Sandy 11th December 2011 My back is still playing up so no run around the park first thing in the morning,

I rather miss it. Hardly anything gets done, cleaning the bath with a litter picker upper, is agony, still this too will pass, I hope! I crawl around and around the house all day trying unsuccessfully not to yelp too much I wouldnt want to upset the cats. Not much else gets done Puddy, asleep, I have to ask Mary yet again to get Pud, I just can't bend to pick her up. She is pilled, I don't get bitten today, perhaps my reactions are getting faster, excellent gnashing of the teeth though, she glares and swishes her tail, a rather inadequate tail swishing today, more like sweeping the floor., five times, no less, priceless. And the glare too is not quite up to her usual standard. And hurrah! Its the last of the pills. We will have to take her back to the vet next week perhaps, I hope thats the end of the pill course. Lamb with garlic and rosemary today, Sandy is coming to tea, we talk of this and that, mainly about Joan. Sandy agrees that Joan is happier in the nursing home, typical of Joan to insist that she stays at home and dosn't take an interest in things. Then when by force of circumstances she ends up in a home, she is much more brighter and better. No Scrabble today, Sandy goes off home, to do four hours of wrapping Christmas presents. In my current state I can't even think about Christmas pressies.

Fave Letters: Torpedo girls

SIR Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, said that women will serve on submarines for the first time. He has overlooked our brave Torpedo Girls who served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. They were teenage girls, chosen for their small size and light weight, to load torpedo tubes in confined spaces. They considered themselves to be submariners. Jenny Harris Cheltenham. Gloucestershire Addressing failure SIR Some shops are selling 12 Christmas cards with 13 envelopes. Are we incapable of writing an address without a mistake? Tim Mason London W1

Sir -- It was sad to read the brave letter of the week 'Abuse still haunts me' (Sunday Independent, December 4, 2011).
This writer wrote of his frequent early-morning waking, when painful memories of being physically and sexually assaulted as a child come back to haunt him, and how his cries for help back then were never heard, or were ignored. Ireland must have been a really dark place in the Fifties and Sixties, when, in my view, it was a narrow-minded country. We were a very proudly Catholic country, but not very Christian. I don't think being Christian was really understood. He wrote of how his love for his wife stops him from doing anything to end his life, but that it can cross his mind at times. I can only suggest, if he hasn't tried it already, to consider looking for counselling to help him to cope and have a happier life in his own mind. It is possible. Specialised counselling for those physically or sexually abused in their youth is available free from some Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

groups. I would like to say to this man -- hold on. I was in a really dark place 10 years ago and felt no hope, had given up. Thankfully, I didn't carry through my plans to end my life, and 10 years later I am happier than I have ever been and life is good. (Touch wood.) Counselling was a factor in that. I hope this helps the letter writer -- that he will consider doing this in 2012 -- or anyone else out there as we head towards Christmas. I enjoy Christmas these years too. I do my own things that make it pleasant and a little bit spiritual for me too. And do I give gifts? Sure I do. Not super expensive ones, mind. It is the season of giving in all sorts of ways. Name and address with editor

Obituary: Marguerite dHarcourt, known as Daisy, was born in Paris on May 12 1915, the only daughter of tienne, Marquis dHarcourt, and his wife, Marie de Curel. Through her mother, Daisy was a descendant of the great industrial family of Wendel, with iron and steel enterprises in Lorraine; she also descended from Nicolas Soult, one of Napoleons Marshals and three times Prime Minister of France.
She met her future husband, Fred de Cabrol ( Baron de Cabrol de Moute), who was six years her senior, at a coming-out party. A talented amateur artist, he made his living as a society decorator, his work including the salons of the Hotel Georges V in Paris. They married on July 5 1937. The couple became friends of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in 1947, and were surprised to be invited to the Chateau de la Cro, their rented house on Cap dAntibes. There they found the exiled Windsors living in unusual post-war luxury, serving delicious food and providing fresh sheets every day. Daisy suspected that the Windsors were bored, but, having nothing else to do, were condemned to an endless round of social engagements. She confirmed the general suspicion that the Duke loved the Duchess more than she did him. She and Fred were among the few allowed to see the Duchess laid out after her death in 1986. Daisy was a considerable hostess, giving a ball every year for her charity, LEssor, to which le tout Paris would come. One of these, in 1954, was at the Palais des Glaces, in Paris (later used in the film Gigi), at which she entertained Charlie Chaplin, the Begum Aga Khan and the Windsors. According to Nancy Mitford, the guests all wore 1,000 dresses and leant forward, bottoms out, arms wildly waving, as they skated on the ice rink. Lady Kenmares daughter fell over four times, breaking several bones. At the end of the evening the rink was scattered with stray diamonds. Daniele Mitterrand, the wife of the future President Francois Mitterrand, was on the organising committee. The composer Henri Sauguet wrote music especially for the evening. Daisy herself was frequently in costume as the wife of Louis XIV, as a tree, and on another occasion as a plate. She moved in the world of Marie-Hlne de Rothschild, wife of Baron Guy de Rothschild, and attended the Surrealist Ball at the Chateau de Ferrires in Normandy in 1972. She also frequented the parties given by Vicomtesse Marie-Laure de Noailles, attending her 1951 ball in the guise of a Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

