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Your support makes all the difference.Air pollution, causing 30,000 deaths each year in the UK, is not a new problem (“Supreme Court to rule on illegal pollution levels”, 12 April). In 1984 I gave evidence to a House of Lords select committee on the health effects of traffic pollution and presented United States data which showed higher rates of lung cancer in urban areas, even among non-smokers. Their lordships recommended catalytic converters, but the main problem was particulates from diesel engines and this problem has continued unabated.
For four years, the UK government has been resisting legal challenges to reduce pollution. The World Health Organisation recommends 25 micrograms per cubic metre as the maximum 24-hour level for small particulates, but this is regularly breached in UK cities. A recent study in The Lancet showed deleterious effects on the foetus at levels below 25, so the Government seems prepared to hazard the welfare of pregnant women rather than inconvenience car manufacturers. Why has no one made this an election issue?
Dr Robin Russell-Jones
Former chair, Campaign for Lead-Free Air
Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire
Captain William Siborne was guilty of more than “impertinence” to the powers that be (“A Waterloo that Wellington never wanted to meet”, 12 April). The first historian (1844) of Waterloo, he discovered that Wellington had mis-stated the time of the arrival of Blucher and the Prussians by three hours, until after the crisis in the battle, the British repulse of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard. This did not please.
Siborne spent his last years as Adjutant at the Royal Military Asylum. At least 20 lads from the RMA were on the field at Waterloo; some in the thick of the fighting. The youngest “Dukie” was a cavalry trumpeter, John Ellis, aged only 14.
Chris Crowcroft
Ludlow, Shropshire
Your article about “redundancies” at the University of Bedfordshire (“Lecturers turn on ‘pay and perks’ university boss”, 12 April) is misleading and contains factual inaccuracies.
Two examples. I wasn’t awarded a £40,000 pay rise and there was no “pay freeze” at the university. These claims are categorically untrue.
One of the UK’s biggest international student recruiters, Bedfordshire derives more than £25m of its annual income from international students and partnerships. Expenditure on travel should be seen in this context; more than 50 staff travel overseas to support this business.
As for the limited voluntary severance (not redundancy) scheme, this is prudent financial management in the wake of the unjustified UK Visas and Immigration intervention last year and the tightened UKVI regime affecting all universities. These reduced our income from international students.
The vast majority of staff understand the need to make small cuts to the university’s budget and accept the reasons for the introduction of the scheme, which comes after making savings in non-pay and capital expenditure.
Bedfordshire is one of the top 15 climbers in the Good University Guide, is ranked by the National Student Survey as the number one university in the country for improving the student experience and, in the Research Excellence Framework, nearly half of its research was classified world-leading or internationally excellent. Bedfordshire is a university making positive progress.
Bill Rammell
Vice-chancellor, University of Bedford
There may be one piece of evidence regarding the Princes in the Tower (Letters, 12 April): the urn in Westminster Abbey, apparently containing the bones of Princes Edward and Richard. If they are DNA-tested, we stand a 50/50 chance of getting the proof or otherwise of the demise of the two princes. Why are the Palace and the Abbey so against analysis?
Glynne Williams
London E17
Ukip has missed a trick in appealing to its core vote: there’s nothing in their manifesto about making the trains run on time!
John Hein
Edinburgh
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