Our government is behind on the climate crisis – it is inexplicable

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The proposed Sizewell C nuclear power plant could cost £20bn (EDF Energy)

Donnachadh McCarthy is right to draw attention to the impracticality of Sizewell C as a solution to zero carbon 2050 ('A new nuclear power plant at Sizewell is the wrong choice for a zero-carbon Britain', 9 February) but we cannot rely just on renewables and insulating our houses.

As the use of fossil fuels dries up, even with carbon capture, we will be more reliant on electricity, and renewables are essentially volatile. The National Grid needs some way to flatten out the peaks and troughs. Neither hydrogen nor batteries are feasible means of storing it.

Other countries are moving ahead with small modular reactors, which are relatively cheap, can be made in factories and moved to where they are wanted. Inexplicably, our government is failing even to consider them for another decade or two. 

Tim Ambler

Senior fellow, Adam Smith Institute

Out of the frying pan

Until an alternative to the widespread use of steel is globally available, there will always be a need for iron-producing blast furnaces, which require coke produced from quality coking coal.

If the UK does not mine the coal or produce the steel, part or all of these activities will be carried out in other countries with the same damaging emissions plus the impact of bulk transport emissions from shipping the product (coal/coke/steel) to the UK.

This highlights the need for end-to-end evaluation of a project – eg the impact of mining lithium for car batteries, daily electric car usage, the scrapping and recycling of cars, the upgrading  and maintenance of the electricity grid (national and local) – and not just the headline figures bandied about by politicians and environmentalists.

I totally agree with the correct arguments regarding climate change but policies and actions should be based on the full facts, otherwise we may end up with worse results.

Geoffrey Blakey

Address supplied

The American people would convict Trump

The real jury for this impeachment trial is not the Senate but the American people. And if the people pause for a moment, think as 12 men and women on a jury might think – about the president’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 400,000 Americans who had died from the virus as he left office, his lack of compassion and care for the dead and their families, his narcissism, his rage – they would surely convict unanimously.  

The American public will know how self-serving this jury of senators is if they do not look in the mirror and see that by acquitting Donald Trump, their integrity will match his. 

If ever 12 good men were needed it is now. 

Alison Hackett

Dublin

We need vaccination certificates now

Excellent letter by D Maughan Brown ('Of course Covid-19 vaccination certificates are discriminatory – that’s the whole point', Letters, 8 February), which makes so much sense. 

I am afraid common sense has been in short supply in the House of Commons during this pandemic. It is Boris Hindsight running the show when we actually need some foresight. However, we are all only too aware of how this behind-the-curve government works. It locks down when it's too late, starts up too quickly, introduces a travel ban a year too late, and tries to get out of a £20 a week hike in universal credit.

If the scientists had not bailed them out with the vaccine, it does not bear thinking about where we might be now. Eventually (it might take a year), this government will get around to vaccination certificates but not until lots of post-Covid tourists have suffered.

Paul Morrison

Glasgow

Universal credit is vital

Citizens Advice echoes calls by the Work and Pensions Committee for the government to keep its uplift to universal credit for at least a year. 

We have given advice to more than 350,000 people about the benefit since the start of the pandemic. We know that the extra £20 a week has been vital for so many families. One parent told us the increase means they are able to have the heating on while they home school their children. Another said the money meant they could cover their food shop and put a decent meal on the table.

But our advisers now face the difficult task of warning claimants – many who have never needed welfare support before – of a potential drop to their benefits in less than two months’ time.

With ongoing restrictions and a tough outlook in the jobs market, it’s clear we face a long road to recovery. Maintaining this lifeline will help us weather what’s ahead.

Alistair Cromwell

Acting chief executive of Citizens Advice

India must repeal farm laws

As international development academics, we are deeply concerned about the Indian government’s treatment of the farmers’ protests in India. For over two months, millions of farmers have been protesting peacefully against three new market-friendly farm bills. These were passed by prime minister Narendra Modi’s National Democratic Alliance government without full discussions in parliament.

These laws pave the way for billionaire-owned corporate control over India’s agri-food system and will have serious impacts on the price and procurement of farm produce. Farming incomes have already been declining steadily due to India’s longstanding agrarian crisis. The new laws will have a devastating impact on farming livelihoods, especially for small and marginal farmers, who face being pushed into poverty. The reforms also weaken the rights of agricultural workers, especially female informal workers.

The new laws include dismantling the public distribution system (PDS), which will compromise food and livelihood security and constitute an attack on India’s constitutional right to food.

Since 26 January, when thousands of farmers marched into New Delhi, the government has cracked down on farmers, their supporters and journalists covering the protests. This adds to the poor human rights record of Modi’s government prior to and during the pandemic, including arresting students, activists and journalists for exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protest.

India’s mainstream media has vilified Sikh protesting farmers as terrorists and the government has launched  a vicious campaign branding protesters and their supporters as "anti-national". The internet has been blocked around Delhi, and roads are barricaded. We urge the Indian government to restrain from authoritarianism and respect citizens’ freedom of expression and right to protest. We also call on the Indian government to repeal the new farm laws and enter into dialogue with the protesting farmers.

Professor Lyla Mehta, Institute of Development Studies, UK

Professor Vinita Damodaran, University of Sussex, UK

Dr Shilpi Srivastava, Institute of Development Studies, UK

For a full list of signatories, click here