legless and armless woman. The Cabrols were often guests aboard Gaviota, the luxurious yacht of Arturo Lopez and the Baron de Red. In June 1945 Duff Cooper, the Lothario Ambassador to Paris, took an interest in Daisy, which upset his then mistress, Louise de Vilmorin, to the point that his wife, Lady Diana, had to console her and assure her that Duff really loved her. Despite this, Cooper spent two hours trying to seduce Daisy. He described her as very pretty ... a sweet but not very clever girl. She is very proud of being the only one in Paris who is faithful to her husband and says she intends to remain so. I really dont mind. She was variously dressed by Jacques Heim, Lanvin and Schiaparelli, often at the expense of the couturiers themselves. She enjoyed time with Jean Cocteau and the writer Louise de Vilmorin, but felt trapped when on Niarchoss yacht, alongside Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. Niarchos was a tyrannical host, refusing to moor the yacht for bathing, while serving daily rations of caviar. Nobody can eat caviar for eight days in a row, was her verdict on the voyage. Fred and Daisy will be remembered for the extraordinary scrapbooks in which he created montages of the balls and house parties they attended. These were a collection of photographs superimposed on to his sketches. A number of them appeared in Thierry Couderts book Caf Society: Socialites, Patrons and Artists (2010). Latterly Daisy lived at Grosrouvre, near Montford LAmaury, south-west of Paris, in a house with two flagpoles flying her arms and those of Fred. They bought the property in 1950 and Fred de Cabrol decorated it stylishly, the dining room containing several of his watercolours, a portrait of Daisy by the artist Christian Brard and a drawing by Cocteau. A barn was converted into a giant sitting room, the walls adorned with deers heads and a table bearing a glass case containing multicoloured stuffed birds. One who visited her in later life found her talking at 100 miles an hour with an almost preposterously posh accent . The family had its share of tragedy. Freds niece, Hlne, choked to death in her twenties in Hong Kong; and Daisys younger brother, Amaury, Vicomte d Harcourt, now 86, was found guilty of complicity in the murder in 2008 of the chemist Bernadette Bissonet and sentenced to eight years in prison. Daisys husband died in 1997, and she is survived by two sons; her daughter died in January. Baronne de Cabrol, born May 12 1915, died November 17 2011

Full Text: http://johnblakey.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/sandy/ Guardian:

In last week's Observer, Nick Cohen accused Ofcom of abandoning the principles of broadcasting impartiality ("Please rid us of Press TV, the hate channel", Comment). Not only did the article completely misrepresent Ofcom's work, but it also failed to comprehend the true meaning of due impartiality. Ofcom takes its duty to preserve due impartiality extremely seriously. We take action against anyone who breaks our rules and Press TV was fined a record 100,000 last month for a serious Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

breach of our privacy rules. "Impartiality" does not mean that equal time has to be given to every view or that all broadcasters have to report events through a single lens. Neither does it prevent the broadcasting of highly critical views about a state or institution, however unpalatable these views may be. The key word in this context is "due". It means adequate or appropriate to the subject and nature of the programme. When we judge these cases we take account of a range of factors, including audience expectations. For example, the audience's expectations of a mainstream UK broadcaster such as the BBC or Sky will differ significantly from the audience's expectations of a satellite service based in the UK but broadcasting outside the UK (or to an expatriate audience within the UK). But regardless of this, tough minimum standards do apply to all broadcasters, which we will continue to robustly enforce. Tony Close Director of standards, Ofcom London SE1

