Sir, There are two ways in which a regime may be changed: through an invasion by a third-party country or by a vote of the people. There is no reason why a leader of one nation should not advocate to a people of another that they should change their leader. Indeed, your leading article (“Presidential Gaffes”, Mar 28) could be read as advocating that Americans should perhaps change their own leader. All President Biden did in his speech was to advocate to the Russian people that they should change their leader. His suggestion should have been defended as such and not misrepesented as “escalation” or as a “policy of regime change”.
Sir Mark Waller
Former lord justice of appeal; Bradfield, Berks
Sir, After Putin’s ill-considered invasion of Ukraine, many in the West have questioned his sanity. By the same token, after President Biden’s astonishingly irresponsible threat of regime change against Putin, which came after his irresponsible withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, many of America’s allies are wondering if the US president is suffering from senility. The world is in the terrifying situation of having the two greatest nuclear arsenals in the hands of two of the world’s most unpredictable leaders. The only consolation is that, for the time being, global warming is looking a good deal less worrying than it was a few months ago.
Stephen Porter
London NW6
Sir, Your leading article excoriates President Biden for three “gaffes”. However, rather than judging them to be big mistakes I strongly suspect that most people living in the civilised West thought that these remarks by the president were fully justified, given Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Michael Batchelor
Swansea
Sir, What blunder over Ukraine did Biden commit by saying “This man cannot remain in power”? It’s clear to all of us that this is true and that only Putin’s removal from power, by whatever means necessary, will end his reign of terror permanently.
David Muir
Brooklyn, New York
Sir, Regime change is precisely what is needed in the Kremlin to remove a murderous, aggressive and cynical dictator. The Russian people have no way of making their true wishes known, given that Vladimir Putin is running a dictatorship. Hence it is up to the rest of the world to encourage his removal. President Biden was bang on target.
Michael Smith
Betchworth, Surrey
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Sir, I do not understand the hypocrisy surrounding President Biden’s off-script remark about Putin needing to go. That is precisely what the Russian president has been seeking in Ukraine for years: he has been explicit about the intention of his non-war being to remove a “fascist” regime.
John Andrews
Gerrards Cross, Bucks
CALL TO SHARE GAS
Sir, When the EU announced plans to increase imports of liquefied natural gas natural gas (LNG) from the United States, Britain’s three LNG import terminals were missing from the map. This makes no sense whatsoever. The EU lacks LNG terminals, and some of them are poorly connected to centres of demand. The UK has significant LNG import capacity and is well connected. What we lack is largescale gas storage (“Energy Independence”, leading article, Mar 26; letter, Mar 28).
Our gas grids are interconnected so we can and should help one another. LNG can flow into western Europe through UK terminals and pipelines, as can gas from Norway. Come next winter, gas stored by our neighbours could then flow the other way. The UK is still part of a European gas market and co-operation must be the order of the day. Energy security in the UK. Norway, and the EU is a shared endeavour. It’s in all our interests to work together.
Rob Gross, professor of energy policy, Imperial College London, director, UK Energy Research Centre; Mike Bradshaw, professor of global energy, Warwick Business School, co-director, UK Energy Research Centre
REFORM OF THE MONARCHY
Sir, The monarchy according to Clare Foges sounds intriguing (“It’ll take a radical plan to save the royals now”, Mar 28). But the last thing the Prince of Wales needs is any more licence to take matters into his own hands. Constitutional monarchy remains attractive because it sets limits on the monarch’s ability to act according to their own whims and fancies. Surely that also means limits on proposing radical changes to the monarchy itself.
Dr Richard Vytniorgu
Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
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Sir, It is unfair of Sir Keir Starmer to criticise the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for riding in the open-top Land Rover while on their state visit to Jamaica (“Keir Starmer questions royal tour imagery that ‘harked of the past’ ”, thetimes.co.uk, Mar 28). All they were doing was falling in with the organisers of the Jamaican tour, who doubtless wanted the royal couple to perform this task. To have refused would have been taken as exceptionally rude, but not as rude as Jamaica’s prime minister, who delighted in telling the Cambridges that, in effect, they were not welcome.
Charles Puxley
Easton, Berks
AI AND HOSPITAL WAITING LISTS
Sir, The idea of using artificial intelligence to predict A&E admissions weeks in advance is surely an early April Fool’s Day joke (“AI hospital forecasting will reduce waiting lists”, Mar 28). During my 26 years as an A&E consultant I was privileged to experience multiple reviews of my department, invariably undertaken by management consultants from ivory towers, none of whom had worked in A&E. The most useful piece of advice I received was to increase the number of doctors on duty when there was going to be a road accident. Sheer genius.
John Bache, FRCEM
Waterlode, Cheshire
KAFKA’S SURGERY
Sir, I found myself in a similar situation to that experienced by Dr Viveka Biswas’s mother (letter, Mar 28). After a face-to-face appointment before the pandemic my doctor told me to make another appointment in two weeks’ time. I approached the receptionist to do this and was told that they made appointments only by phone. I got halfway through dialling them on my mobile before the penny dropped. I can only suggest that Dr Biswas’s mother carries a mobile phone with her: she could always ask the receptionist for help with dialling.
