Letters: Extinction Rebellion is a force for good

The government is failing us on every count. Deaths from Covid 19; a recovery plan that allocates billions of taxpayers’ money to the fossil fuel economy; climate and ecological devastation that has destabilised our planet; refugees used by politicians and media to stir up fear and hatred; Public Health England scrapped with zero consultation. This list is not exhaustive.

The system is broken and the government is not protecting us.

Extinction Rebellion has helped push the government’s failure to act on the climate and ecological emergency into the public eye. Whether or not we agree with their tactics or their targets, by blocking printing presses and delaying newspaper distribution, they have connected the dots of a broken system.

For the past 30 years there’s been a woeful lack of serious reporting on the climate and ecological emergency due to the billionaire owners’ vested interests, and a lack of understanding from reporters, to editors to senior executives, about the severity and scale of the crisis. This has meant a terrifying delay on action to combat climate change.

Extinction Rebellion are not organised criminals. They should not be the targets of vitriol and anti-democratic posturing. They’re just a group of people who are holding the powerful to account.

It’s vital that we take this moment to acknowledge that radical change is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. It’s vital that we apply the lessons of the coronavirus pandemic to avoid paying an even more terrible price for poor preparation and a slow, inadequate response to the climate and ecological emergency.
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Focus on the food chain

James Rebanks’s article is most commendable about sensible farming and awareness of source by the consumer (“Enough with ‘local’ and organic’. We’ll begin to eat well when we farm well”, Comment) . But there is a large gap concerning the ultimate animal welfare of his product, the sheep.

What is their travel time to market and, afterwards, their travel time to the abattoir, or even worse, a minimum 24-hour truck transit to Europe? Rebanks asks us, the consumers, to research the source but I would ask him to research the final outcome towards the meat counter.

Meat production is not a bucolic event, as I can testify as the son of an organic farmer whose farm-based abattoir licence was revoked for a more centralised and distant slaughterhouse amenity, in compliance with EU guidance. My father respected his animals and treated them with dignity to the end.

Dr Brian Thomas
Edinburgh

Covid threatens the union

It was interesting to see that Will Hutton’s take on the collapse of the Union concentrated on the Scottish situation (“If the union is to survive, the left needs to shape its own bold and hopeful patriotism”, Comment). If he had included Wales, the reality of the present fragility would have been even more stark.

There has never been anywhere near a majority for independence for Wales, and despite some argument about figures, neither was there a clear remain vote. Nevertheless, tension between the Welsh and the Westminster government has festered for years.

And then came Covid. It is not just the stark difference in the actions taken, or that Wales and Scotland have leaders capable of appropriate leadership, supported by credible and effective experts. It is the attitude of Johnson and his sidekicks, insisting that the nations remain largely singing from the same hymn sheet and implying the outliers would do better to fall into line with England.

Circumstances have combined to produce a shift in opinion here. The non-partisan Yes Cymru movement has gained ground, polls suggest that there is now a clear majority desire to remain in Europe, and the attractions of the links with the union decline every day, although the suggestion that England should separate from the Celtic union is attractive. The balance of risk has shifted under Johnson’s management, and if a further referendum were offered, I suspect that, like many others, I would be voting differently.
Anne Cowper
Swansea

The end of the affair

I understand Robert McCrum’s agony over his love affair with America ending (“It’s agony to say it, but my love affair with America is finally at an end”, Focus).

I, too, experienced such agony, in 2012 with the Sandy Hook school shooting. I thought that if anything is going to wake up Americans to gun violence in their society it is this. But it didn’t. Instead, politicians wanted to start arming teachers.

I was sickened and, after 30 years of living in America, becoming a citizen and believing that its people had such potential to make the world a better place, I left. Watching gun violence continue and democracy eroded I know I made the right decision, but it breaks my heart to see all that good faith slipping away.

Sharon Laslett
London E4

The joy of giving

I hope that Rachel Stevenson’s article will spur readers to consider making an organ donation (“A decade ago my kidney gave life to my husband… and our four children”, Focus).

In 2014, the Observer published an article about a reformed alcoholic who donated a kidney altruistically to mark 20 years of sobriety. Her story inspired me and I made my donation in February 2015. End of story. But it wasn’t. I have learned so much, have been able to act as a mentor to potential donors and my life has been truly enhanced.

There are 5,000 people waiting for a kidney in this country and few will be lucky enough to be given one. It would be wonderful if the number of available organs could be increased.

Celia Kent
London N7

Actors, male and female

Rebecca Nicholson reminded me of a teacher at my drama college, who addressed the actor/actress issue in one of her classes in 1977 (“The champion of talent, regardless of gender”, People). “The work of an actor is a profession,” she said. “As much as is that of someone who has studied medicine. And you wouldn’t call a female doctor a doctress, would you?”

Ashley Gunstock
London E11