Don't despair of young people

I take issue with Katharine Whitehorn's claim that children no longer want to be "surgeons or teachers" but, instead, want to be "celebrities" ("Will Britons cope with the fallout from a lost decade?", In Focus). Over the last 15 years, I have worked with children and young people and I frequently ask them what they want to do in life. The answers are varied: a musician, ("but not via X Factor"), a vet, an architect, a paramedic, a beautician, run a private prison, a dancer, a nurse, work with children, a video designer, a BMX bike tester, a forensic psychologist, a video games tester, an author, a photo-journalist, work on the land, a mathematician, an economist, a painter, a construction worker, a soldier, a pilot, a jeweller, a florist. I could go on. No doctors or teachers, but plenty of valuable contributions to society. Tanya Smart Lewes, East Sussex

Patient feedback can work

As an increasing number of patients use the internet to provide feedback on their experiences of the NHS, it is important that their comments are used as a starting point for dialogue rather than a set of one-sided reviews ("GP fury over 'poison pen' online tirades", News). The system is currently only being used as a TripAdvisor-style service for the health sector. NHS investment in this area needs to be much more sophisticated for it to be worthwhile. Giving feedback about the health service isn't like rating a hotel it's personal. People care about the NHS just as the NHS cares for them and they want it to be better. On websites such as Patient Opinion you will find countless examples where staff have listened, responded and acted upon patients' comments, resulting in positive change. Without such an approach, feedback may continue to be used as an outlet for poison pens rather than a force for good. Paul Hodgkin Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

CEO, Patient Opinion, Sheffield

To set the record straight

Your article "Icelandic tycoon still living the high life" (Business, 28 August 2011) relies heavily on an Icelandic parliament's special investigation committee report that I had previously criticised for being inaccurate. (See www.btb.is). Your piece deals with percentages of loan exposure by Landsbanki to "Thor companies". It was wrong to suggest that 37.2% of the debt was linked to "Thor companies". The figure of 37.2% came from the report and was based on all the debt of all the companies that I was associated with, including some where I was only a minority shareholder. I believe that the legal limit of 25% should relate to a tightly defined single client of the bank, not a pool of loosely linked companies. The SIC report did not refer to the loan exposure to "Thor companies" in October 2008 exceeding the 25% legal limit this was a comparison made by you. I have concluded a settlement agreement with my creditors; Landsbanki has publicly acknowledged that my settlement with the bank was a factor in its recovery. Though I attended a number of meetings about the fall of Landsbanki in 2008 as a representative of shareholders, at no point was I told about the details of Landsbanki's operations. Both CEOs of Landsbanki were present at those meetings. Bjrglfur Thor Bjrglfsson London SW1

Just put Jeremy in the corner

When children are naughty, we are advised to ignore them, so that we don't reinforce their bad behaviour. Surely by rewarding DVD-promoting Jeremy Clarkson with an article and a full-page profile, you will ensure that he never grows up? Richard and Mary Platt Lamberhurst, Kent

The failures of Britain's political classes are now manifest. The egregious errors of national economic management over the last 30 years some might say over the last 60 years are finally plain for all to see. As Will Hutton writes, we now carry the burden of banks' failures amounting to fives times GDP while our productivity remains poor ("Osborne has no idea how to rescue the economy but then who has?", Comment. We were told of "the Thatcher economic miracle", "the green shoots of recovery", "an end to boom and bust". What arrant nonsense it all was. The banks are redolent of the medieval church, endlessly demanding tribute and unquestioning acceptance of its doctrine. Iceland has shown the way in dealing vigorously with its banks and concomitant economic issues while our politicians here offer only the tired nostrums that have failed us thus far. What is needed is an economic Reformation, beginning with a Dissolution of the Monasteries of finance. Chris Waller Bristol I disagree with Will Hutton. Numerous options are available. As Einstein said: "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." But unfortunately Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

this is exactly what politicians are attempting to do by focusing on GDP and perpetual economic growth. Climate change and common sense tell us that we cannot have perpetual economic growth on a finite planet. This overbearing concept of perpetual growth demanded by the GDP is a loser's game. Perhaps it's time to create an economic system that measures human wellbeing as opposed to economic wellbeing. Jonathan Crinion Totnes, Devon Will Hutton's call for vision and visionaries implies the need for a wholly different way of looking at political economy and what is possible. What is not possible is to extract ourselves from the hole we're in by continuing to dig. By excluding from the economic calculus the fundamental role of the natural systems that support our existence we are living off our natural capital and calling it revenue. If we don't set that right, those natural systems are heading for bankruptcy just as surely as the economies that live off them. We need to target sectors where growth is environmentally sustainable and socially desirable socalled green growth. Instead of pouring good money after bad through the quantitative easing of more money into the banks and financial institutions that have so signally failed us, government should invest in green economic and social infrastructure which will rapidly give benefit to society and the wider economy. John Stone Thames Ditton, Surrey Will Hutton's perceptive pieces articulates the helplessness that many people feel in the present crisis. It is true, as he says, that: "The simple-minded nostrums that have poured from the great American neocon thinktanks have been tried and found wanting." The trouble is that nobody told this obvious truth to Cameron, Osborne, the American right or the IMF. The coalition has used the opportunity presented by the crisis to start dismantling the welfare state because: "We can't afford it any more"; we also have the government pushing free-market capitalism to the forefront at every opportunity. The irony is that the pure neocon doctrine would have required governments to stand back and let the banks collapse. It is the bailout of the unregulated banks that saddled us all with the debts we now can't pay. Because we can't pay our debts, we have to give up the basic social spending programmes that are the hallmark of a civilised society. So the free marketeers have it all their own way with unbridled capitalism and the shrinking of the state. There's no money to get the unemployed back to work or the 16-year-olds back into college, but there always seems to be plenty for bailing out the bankers. Jack Heery Wirral, Merseyside

