Letters - November 13, 2019

I really thought I’d heard it all until I read about a Channel 4 programme in the making where there’ll basically be a contest where women select a man to father a child for them from among several candidates, which they’ll then co-parent.

I totally understand that women get very upset when they can’t find the right man and the clock is ticking.

The longing for a child in so many women is, I fully acknowledge, deep-seated, almost primal in its intensity, uncontrollable and unrelenting.

In the absence of a partner and if they feel they can offer a child a good home and aren’t doing it for selfish reasons, it is fair enough to resort to a sperm donor.

Of course, there are a lot of men who would love to be a dad but can’t find the right woman, and it’s also fair enough that they can consider a lady to become a surrogate.

However, when it is all turned into a public circus, like an X Factor game with more and more daddies being ‘voted out’ until the ‘right one’ is selected, then that is when the human race can be witnessed in one of its lowest forms and when it becomes in very bad taste.

The poor children that eventuate from this dubious process would, fundamentally, come into being in the midst of a very bizarre experiment.

I’m sure I can’t be alone in finding the whole thing flesh-creeping and stomach-turning.

I have enjoyed many programmes on Channel 4, but there are some that really plumb the depths, and this is one of them.

Shame on them!

C M Langan

via email

POLITICS

Who pays

the piper?

Much will be said and written about the forthcoming General Election. Yet surely the most important information we need as British voters is to know ‘who pays the piper?’

The decision by Boris Johnson’s Government to refuse to publish the dossier from the Intelligence and Security committee about Russian interference in British politics is denying voters the opportunity to understand how Putin and his followers are attempting to subvert our democracy.

This weekend, the Sunday Times newspaper alleged that nine Russian oligarchs are funding the Conservative Party. The Russian owner of the London Evening Standard appointed a former Conservative minister as editor.

It is also a matter of public record that Lubov Chernukhin, the banker wife of Russia’s former foreign minister and a paid-up member of the Conservative Party, paid £160,000 at a Conservative fundraising event in order to play a game of tennis with David Cameron and Boris Johnson.

The Labour Party is often criticised in Conservative circles for receiving money from trade unions. Yet these are organisations which represent ordinary British men and women and the donations are a matter of public record.

By refusing to publish the Russian report before the General Election, Boris Johnson seems to be abusing his power to cover up just who is funding their party. The British voters have a right to know who is apparently buying influence and why.

Judith Bleasdale

via email

LANGUAGE

Now let’s me perfectly clear

I have noticed a common phrase now being used by aspiring politicians across all parties is, “I want to make myself perfectly clear”.

In an attempt to make this a reality, I would suggest that before any party political programmes or interviews are broadcast, that old recordings of the late Stanley Unwin are played. This would educate the young, who have never heard of him, and remind the old, who have, how to cope with gobbledegook.

Failing that they should look up old writings of malapropisms and spoonerisms as an added alternative.

Denis Lee

Ashton

APPEAL

Can you help with story of our piers?

May I use the pages of your newspaper to make an appeal to your readers?

I am producing a book looking at the piers of Britain.

Rather than the structure, my book will concentrate on those who frequented these very British structures. Those who ran the kiosks, performed maintenance tasks, operated turnstiles, worked the attractions, performed themselves, or helped to allow the many vessels which used the pier as a docking place.

Do you or your friends and families have any memories and/or photographs of the local piers you would be willing to share? If so, drop me a line at [email protected] or call 07562 653565. I would be delighted to hear from you.

Anthony Poulton-Smith

Tamworth

Staffordshire