From "useless" degree courses to buying electric cars for "virtual signalling", our readers from across the county give their weekly take on the biggest issues impacting Kent in their Letters to the Editor...

Some letters refer to past correspondence which can be found by clicking here.

No demand for huge number of graduates

The failing in the services provided across the board in the public sector, and indeed increasingly in private companies, is attributable to two major decisions by the political class. The first was to join the bureaucratic, and undemocratic, European Union, the second being Tony Blair’s policy of sending 50% of youngsters to university.

The intention that so many pupils, however unacademic, should be pushed into tertiary education necessitated a reduction in standards throughout the system, from school to college, with the result that many now have degrees which are of no real use, but for which they had paid large sums and spent many years obtaining. In order to conceal this fact, government has been obliged to create pointless managerial jobs, particularly in the civil service, and the NHS, which absorb resources, yet contribute almost nothing worthwhile to these institutions.

The main culprit is the malevolent effect of transferring democratic control to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. Our over 40 years in the EU has left us with a managerial culture, which hamstrings large numbers of organisations and diverts resources from the task of creating prosperity. The worst of these misbegotten creations is of course the human resources industry. These parasitic departments obstruct those seeking to do a real job, while inflicting upon workforces endless pointless policies, and create legions of non-jobs, highly paid, but useless, such as consultants on diversity, wellness and sustainability.

We must complete the revolution against the bureaucrats by abolishing the whole of the HR industry, reducing the number of managers in the NHS, dismissing those public employees who will not come into the office, or believe that they have the right to determine policy, and ceasing to waste time and money turning out ever more graduates for whom there is no demand, while foolishly continuing to neglect the creation of apprenticeships, and on the job learning.

Colin Bullen

Anti-car measures won't help climate

Richard Styles' letter about ULEZ (London's Ultra Low Emission Zone) was pure drivel. This man is, of course, a member of the Greta Thunberg school of idiocy and is anti-car.

Many small tradesmen cannot afford to upgrade their vehicles and the new electric vehicles are all but useless, except if you wish to virtue-signal to your neighbours.

If Mr Styles had his way, there would be very little commerce in this country and the UK would become the laughing-stock of the world, as it relied almost entirely on goods shipped in from overseas. But wait a minute, that is happening already.

It is time this so-called Conservative government allowed industry to flourish. It could forbid Kahn and other tin-pot dictators from restricting normal travel in towns and cities. It could take steps to produce goods, which has been farmed out to China and India, because it will not make one jot of difference to the climate whatever we do or do not do.

Good luck to Mr Styles in his bid to reach the capital by rail. He will have to choose his day carefully because trains are becoming as rare as hens' teeth.

Miss V. Hemsley-Flint

We didn't stop Hitler alone

I found Colin Bullen’s comments in his recent letter to be an unfounded slur on the integrity and professionalism of our teachers.

He certainly knows nothing about the teaching of history in our schools today. He said: "Our education system is brainwashing youngsters into believing that Britain is somehow guilty of past sins, while ignoring the fact that we saved the world from Nazism".

Brainwashing our children? If this were Russia, China or North Korea, yes, but not Britain.

As to his statement that ‘Britain saved the world from Nazism’, I would ask readers to imagine that they were 13-14-year-old pupils, being taught the history national curriculum module on the Second World War. History teaching is now very much about presenting pupils with the evidence and asking them to weigh it up and draw their own reasoned conclusions.

In this case, the teacher would supply them with the fact that, in the fight against Germany, Indian, Australian, New Zealand and South African troops all played their part; the Soviet Union played a major role in fighting Germany on the Eastern Front in Europe and lost 11 million men in the process; after 1941 the USA supplied Britain with planes, tanks and ships and 73,000 Americans fought alongside the 62,000 British soldiers on D-Day in 1944; the fact that, in his victory speech to the nation in 1945, Prime Minister Churchill recapped Britain’s lonely stand against Hitler for one year in 1940 but praised the appearance of “great allies” in the fight and suggested that victory was achieved because of a combined effort.

Having considered the evidence, the teacher would ask the pupils: “Is there any truth in the statement: ‘Britain saved the world from Nazism'?" Explain your answer.

John Cooper

Letter had me in stitches

I read Colin Bullen's letter with great interest and I must say, I completely agree. It is truly outrageous that we are wasting our time worrying about pronouns and trying to address past wrongs, when we should be preparing for the imminent invasion of the totalitarian states. It's a wonder we haven't all been shipped off to re-education camps already.

Don't even get me started on the woke attacking our cultural icons. What kind of world are we living in where we can't even enjoy our problematic movies and statues without being called out on their problematic nature? It's political correctness gone mad, I tell you.

Most of all, I am relieved that you have brought attention to the real issue at hand; reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. I mean, who cares if our planet becomes uninhabitable in a few decades? We'll all be too busy fighting off the invading forces to worry about that.

In all seriousness, though, I must say your letter had me in stitches. It's not often that one comes across such a hilarious piece of satire. I look forward to reading your next contribution and I hope that more people will start to see the funny side of things.

A Parsons

Promised land is no better

Much has been discussed about the serious problem of mass immigration; let’s not kid ourselves because that’s what it is.

One only has to go to Libya, Spain, Italy and Greece to see the affects this is having on relatively poor countries. In a few Greek Islands off the coast of Turkey there are 40,000 refugees alone whom are mainly in squalid camps.

This situation is only going to get worse as time goes on, as south of Libya there are tens of thousands of potential immigrants crossing the Sahara Desert in open-back lorries and four by fours.

Most of refugees are leaving very poor countries, who are simply seeking a better life for themselves and their families - and who can blame them. I certainly don’t believe they are all escaping wars and conflicts. But let’s not forget that most of those seeking a new life are mainly fit young men who should be working in their own countries trying to raise the living standards of their own people and not deserting them because this has the affect of snowballing as then the local population realise even more that there is no future in their countries and do the same.

It’s no wonder, therefore, that many of the richer northern countries have closed their borders to immigrants as they fear a lack of facilities and money to look after these people without lowering their own standard of living.

I see it all too often on the news that the risks these people are taking of themselves, their wives and young children and babies in rubber boats across dangerous seas to find out that Greece and Italy are no better than from whence they came.

SC Anning

Careful what you wish for

Reading Ralph A Tebbutt' s last paragraph about 'building a society based on need', I'm sure that was the original aim of the animals in Animal Farm and we know how that ended.

History shows that, like democracy, capitalism is the least worst option.

LD Goddard