Independent: The "war on global warming" looks set to become genuine and bloody global war ("Whatever happened to the war on global warming?", 4 December). In 2007, International Alert identified 46 countries at high risk from violent armed
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conflict due to climate change, and 56 others at high risk from political instability. Both climate change effects and political instability have increased since then.
Localised conflicts over water supplies and land affected by the changing climate are already common. With China and other powerful states buying up agricultural land in other countries to grow food and bio-fuel crops for their own use (land that should be feeding the local populations), global corporations committed to exploiting every form of fossil fuel and the West determined to go on doing its best to control the world's oil supplies, the inevitable result will be war on a global scale. We need to do all we can to drastically cut our emissions and that means accepting a life of zero growth rather than the nonsense of "sustainable" growth and sharing our resources. And we must make the utmost use of genuine diplomacy and international law to prevent small conflicts from escalating into wars. Life on earth might survive either damaging climate change or global war. But not both. Lesley Docksey Buckland Newton, Dorset Belief in man-made global warming, and passion about doing something to arrest climate change, is not what it was, even five years ago. However, there is progress; in Australia, a new carbon tax bill will put a price on carbon emissions. Australia has spent more than 10 years bitterly divided over this issue. In the end, weather was probably the deciding factor, not climate. In 2009, the Black Saturday bushfires erupted after record hot and dry weather resulting in the loss of over 210 lives and the destruction of 1,830 homes. What will it take to wake up the politicians and the people in the United Kingdom to the perils of climate change? Nigel Bywater Leeds There are two reasons why I have a problem with Trudie Styler and her husband, Sting. Neither is a vegan and they have four children. If they really wanted to save the rainforests and the environment, they would give up all animal products. Not only would this help reduce treefelling in rainforests to grow soya for cattle, but also stop methane being emitted by livestock. A smaller family would minimise their impact on the planet. I have bought a copy of the seasonal The Big Issue, but I will be taking Trudie Styler's concerns for the planet with a pinch of salt. Delphine Penfold Hampton Poyle, Oxfordshire Mark Leftly reports on housebuilders McCarthy and Stone's talks with banks on relaxing lending terms ("Let us expand", 4 December). Am I missing something? The Government seems hell-bent on hurling money at the construction industry. But what is the point of building houses when people on miserable incomes who are already stretched by the huge increases in transport and utility costs cannot even think of taking on a mortgage, however low the interest rates? Anna Farlow London NW2 Who with a shred of human decency would deny an intelligent and aware animal a comfortable retirement ("It's time to liberate Lolita", 4 December)? Lolita the orca whale was ripped from her Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

mother and family as a baby and has spent her life in a cramped concrete tank. A protected sea pen would allow her greater freedom of movement; the ability to see, sense, and communicate with her wild cousins and other ocean animals as well as to feel the tides and waves; and opportunities to engage in the behaviours that she's long been denied. The Seaquarium has made considerable profit by Lolita's confinement. It's time to pay her back: let her go. Jennifer O'Connor Peta Foundation Norfolk, Virginia, USA As Paul Vallely points out, war with Iran neither addresses issues with Iran, any more than wars in Iraq and Afghanistan did in those countries, nor helps the crisis-ridden West ("War on Iran has begun", 4 December). Nick Clegg should show the article to David Cameron. Keith Flett London N17 We are told that "Less than a quarter of disabled people, and just 11 per cent of Britons overall are excited about the Paralympics" ("Paralympics 'patronising to disabled people'", 4 December). I applaud the people who take part in the Paralympics and hope they inspire others. However, I personally have little interest in sport in general, and when I do watch it, only want to see the strongest, fastest and best in the world. I am not bigoted in any way and greatly respect the Paralympics I just don't want to watch it. Emilie Lamplough Trowbridge, Wiltshire

