Times letters: Sunak and the fear of a Labour-lead coalition

Sir, Matthew Parris again hits the nail on the head (“Future for Conservatives lies in Streetism”, May 4). To win a UK election, a party must attract a broad swathe of the electorate, this by necessity means collecting votes in the centre ground.

Corbynistas on the far left of Labour and people on the right wing of the Tory party may shout loudly, but it is the quieter millions of voters in the centre who will be vital in the election and they are turned off by negative campaigning and politicians ducking questions and talking over each other or the interviewer.

The electorate is unlikely to forgive the Tories for the Liz Truss disaster, the lockdown parties scandal, five prime ministers in eight years and a general feeling that the country does not work and we are less well off than we were 13 years ago. However, the Tories can and should try to provide an effective opposition and lay the foundations for a party that might be fit to govern in five years. This would start with owning some of what has happened in recent years, apologising to the electorate, and setting a course of pragmatic, inclusive Conservatism, ideally with a shadow cabinet of MPs of greater stature and more life experience than the present set.
James Wilson
Amersham, Bucks

Sir, Your leading article (“Starmer’s Challenge”, May 6) is right that the Labour Party’s programme is distinctly opaque. That has served the opposition well to date but is unlikely to be sufficient without more meat on the bone to win a majority in the general election, where the character, capabilities and record of the prime minister and his rivals will come into sharp focus. In a dangerous world of international conflict, Rishi Sunak’s quiet professionalism, grasp of a demanding portfolio and long-term commitment to the defence of the nation may resonate more with the electorate than at present. Sir Keir Starmer has much to prove.
Ian Kunkler
Edinburgh

Sir, The idea of “Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens” may appall Rishi Sunak but it might suit most of us very nicely, thank you (“UK heading for a hung parliament, says Sunak”, May 6). If the coalition works we might decide we no longer need political parties at all.
Rod Tipple
Cambridge

Sir, The Conservatives are a coalition between the extreme right and One Nation Tories. Its factions affect policies on immigration, Europe and public services and they can choose leaders like Liz Truss. Labour is a coalition between the extreme left and social democrats. Its factions influence policies on workers’ rights, collective ownership and international relations, and lead to leaders such as Jeremy Corbyn. Surely it would be better to seek common ground in open coalitions rather than have the lottery of poorly designed policy forced on us by party factions.
Paul Deane
North Ascot, Berks

Sir, It is almost amusing to see the Conservatives agonising about why they did so badly in the local elections. In Boris Johnson and Liz Truss they visited upon us the two worst prime ministers in British history. They are paying the price.
Barry Smith
Shaftesbury, Dorset

Sir, Suella Braverman says that the Tory party should move to the right (“Braverman: Tax cuts and cap on migration are Sunak’s only hope”, May 6). I wonder if she has reflected upon the possibility that she is the problem, not the solution.
Timothy Young KC
London WC2R

On its stomach

Sir, Your article “Friendly fire in a food review as US sergeant mocks our ‘cat food’ rations” (May 6) about the gastronomic differences between UK and US armed forces reminded me of even greater ones with our friends across the Channel. The late Hubert Dunn QC told me years ago that when he was a young officer with the Blues and Royals in Suez in 1956 he acted as liaison officer with the French army. He was shown a French army cookery book that had 100 or so recipes for potatoes. The British army’s equivalent publication offered only six: boiled, mashed, baked, fried, roasted and chipped.

Years later I came across an account of the expedition across central Africa between 1896 and 1898 by Captain Jean-Baptiste Marchand in support of (ultimately futile) French hopes to forestall British efforts to keep them out of the Horn of Africa — ending in the Fashoda Incident. Included in the 100 or so tonnes of “necessities” for this long and perilous journey were generous quantities of paté de foie gras, galantine laced with truffles and tripe à la mode de Caen. This doubtless thirsty work also required 1,300 litres of claret, 25 bottles of cognac, 50 of Pernod and 525 litres of toddy, as well as an unspecified amount of champagne. As Churchill would remind the Commons in 1942: “The Almighty, in his infinite wisdom, did not see fit to create Frenchmen in the image of Englishmen.”
Tony Lawton
York

Sir, Sergeant Butterworth was less than impressed with some of his British counterparts’ ration packs, but when I was a correspondent in the first Gulf War I witnessed a brisk trade between our troops and American soldiers very keen on our 24-hour “compo” boxes. The swap generally involved their far superior camp beds.