Nicholas Russell
Haslingfield, Cambs
OFCOM’S CHAIRMAN
Sir, It is worrying that Lord Grade of Yarmouth seems to be headed for the chairmanship of Ofcom (news, Mar 25; letters, Mar 26 & 28). He has repeatedly declared that the BBC licence fee is past its sell-by date. This suggests that, if selected, he will be a mouthpiece in parliament for that segment of the Conservative Party that wants to castrate the BBC. Who will benefit by this?
A recent debate in the Lords on the future of the BBC overwhelmingly praised the corporation’s quality, range and continued steadiness. During the pandemic and the war in Ukraine the public has turned again and again to the BBC, valuing its mettle and independence. Predators who set out to damage and diminish the BBC for political and profitable ends will not be forgiven if they succeed, and nor should they be. In my view it is essential that this post goes to someone whose neutrality in the matters that concern Ofcom is beyond doubt.
Lord Bragg
London NW3
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PRIDE OF GLASGOW
Sir, Brian Evans (“A city must never grow tired of regeneration”, Scotland edition, Mar 28) asks us to avoid “writing in manufactured sorrow or anger while effecting a superficial overview or smugness of tone”, presumably a reference to the recent weekend essay that I wrote (Mar 19). Professor Evans makes some good points and has the professional skills and experience that I would never pretend to have. He talks about various worthy initiatives. While such initiatives may have individual merit, they need to support a clear strategy that Glasgow seems to lack, and also be driven by effective leadership that appears to be missing. The writer refers to answers that were provided to the question, “What has Glasgow done that can rightly be seen to be of exceptional quality and international repute?” Going by the comments received in response to my essay, could I suggest that perhaps the accusation of superficiality and smugness of tone could better be raised in relation to the questions that the city is asking of itself?
Philip Rodney
Glasgow
TRANSGENDER SPORT
Sir, Further to Matt Dickinson’s article “It is time to end the hysteria in the transgender debate” (sport, Mar 24), our group has heard from many women who are unhappy at having to compete against males, and share “female” changing rooms with them, in the name of trans inclusion. The Sports Council Equality Group has reported that people are afraid to object, and that some have been threatened with losing their places or their sponsorship for doing so. This is not inclusive, it is bullying and intimidation. We need an honest discussion about how sport can be inclusive without compromising half the population. And that old trope, that non-compliant women are “hysterical”, should be dropped.
Fiona McAnena
Sport campaign director, Fair Play For Women
VANISHING SPARROWS
Sir, Further to Catlin Moran’s desire to see sparrows (Magazine, Mar 26), in this part of London there are many little flocks along all the roads near our local park. At the time of the bird count in January we had 17 in our 4 x 4-metre front garden (there may have been a visiting flock as we usually have 12 residents). The secret of our success is that we still have front gardens, and even where there are paved areas for parking we all have hedges and a variety of shrubs with flowers and berries. People need to talk to their neighbours and create a green highway for birds and bees.
Helen Beddall-Smith
London W5
STREETS OF SHAME
Sir, I am sorry to disagree with Carol Midgley on the subject of wheelie bins (Notebook, Mar 26). Maybe she doesn’t have to negotiate pavements permanently blocked by bins, and a council that agrees it is a problem but offers no solution. And why are our wheelie bins bright blue when black, grey, brown or even dark green would at least offer some camouflage?
Lesley Kant
Norwich
ANYONE FOR REAL TENNIS?
Sir, Apropos your news report (“Sport of kings bouncing back despite loss of court”) and leading article (“Tudor Hit”, Mar 28), with Middlesex University planning to close its court the talk is of a burgeoning interest in tennis (as we practitioners term it). Newcomers, however, must prepare to acquire not only the skill to “cut” the ball, or serve a “railroad”. They will need also to master the challenging terminology, which includes such gems as “a forcing boast to the dedans”, “chase better than the door”, “handicap owe 30, receive half fifteen” and “receive forty owe fifteen ban the tambour”. One picks up the rules and terminology with practice but one wonders how contemporary youth, accustomed to the foul language, spitting and berating of umpires common in lawn tennis, will adjust to the strict etiquette observed in real tennis.
John Murray
Compton Chamberlayne, Wilts
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BUNCH OF MR TWITS
Sir, I don’t feel strongly about beards one way or the other (“Pass the razor — the hipster beard is over”, Times2, Mar 28) but I do dislike the habit of most beard-wearers to be constantly ferreting about in them.
What are they looking for?
Sally Bevan
Chelmsford, Essex
DELICIOUS NAME
Sir, I can empathise with Sathnam Sanghera about the misspelling of his name (Notebook, Mar 28). I’ve lost track of the various takes on my name, but my favourite will always be the letter addressed to Miss Chow Mein.
Charmaine Bamforth
London SE3
