Letters: Blairites need to let David Miliband go

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Former leadership candidate David Miliband

Jon Stone poses and answers several questions (“Local elections 2016: What are they, are they important - and why is everyone talking about Jeremy Corbyn?”, 5 April).

He reminds us that “The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is under attack by internal opponents within his own party – and a bad showing in these elections could give them an opening to try and get rid of him”, an aim which has fuelled the antisemitism furore within Labour.

These “internal opponents” have never recovered from the shock of their Blair heir, David, losing to his brother in the previous leadership election, and have ever since refused to accept anyone else left of David-o'er-the-water as legitimate.

In their attempts to oust Corbyn they treacherously relish inflicting damage to Labour's prospects at any and all elections: for them it has been the only game in town since 2010.

Eddie Dougall

Bury St. Edmunds

The government is at fault, not the BMA

The Academy of Royal Colleges has called on the BMA and the government to return to negotiations for five days in a desperate bid to bring resolution to the junior doctors' contract dispute. The BMA have agreed. The government have refused. This highlights clearly which side is the more reasonable and which side will be responsible should further industrial action and patient disruption ensue. The government simply do not want to engage and do not seem to care about the consequences.

Dr Jonathan Barnes

London

I welcome renewed talks on the junior doctors' contract (Junior doctors' contracts: Government 'pauses' imposition of new terms for strike negotiations, 5 May 2016). Lord Prior wants talks to focus on “unsocial hours and Saturday pay”. Following the BMA's last cost-neutral proposals on Saturdays and unsocial hours, it was reported Hunt “personally vetoed deal that would have ended junior doctors strike”. Negotiation means both sides discussing - not just doctors accepting the government's demands. I hope there will be true negotiation this time.

Matthew Gee

Kenya

The forgotten boroughs

For the last eight years those living on the margins of the GLA region, have put up with the antics and absurdities of the Naked Emperor of London hogging every local TV news bulletin. That includes the tedium of Mayoral elections which have no relevance for us beyond the increasingly empty TfL-run buses since Boris Johnson made them cashless.

We have looked on at Boris basking in the reflected glory of Labour-won London 2012, yet not even the Olympic flame passed through our streets. Investment and regeneration schemes have been poured into almost every London borough, yet we remain as onlookers with no inward investment for decades. Crossrail - no station here. Boris Bike - no bike stations here. Millions spent on follies such as the Orbit, Cycle Superhighway and the zip-wire, all of no benefit to us. Of course, Johnson had great plans for the forgotten suburbs of West London - to shut down Heathrow and reduce the area to economic destitution.

All the GLA has done for the less newsworthy outer London suburbs is make them even more invisible and run-down than ever due to the doughnut effect of the attention-seeking Mayor. It is perhaps time to abolish the GLA and the Mayoralty and split the London region into four “super-councils”, taking in the outer London boroughs which are neither fully Metropolitan nor fully part of the Home Counties. Here, we have no arts facilities, no theatre and very little for the young to do beyond cause mayhem at weekends. Such Cinderella boroughs cry out for investment, yet have nobody to beat a drum for them in City Hall.

The GLA is an utter irrelevance to 90 per cent of the country. Can we either have a camera-shy London Mayor or a share of the jam concentrated in the centre of the Greater London doughnut?

Anthony Rodriguez

Staines Upon Thames

Return of women in sport

It was a welcome interlude that finally women in sport featured yesterday. A first since I began subscribing to your newspaper online.

Ms J McClean

Sturgeon is pushing for a second referendum

Nicola Sturgeon was laudably modest throughout the election campaign.

She repeatedly maintained that six months' plus of opinion polls in her favour didn't mean she'd win the election. What really mattered, she told us, wasn't pollsters' numbers but our ballot box votes yesterday.

But hang on a minute. Isn't this the same Nicola Sturgeon who chooses to gloss over our democratic will, as expressed in the 2014 referendum? The very same Nicola Sturgeon who plans to demand a second separation referendum should a yet to be specified number of opinion polls suggest a yet to be specified number over 50% support her UK break-up dreams? Apparently this is democracy, SNP style.

Sorry, Nicola, I'm a tad confused. Just run this nonsense past us again one more time, could you?

Martin Redfern

Edinburgh

We should examine the Finnish education model more closely

Finland is generally accepted as having the most successful school system in Europe. I wonder if this is anything to do with the facts that teachers there are universally respected, all political parties trust in their professionalism and that Finnish children undergo one public examination during their school careers at age 16/17 designed to determine the best next step for them as individuals.

Successive education ministers have talked about the UK having a lot to learn from Finland and then promulgating policies which are the antithesis of their education culture. Why is that?

Paul Clein

Liverpool

Trump poses no threat

I cannot fathom what all the fuss is about Donald Trump's potential ascendancy to the White House. This is democracy, pure and simple. Democracy has always been hard to swallow with the electoral triumph of Hitler and Mussolini, and in recent times the landslide triumph of all Arab dictators from Al Assad of Syria, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Mubarak of Egypt to Hamas and Hezbollah in the occupied Palestinian territories and Lebanon respectively. Arabs and Muslims in general should not fear President Trump. We should all respect the will of the American people and refrain from lecturing them on what best suits them.

King Abdullah of Jordan was wise when asked on CNN to opine on Trump: I do not think it is fair to ask a foreign leader to express his opinion on candidates running for an election in your country.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London

TTIP will be rejected

I do so enjoy it when avowed Brexit supporters like Dr. Hill (Letters, 4th May) latch on to an issue to make a case for Brexit and get the wrong answer.

The recent leaks exposed the terms that the USA is demanding in TTIP negotiations with the EU. If the EU negotiators are forced to bring forward proposals in these terms then they will undoubtedly be rejected by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.

What is revealed by all this is what the terms would be of any trade deal the USA would offer Britain should we leave the EU. We would be obliged to accept the full TTIP terms demanded by the USA.

Surely then a reason to vote to remain in the EU.

Bill Collett

Buckinghamshire