Second it offers a straightforward picture of what Britain in 2002 would look like, if the Conservatives have their way It would look pretty much like Britain in 1997. And, in many ways, that is a better Britain than it was in 1979.. Sir: Thank you for exposing the dangerous infantilism of US policy towards “Saddam’s Iraq” (report, 27 March; letters, 1 April). We are back to the worst excesses of medieval despots where the opponent’s serfs were slaughtered to make a point.
“Starvation as a method of warfare” is explicitly forbidden by the 1971 additions to the Geneva Conventions.
As the British government refuses to allow any Iraqis to spend the money they saved in British banks, Unicef has paid for water-purifying equipment to repair a little of the damage done by our bombing campaign in 1991. This money is taken out of the mouths of starving refugees in Central Africa.The comprehensive wrecking of the Iraqi economy is equivalent to a “natural disaster” (according to Oxfam) for the Horn of Africa, where remittances from Iraq once allowed a modest prosperity to many poor families.Demagogues such as Clinton and Major maintain themselves in power by pandering to the most vicious populist scapegoating of a whole nation of 19 million people.JANET CAMERONGlasgow. Sir: Some general election candidates might do well to read the 1959 Conservative and Unionist Manifesto. This states: “Conservatism is more than successful administration It is a way of life. It stands for integrity as well as for efficiency, for moral values as well as for material advancement, for service and not merely self-seeking.”
How times have changed.
MICHAEL FROSTLondon SW19. Sir: The article by Charles Arthur (“Spaceship of future will run on fresh air”, 28 March) on Nasa’s projected Hyper-X space vehicle, once again highlights Britain’s current ineptitude when it comes to aerospace technology.
For 20-odd years after the Second World War, Britain led the world in the development of aero-engines, from the early turbines of Sir Frank Whittle, through to the unique Rolls-Royce Pegasus that first took to the air in 1960 powering the P 1127 “Jump Jet” – the forerunner of the Harrier.
Since then, brilliant engineers and designers, such as Alan Bond and David Ashford, have been totally frustrated by an apparent lack of interest from successive governments and an absence of financial support from a private sector that is only interested in short-term profit. Such an attitude has resulted in Britain falling well behind the United States and even France in export sales of aerospace hardware.Whilst the work-force at Rolls-Royce continues to produce excellent jet engines for the world’s airlines, their pioneering spirit seems to have deserted them and, as Charles Arthur reports, the next generation of engine designs – incorporating new technology – will be emerging from American factories.J M TRACEYLiverpool. Sir: There is a veritable army of British veterans of the Normandy landings in 1944 who are entirely with Madame Arlette Gondree-Pritchett (“Pegasus Bridge veterans vow to liberate museum”, 31 March). They support the action she is taking over the Airborne Forces Museum. They know and welcome her intention not to close the museum but to run it better with their help
They do not want a large, commercialised theme park. They want a quiet, simple dignified memorial, respectful of the memory of their fallen comrades and a genuine place of pilgrimage. That is what Madame Gondree-Pritchett’s parents wanted, it is what she equally wants and what the British veterans want.
The French authorities know and respect these views.
This remarkable woman (of Anglo-French citizenship) is an honoured guest of veterans’ organisations throughout Britain.I write as one of those veterans, in full knowledge of the weight of numbers and personalities behind the cause which we share with Madame Gondree-Pritchett. The great need is for her supporters to make their voices heard, loud and clear, without delay, to ensure that right prevails.BERNARD ADAMSTaunton. Sir: Dear, oh dear. Here we are at a time of crisis three years from the Millennium, or is it four years? We are suffering from the malignant force of the comet Hale-Bopp and finally up to our necks into the sleaze and tedium of a lengthy general election campaign and what does Paul McCann do? He fails the entire nation (“Why Britain (and Anna Ford) is swearing by the Grundys”, 2 April). It was Grace Archer, Phil Archer’s first wife, not the matriarch Doris Archer who died in a stable fire in 1955 to divert the nation from the launch of ITV.