Justin Welby will not be the last clergyman to fall

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

‘Many more resignations must come – the least the church can do to acknowledge the suffering of survivors’ (PA)

I welcome the resignation of Justin Welby after it was found that Church of England leaders “knew at the highest level” about John Smyth’s abuse of hundreds of children in its care (“Justin Welby’s meteoric rise – and the abuse scandal that will become his legacy”, Tuesday 12 November).

I now expect many more resignations to come.

The least the Church can do is acknowledge the suffering of survivors. It is also time that we asked questions about its established status, which has given the church stewardship of Armistice commemorations, tax funding to run schools according to its own beliefs, unelected seats in government, as well as the privilege of marking its own homework when horrifying abuses like this are discovered.

With disestablishment, the Church of England will be free to thrive or fade under its own steam and be subject to the full scrutiny of law, which applies to all.

Neil Barber

Roseburn, Edinburgh

Mountains of money

I read Simon Calder’s report about the shambles at Kathmandu airport with great sadness. (“Kathmandu airport chaos: a case study in how to deter visitors”, Wednesday 13 November).

One of the most rewarding experiences in my reasonably long life was a charity trek to Everest base camp, made so much richer by the sheer joy of being looked after so wonderfully well by the Sherpa porters. They were so friendly, cheerful and helpful in all they did for us in some pretty challenging conditions.

The Nepali people have enough to endure without their own government and/or businesses screwing up the much-needed revenue they get from tourists.

My only regret was that my trip was taken when I was past retirement and sadly a return was not really a sensible option for me. Otherwise, I would willingly have made a further contribution to the revenue that the Nepali people so richly deserve; a contribution that was probably the best value for money I have ever enjoyed.

John Oliver

Address supplied

Will our ‘green’ bills ever go down?

Happily, green electricity now accounts for between 40 and 50 per cent of the total electricity used in Britain – a figure that is rising each year (“Europe’s renewable energy boom is driving down electricity prices – but it’s not all good news”, Thursday 19 September).

However, our electricity bills are rising, too – and the profits of electricity companies are going through the roof.

Surely, with renewables, the cost of producing electricity should be reduced?

Electricity companies often cite the Ukraine-Russian conflict, rising wage costs, and all manner of excuses. The fact is that they are making unfair, eye-watering profits from people who are struggling to pay their way.

Our government’s responsibility is to care for its people but it appears that they prefer to safeguard the profits of private companies.

Perhaps an algorithm which includes the decreasing cost and rising availability of green electricity be used to determine the true cost to the consumer!

Keith Poole

Basingstoke, Hampshire

Symptoms and the cause

Gordon Brown cites the benefits cap as the reason for an increase in child poverty and seeks its removal (“Gordon Brown launches ‘multibank’ for London amid rising child poverty”, Sunday 21 July). This is treating the symptoms of the hardship, but not the cause.

For most, a family of more than two is a choice, though for some it can be carelessness. Regardless, for a democracy to prosper each and every one of us must accept responsibility for our own actions.

To regularise “symptom treatment” rather than looking at the cause this very basic community idea will be undermined. It is an attitude that will spread to every other aspect of life.

I am a strong believer in helping those who, through no fault of their own, fall upon hard times. The state has a chequered history in this regard, but most people willingly accept in certain cases, such as disability or ill health, the wisdom of necessary assistance to live a dignified life. Those principles are important and I support those who share that community spirit.

But asking taxpayers to pay for large families is more than cheeky. Unless our government decrees a strategic need to grow our population through larger families, then the only people who must pay are the parents.

Richard Price

New Forest, Hampshire

The only thing we have to fear

In his letter, Eric Radack (Your View: “Alexei Navalny would know how to stand up to Trump”, Sunday 10 November) makes some valid points about the need for ordinary people to stand up and be counted when core principles governing their society are threatened.

He cites Alexei Navalny as having said that “it is shameful to be frightened”.

It is not – but perhaps Navalny placed that remark in some wider context.

Courage is impossible without fear. The very essence of bravery is overcoming your fear and acting in the face of it. If you are not afraid, where is the courage?

The idea that fear may be “managed” suggests some sort of planned, collective approach, rather than courage in the face of fear in its raw sense.

David Platts

Long Bennington, Lincolnshire

No child left behind

This anti-bullying week, we cannot ignore the record number of children in the UK – 1.9 million – who face a lifetime of exclusion and stigma because they struggle to talk and understand words (“76,000 children in England waiting for speech and language therapy”, Tuesday 23 July).

Not only are they more likely to be bullied, but without the right support, they’re more likely to fall behind at school, be unemployed, commit crime, and have mental health challenges across their lives.

No child deserves to be left behind and, as a society, we can’t afford to not support them.

With our research finding that 80 per cent of teachers think some of their pupils are behind with their talking and/or understanding of words, there’s an urgent need to ensure teachers have sufficient training to support speech and language development. As it stands, half of teachers (53 per cent) believe they don’t have sufficient training to support pupils in the classroom.

Early language interventions are readily available and can change lives. Every day we see the transformative impact these interventions have on the lives of children. But only with public donations and government funding can we change the lives of these 1.9 million children who urgently need help and build a future where no child is left behind.

Jane Harris

Speech and Language UK