgeon with vast experience in both private practice and NHS work.
He tells me that when they have a long operating list in a private hospital the first comment is “looks like a long day then”.
In the NHS it is “which ops shall we cancel?” (“Top doctor warns deaths will rise this winter after A&E target left off Labour milestones” – Saturday 7 December)
There is a different mindset between for-profit versus not-for-profit, which is why for-profit should not be so frowned upon.
Gary Nicholas
United Kingdom
Make Attenborough mandatory viewing
As these islands face the brunt of yet another severe weather event (”Seven counties under red wind warning as Storm Darragh hits Ireland” – Friday 6 December) can anyone still brazenly and gullibly deny the steamroller rage of the climate crisis after 50 years and more of inaction and complacency, as our world is demonstrably hammered by its varied effects?
Drought, winds, fire, flood, ruined crops, infrastructure, lives. Another sidestepping conference of many nations has just taken place, as leaders talk of maintaining the status quo, jobs for their “hardworking” subjects in doomed industries, of economic structures no longer viable.
But the idea of stopping oil and all fossil fuels immediately, driving and flying off to work and leisure in electric transport with its own supply and infrastructure shortcomings and exploitations, is somewhat naive, considering the social and economic collapse this could incur. Though it would trigger some prompt investment in, and development of, the many brilliant ideas for solutions already underway, just as wars bring about hasty leaps forward in the machinery and means of destruction.
That brings me to the current crop of little-man despots, whose devotion to smiting their neighbours over their backyard fence with their hellish destructive weaponry and schoolboy threats of reprisal, is not helping. I’d suggest enforced viewing of persuasive programmes such as David Attenborough’s and Brian Cox’s... to awaken them to the myriad wonders of our lifeboat blue marble and its place in the void, to the common enemy of our own making, and to their own infinitesimal, irrelevant place in it all, before it’s (probably already) too late.
Rick Biddulph
Farnham, Surrey
From milestones to tombstones
Far be it from me to criticise The Independent’s headline writers, but surely “Reform UK in poll surge as Labour loses support despite Starmer reset” (Saturday 7 December) should have read “…because of Starmer reset.”
The way the PM is going, his “milestones” may turn out to be tombstones.
Colin Burke
Cartmel, Cumbria
A little more to it
Your article “Going vegan? Opt for beans and peas over veggie burgers and plant milks, study finds” (Tuesday 3 December) touches on important aspects of the recent study but does not fully reflect the nuances of its findings, leading to potential misinterpretation.
I work researching processed plant-based foods in population and planetary health, and I am included in the acknowledgements section of this study.
The paper highlights that unprocessed plant-based foods, such as soybeans, peas, and beans, outperformed processed alternatives in terms of environmental, health, and economic outcomes. However, it does not suggest that we should entirely avoid processed plant-based products.
Crucially, the study compares plant-based foods with animal-sourced products due to their associated environmental and health impacts –a key point explicitly stated by the authors.
The findings underscore the importance of transitioning towards unprocessed plant-based foods, but they also acknowledge the role of processed alternatives like veggie burgers and plant milks in this shift.
These products, while not as beneficial as unprocessed options, still provide significant environmental, health, and nutritional benefits compared to animal-sourced foods.
Sarah Nájera Espinosa
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
