Matthew Engel’s article (Reporter at Large, 6 December) sparked a feeling of déjà vu, as I’m sure it did in many former councillors. When I was elected in 1982, the veterans bemoaned that our council only raised directly £4 out of every £7 spent; I doubt the figure is even half of that today. But as the proportion coming from central grants has risen, the amount spent on statutory responsibilities has rocketed. Consequently the “optional” spending – on so-called unimportant matters such as libraries, road and pavement repairs, and youth clubs – has fallen dramatically.
Local councillors as a whole (I know some worthy exceptions) are of a lower calibre now, because the civic-minded find little enjoyment in being Whitehall’s glove-puppet. We no longer have “local government” that answers the description.
Stephen Wortley, Enfield, Middlesex
In the name of unity
The EU must end obligatory free movement of labour within its borders to end further decline. This would mitigate some of the centrifugal forces highlighted by Jeremy Cliffe (World View, 6 December), and increase the centripetal: an EU united in tackling a central concern and showing brave leadership in changing course. This could head off the threat of a Marine Le Pen presidency, accelerate the likelihood of enlargement and provide a route for the UK to rejoin. As Cliffe says, we must unite or decline. Failure to face up to immigration will deliver the latter.
Guy Holder, New Malden, Greater London
Try to see it my way
At the age of 73, my perceptions are pretty much set in stone. But Helen Thompson (Critic at Large, 6 December) made me re-evaluate all I thought I understood about the McCartney-Lennon dynamic. Her forensic assessment of their relationship has rewired my brain, and I am so grateful to be able to cherish Paul again.
Peter Lee, Mexborough
I found Helen Thompson’s piece on Paul McCartney fascinating, but goodness don’t these academics think up some complicated theories. She writes that “needing to contain McCartney’s creativity, Lennon tried and failed to have Ono join the band… as he had successfully done with… Stuart Sutcliffe a decade earlier”. The reality was much simpler.
Yoko was Lennon’s lover; he wanted her with him all the time. Sutcliffe was Lennon’s friend. Lennon persuaded him to buy a guitar, despite being unable to play, and to come to Hamburg for a laugh. But the relationship between Lennon and McCartney was complicated. They loved as well as loathed each other at times.
Hunter Davies, author of “The Beatles: The Authorised Biography”
Putting the great in Britain?
Anthony Barnett’s article on the English (These Islands, 6 December) was spot on. As a historian, I am well used to negative narratives from nationalists from other home nations. What is unforgiveable is how English liberals so uncritically accent them and minimise the contributions the English have made to the welfare of humanity. Barnett is right: no other nation does this. It’s not hard, as the Scots and Welsh have taught us.
David Crowther, Oxfordshire
We have a unique disadvantage compared to the nations Barnett mentions. The French can simply say, “I’m French, I’m from France.” We have a multiplicity of names for our islands: the British Isles, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, Britain. No wonder we are confused!
Margaret Sherborne, Barry, Wales
A moment of reflection
I was bowled over by Jonathan Rutherford’s Personal Story (6 December). His juxtaposition of the personal, political and social helped me reflect not only on my own life but also on my relationship with my father, who also passed away several years ago and revisits me in dreams. There was also much unsaid between the two of us and Rutherford helped me to reflect positively on that.
Adam Goldstein, Finchley, London
Banquet banks it
I enjoyed the piece by Hannah Barnes on Banquet Records (Out of the Ordinary, 6 December), which prompts me to suggest that people make a New Year’s resolution to buy music rather than stream. The artist gets more money, you get something you can keep and the industry can survive. The UK should be proud of the music we’ve given the world. Long may it continue.
Rob Grew, Birmingham
Mum’s the word
I love Pippa Bailey’s columns but her one on “Mini Christmas” (Deleted Scenes, 6 December) was so similar to my own experience, I felt compelled to write in. I am also part of a group of nine friends, and we have our own Christmas every year. I have spent the past four years in the state of uncertainty Bailey describes about whether to have children. In my “pro” column, if I’m honest, was getting to be in the WhatsApp group of mums, being “in the club”. Not a reason to procreate, but that pull to continue belonging to a tribe is strong.
I am only just recently settling into my decision to be child free. I wish someone had told me that eventually the yo-yo-ing eases, then ceases, and your decision is just sitting there quietly, ready for you to accept.
While Bailey’s description of her friends being in another dimension resonated, I want to gently push back on the idea that she “remain[s] the same”. As child-free women, our experience is not just a replay of the experience of our friends pre-babies. We also shift, grow and change. We make purposeful contributions to the world and sometimes (whisper it) also feel tired.
There is so much more that unites than divides us. I may not be a mother, but in my group I’m standing shoulder to shoulder with the dancers, the readers, the travellers. There are many experiences to share, even if motherhood isn’t one of them.
Verity Howorth, Leeds
Modern theology
Having just read Amelia Tait’s excoriation of the Paddington Bear industry (Critic at Large, 6 December) I feel a confusion that surely only Lamorna Ash and/or Rowan Williams could clarify. If I spend £120 at Canterbury cathedral on a Welby-esque teddy bear, would that qualify as a “religious experience”?
Nigel Hughes, Southwater, Sussex
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This article appears in the 08 Jan 2025 issue of the New Statesman, The Great Power Gap