The police need an alternative to Tasers

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The police have been criticised after Dalian Atkinson died after a taser was used on him (Getty)

I wonder if the increase in Taser use by the police might be a failure to train the officers in the art of handling people who have temporarily lost control through an excess of alcohol or drugs.

I remember a publican friend of mine when we were talking about dealing with drunks said that the last thing you should is to confront, his policy was to smile and say something like "come on old chap" and divert them onto a less violent and destructive path. He was only a little fellow and entering into physical altercation was never going to be an option.

Now I am the first to realise "come on old chap" is not going to work these days but there has to be a modern phrase and dialogue which combines the same caring and embracing sentiment which will appeal to the deep seated but befuddled good nature inside most people.

It might not work all the time but thousands of Taser incidents is a huge amount and most of this is surely because the violence is drink related.

I have great admiration and respect for the police and can sympathise with the fear they must experience in some of these confrontations, maybe reaching for the taser should be only permitted when all other avenues have been explored.

Alastair Duncan
Winchester

Football tickets are expensive – fans deserve a good show

Tom Peck, in his excellent piece (Joao Havelange, 17 August), rightly identifies the dulling effect of corporatism on the football World Cup. At the Final at the Maracana in 2014, this was interrupted only where I sat by lots of passionate Argentinians and (worryingly for a moment) an angry denouement between them and Brazilians who too enthusiastically celebrated Germany's late winning goal.

Following Brazil's 7-1 thrashing a few days before in the Semi Final in Belo Horizonte, many home fans sitting around me were little more than disappointed and embarrassed at the result. They were well heeled and some quite faddish, and I sensed interested as much by attending an event such as this match as by watching their national team.

Tickets for these matches were expensive. For most of the committed fan base across this enormous country, the cost to them of attending made it a pipe dream. Something was definitely missing.

Marc Patel
Dulwich

The government needs to take responsibility for obesity

BBC Breakfast focussed on the lack of action by May's government on obesity. They stand accused of avoiding confronting certain business practices that contribute to obesity by not clamping down on promotional activities. This is not surprising on the part of Tories who also avoid/side-step criticism by stating they don't want to tell people how to live.

We live in a couch potato culture in which there are people who do need to be told how to live. I see children being taken to school every day with crisps and fizzy drinks in their hands for breakfast. These parents (who are frequently obese themselves) need leadership not indulgence.

The gap between the current and future cost of obesity to the NHS is seriously higher than the investment in services. Sociologists argue that the obesity “epidemic” tag is just demonising a vulnerable group of people in order to blame them for this problem and not politicians. They are thus stigmatised in the same way mentally ill people are but the stigma often leads to an increase in the “deviant” behaviour (the so - called self - fulfilling prophesy).

Psychologists focus on self-esteem issues. If there is truly a social problem then May, Hunt et al need to be proactive about people with the problem and not let businesses off the hook for their part in it.

Terry Maunder
Kirkstall

Politicians need to practice what they preach

The report from Zlata Rodionova makes me wonder how these very large companies can get away with negating their responsibilities to their employees. Can someone explain how they can break what is clearly a part of an employment contract – by not sufficiently financing pension arrangements when they clearly CAN finance dividend payments to their shareholders – and get away with it? Employees who are mistreated in this way should be able – supported by government and trade unions – to take action for breach of contract.

Or, perhaps ALL political parties should put their words into practical effort and change legislation to practice the "fairness for all policies" that they preach?

Peter Cole
Kirkwhelpington

Nicola Sturgeon should take notice of the UK government

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon gathered over 300 EU citizens to an event in Edinburgh to discuss the implications of Brexit. The purpose could have been to give reassurance that their futures will in all likelihood be unaffected by the Brexit vote. If that had been the intention the First Minister could have explained that the UK government have given every indication of wanting that to be the case but that they understandably need to negotiate with the EU over this, not least to ensure that the interests of UK nationals in various EU countries are similarly dealt with in a fair way.

Yet from the reporting of the event it seems the First Minister instead chose to use the occasion as an opportunity to decry the UK government, calling their approach on this matter “disgraceful”. She calls for “humane” treatment of EU citizens, implying the UK approach is not. In practice what is happening is that the UK government are getting on with the task in hand while the First Minister stages publicity stunts.

The truth is that this event was a cynical piece of political opportunism, in which EU citizens with genuine concerns about their futures were used by our First Minister as pawns in her game of seeking to create or exaggerate differences between Scotland and the rest of the UK, as she continues to engineer the circumstances for a second independence referendum.

Keith Howell
West Linton

We need to take care of our countryside

The effect on bees of the use of pesticides is only part, all be it a vitally important part, of the story. Every year we see fewer hirundines in the countryside. The sight of these birds skimming the crop fields is increasingly rare as, thanks to the use of pesticides, there are few insects for them to catch.

The telegraph lines which used to be resting places for hundreds of swallows now hold only a few individuals. The dangers of migration are being exacerbated by the shortage of food for those that do make it this far. We need to develop a greater respect for nature in our own interests if nothing else.

Felicity McWeeney
Morpeth