Telegraph: SIR At last David Cameron has shown he has backbone and is a more significant prime minister than his two predecessors.
No doubt he will be vilified by European politicians, but lets wait and see what the population of those countries have to say when it dawns on them that their leaders have signed away their sovereignty. Well done, Prime Minister not an easy decision, but the right one. Tony Saunders Brighton, East Sussex SIR The Merkozy duo have managed to cobble together another wishlist in an attempt to stave off the collapse of the euro. They have yet again failed to grasp the short-term debt mountain faced by many of the eurozone members. What we really have is a delayed break-up of the eurozone when the voters get their chance to agree or not to giving away part of their sovereignty. Perhaps the real question is whether or not German voters are prepared to continue funding the financially broken states. We certainly have to congratulate Mr Cameron for his strength in keeping Britain out of this mess.

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Nigel Randall Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire SIR What David Miliband just cannot understand is that the supertanker he aspires to cling to is, in fact, the Titanic. The euro has collided with the iceberg of financial reality and is holed below the waterline. The orchestra of ever more frequent EU summits, each less convincing than the last, may still be playing, and the journey in the lifeboat might be choppy, but better to get into the first one, of your own free will, than to go down with the ship. Iain Duffin Malmesbury, Wiltshire SIR Over the past 20 years, opponents of the Euro-project have been derided as Little Englanders and swivel-eyed extremists, whereas they have proven to be open-seas Internationalists and economic realists. By arguing that the fashionable Euro-project was wrong in principle, wrong in practice, I was, as an MP, among those who paid the price of the electoral disaster of 1997, but laid the ground to make the project electorally impossible to join. Nowadays we hear very little from the formerly smug Euro-enthusiasts. The Euro-project was always bound to fail on grounds of economic reality. You cannot stop up all the natural pressure-valves, and expect nothing to happen. Jacques Arnold West Malling, Kent SIR For the third time in just under 100 years, the root cause of a European crisis has been the power of a united Germany in Europe. The previous two were related to the exercise of its military and political power, the current one by its economic and financial muscle. No doubt Germanys rule will be more benign than on the previous two occasions. David Walmsley Burnham on Crouch, Essex SIR Peter Oborne (Comment, December 8) rehearses the theme of doom if the euro implodes with disastrous consequences for Britain. But before we joined the EU we traded with the rest of the world and would do so again. China and India and other emerging countries are the future and that is where Britains trading future lies too. David Saunders Sidmouth, Devon SIR I cannot express the joy on seeing David Cameron get off the fence. I feel I am seeing the rebirth of my country. Stephen Gorman Bradford, West Yorkshire SIR Nicolas Sarkozy has accused David Cameron of creating a two-speed Europe as a result of his exercising Britains veto. Presumably Mr Sarkozy believes he and France are in the fast lane, while we are in the slow lane. Isnt the direction more important?

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Mark Baker Tenterden, Kent SIR You report a French diplomat as saying that Britain was like a man who wants to go to a wife-swapping party without taking his own wife. Surely we would rather not associate too closely with disgusting people like these. Tom Foster Kelvedon, Essex SIR Surely all the ministers and delegates staying up until 4am broke EU working-time directives, and therefore any decisions arrived at are invalid. Helen Wynne-Griffith London W8 SIR I wonder if the EU might not make better decisions if it was to hold its meetings during the day, after a good English breakfast, rather than all through the night after a gross French dinner. Michael Noar Hollingbourne, Kent SIR Now whose aircraft carrier do we borrow? Christopher Healy North Ferriby, East Yorkshire

SIR Any honest teacher knows that public examinations have been ruthlessly stripped of content in an attempt to persuade the public that the large sums of money spent by the last government on education have resulted in bettereducated children.
It was in no ones interest to speak out. Classroom teachers, department heads and head teachers all connived in keeping quiet. The permanent threat of an unannounced Ofsted inspection triggered by poor exam results meant that everyone had a good reason to keep their mouths shut. For the sake of pupils at school now, one can only hope that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, takes this opportunity for a root-and-branch reform of the examination system. Of course, that may mean that some students will fail: I hope he can withstand the fallout from that. Carol A. Forshaw Bolton, Lancashire SIR When I was a chief examiner with the Welsh Joint Education Committee in the Eighties, the system was norm-referenced assessment. This meant that grade boundaries were determined so that about 10 per cent of candidates would receive an A, 15 per cent a B and so on. It was assumed that each year the intakes would be similar in ability. If there was evidence that standards were higher or lower for a year, the chief examiner could adjust the boundaries. The current system tends to use criterion-referenced assessment, where candidates have to satisfy a set of criteria for each grade. Candidates could, theoretically, gain 100 per cent if they were able to satisfy all the criteria. With this system, it is easier to teach to the test and much easier if an examiner tells all to teachers. In recent years, norm-referenced assessment has been judged to be unfair because it would not reflect a raising of standards. But at least teachers, candidates and the public had faith in the system. Stuart H. Salt Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