On an artillery raid one night I dined with a gun crew who made what they called an “all-inner”. They emptied the tins from a compo pack — including stewed steak (“babies’ heads”), beans, rice pudding and peaches etc — into a huge pot and heated it. Sergeant Butterworth might be surprised to learn it was delicious.
Keith Dovkants
Weybridge, Surrey

Future of the opera

Sir, I write in support of Katherine Jenkins, Michael Sheen, Rob Brydon and the other signatories to the letter about the future of Welsh National Opera (“Welsh voices unite against English cuts to land of song”, May 6).

Although we all appreciate the need to be fiscally sound, we must all be aware of the knock-on effects of funding decisions and how they will affect culture within Wales and internationally.
Dr Rhys Davies
Former chair, Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod

Sir, The threat to further disable the Welsh National Opera after the savage cuts already perpetrated by the Arts Council should be a cause of shame to the political and cultural establishment. There is a long and proud history of innovative and exciting operatic productions born in Wales. They have also been appreciated by enthusiastic audiences attending their touring performances. This cannot all be cast aside.

My late husband, Nigel Douglas, who sang as a guest soloist with the WNO for more than 30 years, always admired WNO above measure. He would be turning in his grave.
Lexi Douglas
Barfrestone, Kent

Folie à duel

Sir, Adam Sage’s article (“French love of duelling sets scene for Paris Olympics”, May 6) reminds us just how recently duelling continued in France. Many of these contests were filmed, and can still be seen on YouTube. Combatants tended to use the épée rather than pistols so duels usually ended in minor cuts rather than in serious injury or death.

Some witnesses of such events are still alive today. In 1958, the Marquis de Cuevas, a Chilean theatre producer, and Serge Lifar duelled after an argument over the proposed choreography of a ballet. De Cuevas’s second was the politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, who can clearly be seen in photographs wearing a black eye patch, which he always then sported.
Alun Evans
London SE10

Mallory’s success

Sir, There is one piece of evidence that George Mallory may have reached the summit of Everest that I don’t think is invalidated by the drop in air pressure (“The cold, hard truth? Mallory couldn’t have made summit”, May 6). In letters to his wife, Ruth, Mallory reminded her of a photograph of her he carried with him on all his summit attempts. To thank her for her sacrifices in supporting him, he repeatedly promised to put her picture on the summit “so that you will crown the world as you crown mine”. When Mallory’s body was found in 1999, three documents were in his jacket pocket but the photograph of Ruth was not there.
Kevin Clarke
Lindfield, W Sussex

Filming concerts

Sir, I agree with Ian Bostridge and Richard Morrison (news & comment, May 2) about banning filming during concerts. The Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel took matters into his own hands at a concert in Edinburgh a few years ago, by immediately stopping the performance, leaning over the stage to look directly at the person filming on his phone, and saying in strident tones: “You’re at a concert!” This received a genteel — it was Edinburgh, after all — round of applause and polite murmurs of agreement.
Geraldine Perriam
Baldernock, East Dunbartonshire

Gender neutrality

Sir, On the gender-neutral lavatory ban (“Mixed-sex lavatories banned in new restaurants and offices”, May 6), the loos at the the newly opened Bristol Beacon can go one better — they are vacancy neutral. There is no indication as to whether they are occupied, leaving embarrassed potential users to rattle door handles.
Carol Thorne
Bristol

Economy: stupid

Sir, James Moore has great confidence in the OECD’s forecast (letter, May 6), but as JK Galbraith said: “Economic forecasting was invented to make astrology look good.”
Andrew Wauchope
London SE11

Future Queen?

Sir, Whether Princess Charlotte’s husband would become King if she acceded to the throne (letter, May 6) is — we hope for Prince George’s sake — largely hypothetical, but there is a continuing anomaly lower down the food chain. The wife of a knight becomes a lady, but the husband of a dame remains plain mister.
Malcolm Oliver
Edinburgh

Humour in hymns

Sir, I am surprised that Lord Williams of Oystermouth, who was my tutor at theological college nearly half a century ago, should find Come, O Thou Traveller Unknown preferable at weddings and funerals (“Rowan Williams adds to chorus of dismay over ‘bland’ hymns”, May 6). Based on the story in Genesis 32, in which Jacob spends a night wrestling with an angel, I think it is more familiar to non-conformist congregations. Many years ago I met one Monday a Free Church colleague who was still chuckling about a wedding two days earlier. The entire congregation had collapsed with laughter at the line: “With Thee all night I mean to stay, and wrestle to the break of day.”
Canon Eric Woods
Sturminster Newton, Dorset

Sir, A fellow organist was on his way to play at evensong recently and was delayed in traffic. When he arrived, the service had started without him and the congregation were singing the only hymn everyone knew and could sing unaccompanied: All Things Bright and Beautiful. Perhaps we underestimate the value of this hymn.
Julia Lister
Canterbury