Thousands of homes up north are still without power – where’s the outrage?

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

Over 9,000 homes remain without electricity eight days after Storm Arwen tore down trees and damaged power lines (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

I’m disgusted with people living in the London bubble. Some 5,100 households on Friday were still without power since Storm Arwen hit on 26 November, but it’s just up north, so no one cares.

Think about that for a moment. No power in dark, wet and cold weather. No hot food, hot water, light, phone charging, internet or laundry. Some of the areas affected are deprived and vulnerable but we hear nothing about their plight.

If a London borough had been without power for eight days with no help from the government, it would be headline news. Journalists should be all over this, harassing ministers about it and relentlessly pursuing Northern Powergrid about their failings and lack of action.

Sara McNay

Nottingham

Christmas parties in Downing Street

It would seem there really were parties at No 10 at the end of 2020. But Boris Johnson continues to insist that “no rules were broken”.

There are several possible explanations for this apparent paradox. The prime minister may be unable to understand the rules, then or now. Perhaps he can’t remember. He may not know and can’t be bothered to find out. Or he could simply be lying, yet again.

Any one of these should be enough to disqualify him from office. But our undemocratic voting system has allowed his party an 80 seat majority and, so far, there are too few MPs willing to do the decent thing to rescue the country from Johnson’s mendacity and incompetence.

Susan AlexanderSouth Gloucestershire

Let retired professionals give vaccinations

I’m not sure how much GPs need to be involved in vaccination programmes (let alone be paid more to do so). There are legions of us who used to be on professional registers and who have given an untold number of injections in our working lifetimes.

So why not open large vaccination hubs, give us a half-day update and let us get on with it? Hours of irrelevant, online mini-modules and courses could be scrapped. The odd doctor could be in attendance for unforeseen incidents.

Dr Anthony Ingleton

Sheffield

The Brexit experiment has failed

In one person’s opinion, the EU is undemocratic because unelected officials impose regulations on us. However, in another person’s opinion, the EU is democratic because all regulations are approved by the elected European parliament and member state governments, who are in turn scrutinised by their national assemblies.

Brexit was a unique experiment that allowed us to apply scientific methods to questions that were once merely a matter of opinion. During the referendum, it was predicted that we would abolish a large number of EU regulations, and negotiate a better deal in terms of fishing arrangements.

The Brexit experiment has now been running for more than five years and it is time to compare actual results with predictions. There has not been a wide-scale abolition of regulations and the fishing arrangements are not better than before.

Hence, the Brexiteers have not been able to scientifically prove that the EU is undemocratic, even though it was their experiment and they were given all available resources.

Panos Gregory

London

Draconian measures to crack down on protests

If the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APPC) feels that changing the rules on holding demonstrations are not needed, they should speak out firmly. Their chair, Paddy Tipping, thinks decisions on policing demos should be left to the local police, not the Home Office.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill proposes draconian measures in a so-called democracy, that sound like the policing methods in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia where people get hurt and youngsters are detained for protesting. It will be used to curtail freedom of speech.

If people have an issue, they will come out and march. The Home Office "deciding" who can march will alienate citizens further. MPs should review this bill.

Janet Salmon

Richmond

Biodegradable plastic film

Kate Hughes is right to highlight the confusion about biodegradable plastics, so some clarification is required.

Oil-based plastic films cannot be degraded by microorganisms. In contrast, plastic plant-based films classified as compostable break down in contact with the soil, in a low temperature rotting process. It takes six to eight months in my garden composter.

Materials classified as biodegradable need to be treated in an industrial composting process, with temperatures rising to 70C. The result is a compost crumb structure, suitable for spreading on land as a fertiliser. They may or may not decompose at lower temperatures.

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Oxy, oil-based plastic materials, have a light-sensitive chemical in them, causing the film to break into small fragments of material, which will not degrade.

For compostable or biodegradable films to break down, the microbes need a blended mix of protein, minerals, carbohydrates, air and moisture.

As compostable films become the norm for food packaging, more attention must be paid to ensure the compost caddy contains a waste mixture that suits microorganisms’ digestive needs. If plant-based and oil-based films are not clearly differentiated, the default action must be to put the film in the residual waste bin.

When we realise that plant-based films are not only plastic substitutes but are in fact food, we can start sending the material to anaerobic digesters to produce biogas to substitute for CO2-producing natural gas.

Bob Pringle

Aberdeen