Choice and equality in university admission

Sir, The new education secretary says that inequality has been baked into our education system (“University offers at record high as inequality in degree entry grows”, Aug 15). This is correct. Although at the margin universities can help to promote higher education, the education system as a whole largely reflects wider socio-economic and cultural disparities. It is therefore disappointing that although the new government talks a lot about inequality it appears to have precious few policies for tackling it directly. In the past, the tax system has been a prime instrument for redistribution. Can we look to the new government to go down this route or is ending VAT relief on private schools’ fees the limit of its ambitions?
Professor Roger Brown
Former vice-chancellor, Solent University; Southampton

Sir, Your report “University offers at record high as inequality in degree entry grows” cites Barrow-in-Furness as having the lowest percentage of A-level students studying at university in the country, at 13 per cent of its school-leaver population. However, this figure will not include the many students who embark on higher-level apprenticeships each year with BAE Systems in the town, and who represent a significant proportion of the students studying at the town’s sixth-form college. These students will complete honours degrees as part of their apprenticeship while gaining valuable industrial experience and, equally importantly, earning a reasonable salary while doing so, and gaining a degree without incurring any student debt. Perhaps Barrow-in-Furness has the most sensible 18-year-olds in the country.
Peter Fitzpatrick
Kirkby-in-Furness, Cumbria

Sir, Students heading to university are to be congratulated. In contrast, the experience for those aiming to secure an apprenticeship is far less smooth, as a close family member is finding. The lack of a centralised admissions service and co-ordinated application timing makes it difficult to access apprenticeship opportunities, undermining social mobility. I look forward to a future year when more structures to support apprenticeships have been put in place.
Gillian Chopra
London SW19

Sir, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, says that she wants children as young as five to be taught how to identify “misinformation” (Frank Furedi, comment, Aug 15). Is this the end for Father Christmas?
Bernard Eastham
Preston, Lancs

Legal but harmful

Sir, Revisiting the debate over what constitutes “legal but harmful” content online may not be the way forward but neither is your advice to the prime minister to engage in constructive dialogue with the tech giants to reduce harms — not unless his engagement is accompanied by the real threat of legal action, that is (“Chilling Effect”, leading article, Aug 14).

There were many attempts at getting the platforms to regulate themselves before creation of the Online Safety Act, all of which failed because although the tech companies said they welcomed regulation the reality was that they did not.

The fact that people are now facing criminal charges for inciting racial hatred online (before the enforcement of the Online Safety Act) indicates that existing laws can be effective in the digital world — but only when our overstretched police are doing what should be the work of the tech companies that are enabling the incitement in the first place.

When Elon Musk bought Twitter one of his first acts was to sack most of the content moderators and the disinformation prevention team. This is likely to contravene the Online Safety Act, so the most important thing the government can do in the short term is to put pressure on Ofcom to start to enforce the act without further delay. The government should indeed review whether there are gaps in the law but the priority must be to get existing laws properly enforced, with the costs being borne by the platforms and not by the taxpayer.
Margot James
Digital minister 2018-19; Broadway, Worcs

Hong Kong liberty

Sir, Michael Thomas KC (letter, Aug 14) may be right that the 74-page judgment handed down by the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong in the case of Jimmy Lai and others is a masterpiece of legal reasoning; and its quality is likely to be due in some measure to the contribution of Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury. But he has entirely missed the point of your editorial. Lai and his co-defendants, including Martin Lee KC, who is one of the most senior and respected members of the Hong Kong Bar, have spent their lives campaigning for freedom of expression, civil rights and greater democracy in Hong Kong, both before and after 1997. They are exactly the people whom Beijing wants to take down. The conduct of the peaceful protest in 2019 gave the authorities the opportunity they were looking for. No British judge should allow himself to participate in proceedings of this kind, and many have already decided not to do so. It is not too late for Lord Neuberger to reconsider his position.‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑​​​​
Derek Wood KC
Falcon Chambers, London EC4