Englefield Green, Surrey SIR The exam system is incestuous. When I taught maths in the Eighties, I could not understand some of the terms used in the exams, even though I am a Cambridge graduate. When I phoned the exam board to discuss the matter, I was told to buy the textbook written by the relevant examiners. In other words: Have you bought and read my book? A conscientious teacher had to buy the book written by the examiner. Ivor Catt St Albans, Hertfordshire SIR Teachers should teach to the syllabus. The Oxford University syllabus for chemistry finals, as I recall, stated that a knowledge of inorganic, organic and physical chemistry will be assumed. That was a comprehensive education. Dr Peter L. Kolker Crewe, Cheshire SIR I taught GCSE and A-level maths. With the information given to me at meetings with exam boards, I could guarantee a good pass on coursework if certain phrases or words were included, even if the mathematical content was gibberish. G. W. Preston Villanueva del Trabuco, Mlaga, Spain SIR In India, I read in a local newspaper that four examination setters had been sentenced to life imprisonment for leaking papers to candidates. What chance of something similar in Britain? Alan Gibson Harpenden, Hertfordshire Value of patient data SIR In his speech on Monday, the Prime Minister was right to highlight the essential contribution made by the public to research that improves health. Data from patients and healthy volunteers allows medical scientists to understand disease better and develop new treatments. We strongly support the Governments intention, set out in the new strategy for UK life sciences, to make it easier for the public to participate while retaining current safeguards and the right to opt out. In the past, British researchers have used patient data to demonstrate the link between smoking and cancer and to understand more about the origins of disease. Britain is home to some of the largest, most highly regarded cohorts of research participants in the world. UK Biobank for example, with its 500,000 volunteers, will help improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a range of serious diseases. Discoveries in the laboratory cannot be translated into effective treatments without commercial sector involvement. Enabling university researchers, clinicians and patients to work together with the life sciences industry is vital to this process. Clearly, patient data must be treated with respect. Britain has developed a robust framework over many years for use of patient data. No data from patient records, even anonymised, can be used without review by an independent ethics committee. Research using identifiable data must also comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. Current proposals should, and do appear to, facilitate research within the existing safeguards. Patient information is a powerful tool to understand disease patterns across large populations. We believe patients, scientists, NHS clinicians and the industry can work in partnership for the public Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

good. Professor Sir John Tooke President, Academy of Medical Sciences Professor Sir John Bell Chairman, OSCHR Sir Mark Walport Director, Wellcome Trust Sir Paul Nurse President, The Royal Society Sir John Savill Chief Executive, Medical Research Council Professor Paul Boyle Chief Executive, Economic and Social Research Council Dr Harpal S. Kumar CEO, Cancer Research UK Torpedo girls SIR Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, said that women will serve on submarines for the first time. He has overlooked our brave Torpedo Girls who served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. They were teenage girls, chosen for their small size and light weight, to load torpedo tubes in confined spaces. They considered themselves to be submariners. Jenny Harris Cheltenham. Gloucestershire Addressing failure SIR Some shops are selling 12 Christmas cards with 13 envelopes. Are we incapable of writing an address without a mistake? Tim Mason London W1 Burning wind turbine SIR The report of a wind turbine exploding in the severe weather (December 9) was most apposite during the EU summit. One is an almost useless human invention, about which a lot of hot air is generated, and which explodes under stress. The other is a wind turbine. R. Scott-Watson Stanford in the Vale, Oxfordshire

