The ghost of Franco still haunts Spain

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/16/ghost-franco-still-haunts-spain-observer-letters

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Sam Jones’s article on the recent elections in Seville made disturbing reading and, while the article referred specifically to regional elections, the national situation is hardly more reassuring (“How Vox party’s success shattered faith in Spain’s immunity to the far right”, World).

While Spain does have two main parties, the rightwing Partido Popular and the socialist PSOE, it has long had a tendency to produce a large number of smaller parties. Few periods of Spanish history showed this more clearly than the civil war of 1936-1939, in which nationalists, Carlists, monarchists and the Falange, along with several minor groups, fought anarcho-syndicalists, communists, socialists, Basque and Catalan nationalists, republicans and Marxists, among others. The cohesion of the right compared with the suspicion and mistrust among the leftwing parties was a major factor in the result.

Spain seems to have forgotten the ugliest moment of its recent history. Podemos has placed itself on the far left, while Vox, along with the Basque and Catalan nationalists, occupies the extreme right. Spain’s system of proportional representation gives these parties a greater voice in their national politics than Ukip would have in Britain, although Spain’s failure to form a government between 2015 and 2016 simply served to heighten frustration and deepen division.

The headmaster of a secondary school near Jaén, Andalucía, told me last year: “We have still not buried Franco”, which is chillingly echoed by Vox’s use of the word reconquista – reconquest – originally used to describe the campaign to rid Spain of its Moorish conquerors, but used in 1936 by the far right to refer to their brutal uprising against the republican government.David WarbisPoole, Dorset

We’ll all be old one day

Clearly fond of the blunt, black-and-white “solution”, your correspondent Mark Bristow writes: “Surely 50 years of working life is enough; after that, get out of there!” (Letters.) His remedy may well be appropriate for those in the fortunate position of having amassed the odd million or three to see them financially untroubled up to the point of death, but many more will not have that cushion, needing to work for as long as they are able to so as to avoid ending their lives in real hardship.

There is the danger that this pointing of fingers at oldies “hanging on” could become the equivalent of the white feathers of the First World War. Everyone should be aware that if the Bristow philosophy becomes prescription, it will also eventually apply to them.Eddie DougallWalsham le WillowsBury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Anti gay marriage? Not us

Tanya Gold refers to Northern Ireland as “that chilly outpost of bigotry”, in relation to the absence of gay marriage rights (“Till life us do part”, (Magazine). May I inform her that the majority of people in Northern Ireland support gay rights and that the legislation to allow gay marriage was stymied by the DUP. This is the same political party that Theresa May bribed with £1bn to support her minority government.Edna McMinnBelfast

Equality in the choir stalls

David Hill, music director of the Bach Choir, thinks that admitting girls into elite choirs would limit the opportunities for boys and then diminish the number of professional male singers (“Top boys’ choir embraces a new carol amid the changing times”, News). Does one laugh or cry at this specious argument? I certainly remember the same complaint of “unfair on the boys” when women were admitted to traditionally male Oxbridge colleges in the 1970s.

I have just returned from York, where boys and girls sing on an equal footing at the Minster. There are still 16 boys in the boys’ choir; the difference is that they have a more balanced life because the girls’ choir sings its share of the services. Both choirs are excellent. And perhaps it is important that girls get trained as future professional singers too.

Susan ElleryHorsham, West Sussex

Four legs good

Thank you, David Mitchell, for your piece on veganism, which really struck a chord (“My beef with vegans says more about me than them”, New Review). As an omnivore, I find myself increasingly irritated by the ever more sanctimonious vegan rant that surrounds us. Eating meat is a pleasure. It looks good, tastes good and does you good. It is a rich source of iron and protein. It’s perfectly possible to rear animals without torturing them or pumping them full of hormones. The invective should be aimed at cruel practices, not meat eaters themselves. Joanne Eroglu-PrenterRodborough, StroudGloucestershire

NHS needs joined up thinking

Does it really take the threat of the toughest winter ever to join up the NHS and social care (“Hospitals in race to combat ‘toughest ever’ winter crisis for NHS”, News)? Year after year, care providers try to engage with their clinical commissioning groups to help shoulder the winter burden and use the capacity in the independent sector. The NHS is blind to these opportunities and we should not therefore be praising the NHS for buying the odd care home bed or arranging for out-of-hours GP services when the writing has been on the wall for longer than we care to remember. Equally, we should not be balking at the cost of beds in nursing homes when they are a fraction of the price of an acute bed, which can be £313 a day.Professor Martin Green OBEChief executive, Care EnglandLondon E17

Little Village, big ideas

Thank you for the article on the charity Little Village (“Nappies, wipes… and hope: how baby banks are transforming lives”, Focus). With so much news about hate crimes, anti-immigrant propaganda and discrimination, it’s good to be reminded that the human race can be benevolent towards those in misfortune. It’s sad that Little Village only has a presence in London, but fortunately charities such as Home Start also help families and are present in other parts of the country.

Possibly we needed the reminder by Philip Alston, UN rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, that this situation was created by our government. It should never be forgotten that the former chancellor George Osborne chose to pay back the national debt by cutting benefits and services. The article points out that New Labour reduced the number of children in poverty by a million; under the Tories, it is forecast to rise to 5.2 million by 2023. We are ruining a generation.

What is needed are strategic measures, starting by repealing the laws restricting trade unions and making changes in the tax system that will not only access the enormous wealth that has been accumulated by a few but be politically impossible to change later. Only a radical government could implement them. Jeremy CushingTaddyforde, Exeter

Cryptic clue to Brexit

I was mulling over the Everyman crossword last Sunday while listening to various politicians on the news pontificating about the delay to the now infamous Brexit vote in parliament. Little wonder that 6 Down – “Nonsense following support for clown” – resonated and seemed so apposite and timely.Harvey SandersLondon NW3