Foreign troops ban

Sir, You report that foreign-born soldiers of proven expertise and loyalty have to live in the UK for five years before they can apply to join the British Army (“Afghan soldiers blocked from joining stretched British Army for 5 years”, Aug 14). These rules are arcane and should be changed. More generally, asylum applicants who are of military age and apparent military aptitude could after security clearance be permitted to join or be attached to British forces, where they would be accommodated, trained and taught English. For some this would be preferable to the protracted, uncertain and stressful process of asylum status determination while struggling to survive on the periphery of society. After satisfactory achievement in the military for, say, a year, their asylum claim could be accepted, they could continue to serve for a stated minimum period and they could be set on a path to limited and then indefinite leave to remain, and ultimately to British citizenship.
Dr Jonathan Lewis
Ret’d immigration judge, Pinner, Middx

Sozzled slugs

Sir, How can any gardener or farmer not consider slugs and snails to be a pest (report, Aug 12; letters, Aug 13 & 15)? This year in particular, my newly purchased salvia plants and established delphiniums have suddenly become shorter, and without action would have vanished without a flower. In early June I sank five jam jars into the flowerbeds and filled them with beer. The slugs love the smell and pop into the liquid, never to reappear alive. The tally to date is just over 1,100, but I am running short of beer.
Bill McClean
Pocklington, E Yorks

Lessons in longevity

Sir, The letters about older people at checkouts (Aug 14–15) remind me of a friend’s advice to his son while waiting impatiently behind an elderly person who was struggling to find money to pay: “Son, remember that you are training to be an elderly person.”
Colin Macduff-Duncan
Oxshott, Surrey

Knighting Daley

Sir, Hats off to Matthew Syed for challenging gongs for athletes on the grounds that those who help them to achieve success are equally or more deserving of recognition (“Why I’d tell Tom to reject knighthood”, Aug 15). However, he rather cruelly labels gongs awarded to athletes for “services to sport” as oxymoronic. He asks: “What services are sports people providing?” Surely they are providing us with exhilarating entertainment, unique historic sporting memories, essential family gatherings, hope for the future of UK sport, encouragement to beat obesity, infinite inspiration for our upcoming ambitious athletes and a profound sense of pride in our country. Seems worthy of a gong to me.
Kevin O’Brien
Rochester, Kent

Sir When I saw your headline “Daley set for knighthood” (Aug 14) I thought, “At last, about time”, but reading on I was dismayed to see that the proposed recipient of the honour was not one of our greatest Olympians but a gentleman who plunges into a pool. Is it not time that we recognised the feats of Daley Thompson?
Peter Hutchesson
Brentford, West London

Rock of ages

Sir, I too remember the display of moon rock (letter, Aug 14) in the early 1970s. As an eager 15-year-old Apollo programme enthusiast, I went along to the Manchester Museum to view a small piece of moon rock, but even I was surprised to see a security guard standing beside the glass cabinet housing the rock, keeping watch over the precious object within.
Bernadette Birchall
Withington, Greater Manchester

Sir, With regard to Holly Trusted’s letter on “near-relic status”, in February 1990, on a visit to Berlin, we, along with many others, picked up small pieces of the broken Berlin Wall. We still have these, and wonder when (or if) they will achieve relic status.
Siân Evans
Cardiff

Rail pay offer

Sir, One has to admire ministers’ negotiating skills. They offered backdated, above-inflation pay rises (with attached generous public sector final salary pensions) and in return received, well, nothing (“Tories accuse government of ‘caving in’ with 15% rail pay offer”, Aug 15). I think the No 10 cat could have managed that.
Chris Rhodes
Lock, W Sussex

Bumper crop

Sir, The sticker (letters, Aug 13–15) on the rear of my Honda Civic reads: Si hoc adfixum legere potes, et liberaliter educatus et nimis propinquus ades (if you can read this sticker, you are both well educated and much too close).
Geoffrey Bourne-Taylor
Wantage, Oxon

Sir, I was impressed by the bumper sticker: “Midwives help people out.”
Simon Brett
Arundel, W Sussex

Sir, The bumper sticker on my 38-year-old Citroën 2CV reads: “No cheese, wine or baguettes left in car overnight.”
Deborah Swaine
Streat, E Sussex