Irish Independent:
Sir -- Usually, on arriving home with my Sunday Independent on a Saturday night, I make a decision as to which order I am going to read it in. If I'm feeling good, I'll head straight to the 'heavy stuff' but, if I'm feeling a bit maudlin, for example, I'll start with Declan Lynch because, regardless of what he's writing about, I am guaranteed a laugh. And, in my opinion, he's usually Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

spot on with all of his observations. You see, reading Declan (with respect) kind of steels me for the stuff that many of his fine colleagues report upon. Like how the (mostly) men we elect, and have elected, to represent us have played a significant role in destroying our country and how last week's Budget is going to affect us in order that we can save the banks. But the one constant is always my desire to get to the Letters page ASAP because, for me, it kind of reveals the mood of the nation. I look to see if Robert from Bantry will win another three bottles of Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey for his very fine contributions. And I look to see if Ger from Castletroy (who has also enjoyed the drop of Tyrconnell) has been in touch but, alas, we haven't heard from him in a while. Even Kathleen in Cootehill has been quiet of late. But, today, I felt compelled to write about your Letter of the Week (Sunday Independent, December 4, 2011), entitled 'Abuse still haunts me'. And, by doing so, I want to try to use your newspaper to reach out to that man who is clearly in great pain. I want him to know that he need not suffer alone and I dearly hope that he can hang on. For he is a hero and there are many, I'm sure, who love him. I, too, remember the first night I was raped. I remember that, when I tried to tell my father, I was given a clatter and sent to my room when what I really needed was a doctor or a nurse. That was 1982 and it was never spoken of again in that house. Later, my escape from the desperate reality of my life manifested itself in compulsive gambling and an addiction to alcohol. I spent six months in prison. I contemplated suicide on at least four occasions that I can vividly recall. In the midst of all this agony, I held down a job and survived bullying at work. On the positive side, I somehow managed to persuade a wonderful woman to marry me and I got sober. I built a business and created meaningful employments that endure to this day. I have beautiful children and my only 'addiction' today is to them and their wonderful mother. As Declan Lynch might say, 'I am high on the improbability of it all.' I survived the monsters' best efforts to destroy me to satisfy their own urges, but the writer of your Letter of the Week is correct when he writes so eloquently about how the memory of the abuse never goes away. But we must survive. We have to learn to become functional again and we must continue to survive so that we can watch out for our children and our children's children and our neighbours' children. Meanwhile, we must never harbour expectations of special treatment from any quarter and we must always be responsible for our own actions. We, most certainly, cannot use past tragedies to excuse current behaviour. We are the same as everyone else even if our lives are not. It has been my experience that survivors of sexual abuse can sniff out a sex deviant at a hundred paces and spot a victim of that sex deviant from a mile away. Therefore, we do need to get on with our lives because, maybe, just maybe, we will be lucky enough to be there to support others. What joy it brings to be lucky enough to be told that you've made someone's day. Indeed, if it is true that the best classroom in the world lies at the feet of an older and wiser man, then, at well less than 50 years of age, I hope to be that older and wiser man some day. In the meantime, all the very best to the writer of your Letter of the Week. If the late (and truly remarkable) Patricia Redlich were still with us, I'm sure she would have far finer advice for you than I could ever hope to offer. All I can say is, 'Hang on in there, my anonymous friend.' Name and address with Editor Note: The decision to withhold the name and address of the writer of last week's Letter of the Week was an editorial one and was not requested by the writer -- Letters editor Sir -- Regarding the letter (Sunday Independent, Dec 4, 2011) from Justin Kelly about the horrific Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

abuse of a wheelchair user in Dublin by what can only be described as a female moron driving her car, I would like to further comment on the disgraceful practice of parking in disabled-parking spaces by able-bodied motorists. May I, through your paper, make the following points: 1) The disabled logo is known internationally, so please (foreign nationals take note) do not pretend when confronted that you don't know what the sign is. 2) The disabled-parking space is not for yummy mummies in people-carriers with kids in tow. 3) The disabled-parking space is not for anyone who is going to the cash point and "will only be 30 seconds!" 4) And this is the most distressing point of all. The disabled-parking space is not for sons, daughters, husbands and wives who may have a disabled relative at home -- in other words, not with them in the vehicle. It's this blatant misuse of the disabled card, which is most annoying. Disabled-parking spaces are for people such as my brother, who has MS and is wheelchair bound. It is most unpleasant for him, getting out of the car and trying to get into his wheelchair in the pouring rain. Most disabled-parking spaces are near the main doors of shopping centres and public buildings to accommodate wheelchair users so that they don't have to park a long way from the entrance and add getting soaked through to their disability. Disabled people need these spaces so please respect their right to them. Have a little patience if a wheelchair user is struggling across the road in front of you, as the moron I mentioned at the start of my letter obviously hadn't. An old saying comes to mind, 'What goes around comes around!' Kathy Ward, Walkinstown, Dublin 12 Sir -- Everyone knows how true the expression 'what a difference a day makes' is. 'What a difference an action makes' is equally valid, following on from Justin Kelly's letter (Sunday Independent, Dec 4, 2011) titled 'motorist abused wheelchair user' -- by blowing her horn repeatedly as he struggled to cross the street. In his letter, he explained how this had a ripple effect of disgust among the people who witnessed it. Last week, we suffered the trauma of our beloved pet dog being killed on the road. What a difference a day makes! I work in retail and, next morning, as I was serving a young teenager, she had the courtesy to ask how I was. I explained that I'd often felt better because of the events of the day before. A few minutes later, another teenage girl came in and handed me a package that she was asked to give me. Inside was a lovely card with the kindest expression of sympathy and support. Also enclosed was a large bar of chocolate. Such a kind thought and generous action for her to go and buy a card and chocolate and have them dropped in to me. As I say, what a difference an action makes. Despite the Budget and the recession, while we still have such thoughtful young people in our midst, all is not lost. There is hope! Philomena Daly, Co Cavan

