The staggering wrong-headedness of Starmer’s Chagos giveaway

Abolish stamp duty

SIR – We are fortunate to have a four-bedroom house with a large garden. However, as I am over 80 and my wife is approaching that age, we recognise that it’s time to downsize.

The obvious area to move to is central Scotland, to be close to our daughter. Yet we are hindered in this by stamp duty in England (Leading Article, April 2) and Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in Scotland. Our house has been viewed by more than 10 families, but many have said that stamp duty is the reason they feel unable to make an offer. 

Ministers claim to want to free up the housing market, but these taxes are preventing a family from moving into our home. Stamp duty, which rose on April 1, should be abolished.

A R Auld
Unthank, Cumbria 
 

Honouring war dead

SIR – As an officer cadet at Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, I was heartened to read of Queen’s College’s decision to erect a memorial to its German and Austrian Great War dead (“Oxford plans war memorial for soldiers who fought against Britain”, report, April 2). 

I was repulsed, however, by the response of Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, who condemned the move as “wokery”. Queen’s has realised – as my alma mater, New College, did 95 years ago – that the values of service, duty and selfless sacrifice are noble and worthy of recognition, regardless of the nationality of those involved. 

My generation has been accused of lacking enthusiasm for fighting for King and country, yet Mr Tice criticises the laudation of five young men who, in the words of the New College memorial, “coming from a foreign land entered into the inheritance of this place and returning fought and died for their country”. 

Dying for one’s country is about the least woke thing one can do. Perhaps if Mr Tice had answered the call of service, he would understand this.

Charlie Mackintosh
Camberley, Surrey

SIR – I volunteer with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s “Eyes On, Hands On” project. We keep an eye on war graves that are not in the commission’s cemeteries. At Thornaby-on-Tees, 30 casualties from the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine are laid to rest alongside British and Commonwealth casualties from the Second World War. All graves in the cemetery get the same attention.

There are German casualties in CWGC cemeteries across Europe, afforded the same respect as British, Commonwealth and Allied casualties. Richard Tice might consider the words of Kemal Atatürk at Gallipoli, speaking of the Anzacs who are buried there: “You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”

Philip Lloyd
Yarm, North Yorkshire
 

Good mood music

SIR – Helen Cann’s way of avoiding grumpiness (Letters, April 1) is excellent, but instead of switching off the wireless after the 7am news on BBC Radio 4, my long-standing practice is to turn to Radio 3’s Breakfast, to be soothed by its selection of classical music and the beautifully modulated voice of Petroc Trelawny (who sadly leaves the programme next week). No one can be grumpy after that.

Richard Gamman
Brighton, East Sussex
 

Water woes

SIR – We recently received our annual water usage summary and revised payment calculations. 

Reassuringly, our efforts to reduce consumption for our two-person household – in anticipation of the latest price hikes – had borne fruit.

On April 1, however, we received a separate, aggressive letter from South East Water, demanding to know whether our property was unoccupied – and, if so, for how long. 

Some reward for saving water.

Dr Tony Parker
Ringmer, East Sussex

SIR – Richard Fullard (Letters, April 2) rightly suggests that homes should be built to store rainwater. 

We used to live in a mid-1800s house in Derbyshire with an underground brick cistern, which took all our rainwater from the gutter and, when full, sent it down the drain. 

I rigged it up to an old washing machine pump to irrigate the garden. This worked for years.

Marcus Croome
Truro, Cornwall
 

‘Adolescence’ lessons

SIR – Sir Keir Starmer has said it wasn’t easy to watch Adolescence with his children (report, April 1), and that he was disturbed by its exploration of the dangers of online misogyny.

He should also have been appalled by the anarchy depicted at the comprehensive school in the second episode. If some state schools are like the one in Adolescence, perhaps Sir Keir now understands why people are prepared to pay Labour’s vindictive tax on private school fees so that their children can avoid this experience. 

Charles Foster
Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire

SIR – The excellent Adolescence is very true to life, not least because the victim is almost forgotten. 

While the turmoil of the accused boy’s family is well portrayed, the horrors experienced by the murdered girl’s family are ignored. A second series is due.

Michael Edwards
Haslemere, Surrey
 

Fresher than fresh?

SIR – I recently spotted “lemon freshener” for dishwashers. I have used a dishwasher since 1974, and never needed such an item. Surely any machine worth its salt should be clean and refreshed after every cycle.

Angela Walters
Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire
 

Cornwall’s vibrant tourism industry is at risk

SIR – Last year, Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project, announced that he was closing the Shipwreck Museum at Charlestown, established almost 50 years ago. He was unable to sell it, so the historic collection had to be rescued by the Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust. 

Last month, the contents of Flambards Theme Park at Helston, opened in 1976, were put up for sale at auction, though an 11th-hour reprieve meant that the Victorian Village will have a new home in Bishop Auckland. Cornwall’s loss has therefore become County Durham’s gain. 

Even the Eden Project, the foremost tourist attraction in the county, has announced a cut of 80 jobs because of increased costs and declining visitor numbers. Wild Futures, the monkey sanctuary near Looe, established in 1964, has closed to the public for 2025 following financial struggles, resulting in staff redundancies. 

Tourism in Cornwall contributes £2 billion each year, and accounts for about 20 per cent of employment there. Given the loss or curtailment of many of the county’s key attractions, compounded by the council declaring that second-home owners are no longer welcome, my message to those who run Cornwall’s economy is that they are in danger of shooting themselves in the foot.

Geoff Pringle
Long Sutton, Somerset
 

A damning indictment of free speech in Britain

SIR – It is humiliating for Britain to be lectured by the Trump administration regarding freedom of speech (report, April 1). 

Aren’t we supposed to be the home of democracy, a bastion of independent expression and the rights of man? Wasn’t Thomas Paine born in Norfolk, England, in 1737? 

Successive British governments have pandered to a tiny but vociferous fraction of the population – the people who trash British values and ridicule our history and achievements, otherwise known as the woke brigade. In this respect, the views of the vast majority of citizens are continually ignored. 

How ironic that our shortcomings have been highlighted by a country with which we believe we have a special relationship.

David S Ainsworth
Manchester

SIR – The American authorities lecture us on free speech, yet they are busy detaining people without due process, deleting swathes of the curriculum they disagree with and banning books.

We must turn our backs on the tragedy that America has become. There is sometimes a cost for doing the right thing.

Helen Clutton
Bristol
 

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