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Do our political, financial, civil service and judicial elites really think that if a continent slides into fiscal autarky because of their own inertia they will be protected by an unpaid police force and army? The best measure of the crisis Europe still faces after last week's latest inconclusive summit is the return of the Cold War concept of the domino theory. Today, it is currency rather than communism that poses a new but no less lethal threat to the social order. Friday's inconclusive summit suggests, however, that the implosion of the euro is a threat our EU elite is prepared to flirt with. But, as a continent's leaders attempt to appease the markets with a fiscal solution built on sand, they should recall that three decades ago more than half of Europe was under the sway of a communist kleptocracy. And less than two decades have passed since the break-up of Yugoslavia was the catalyst for a vicious sectarian war. Democracy is a fragile blossom, and inertia, or 'clever legal trickery' -- be it in Bosnia or the bond markets -- never solves a crisis. On one level the arrogance of an elite who believe they can do what they will is understandable, for the difference between the quality of our debilitated democracy and the more 'managed' version that prevails in Mr Putin's Russia is one of degree. We hear much of moral hazard (for some at least) these days. Somewhat less, however, is heard about the destruction of the concept of a social contract, where the citizen, the capitalist and the politician all have rights and responsibilities. Our elites may claim that in cutting grand bargains with the banks and the public sector that they are being virtuous pragmatists. But, as we are discovering, when economics becomes divorced from morality, the outcome for the citizenry is a politer version of being ruled at the point of a sword. Sadly, it is not just 'those above' who are to blame for this development. It would be nice to believe the Taoiseach's claim that 'we', the public, are not 'responsible' for the current debacle, but this was nothing more than mere populist demagoguery. One of the more astonishing features of modern Ireland is the galloping ignorance of our educated citizenry, who complain about being conned by the banks and the politicians but yet, like James Everett's famous 1950s man in his 'settle bed' will always choose The X Factor over The Week in Politics. For now this lethargic ignorance suits the continent's leaders but if the euro goes over the fiscal ledge, the chances that its citizenry will respond in a measured fashion are lower than they think. A year ago, this paper warned that Ireland and Europe were facing into an iron age of austerity. Such a prospect is not appealing but it is time for our politicians to talk honestly, and for citizens to listen to and engage with such issues. Instead, Michael Noonan's first Budget contained dangerous echoes of the delusionary cheer-leading of Brian Lenihan as it claimed "all serious international commentators now believe that Ireland's longer-term position is sustainable''. But, when the smoke and mirrors cleared, nothing could disguise the fact that, four years after our great crisis broke, a country that is in a fiscal isolation ward still has an unreformed public sector and the highest budget deficit amongst the European PIIGS. It is time for this inertia to stop or Eamon Gilmore's bracing warning to those sceptics who would have us jump off the euro cliff without a parachute which would lead us to a 'very cold, lonely and penurious place' might come true far sooner than we think. Sir -- I want to thank Brendan O'Connor for his article (Sunday Independent, Dec 4, 2011). I was not aware of what happened to Kate Fitzgerald until Brendan's programme on Saturday night when he interviewed her parents and brother. My heart goes out to Kate and her family and I think what they are doing by talking about what has happened is one of the most important issues to be talking about in the Ireland of today. I have lived with both depression and OCD for the last 22 years and anything that can be done to Fave letters 1 Obit 2Guardian 3 Independent 6 Telegraph 8 Irish Times 12Irish Independent 12

really change society's attitude to mental illness should be done. Well done, Brendan, and thank you. Name and address with Editor

Well I must be off best wishes John

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