The BBC’s wish for a finger in every pie

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/02/letters-bbc-wish-for-a-finger-in-every-pie

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If the BBC hadn’t fallen victim to hubris many years ago, there would be less talk about its decline (“Is BBC news broken? If so, how do we fix it?”, New Review).

Charles Curran, director general from 1969 to 1977, sensed the beginning of that pernicious corporate sickness “we must have a finger in every conceivable pie”. He was reluctant to go along with unbridled expansionists. He saw on the horizon the threat of editorial and managerial energies dissipated. The inevitable bureaucratisation, fading resistance to commercial pressures and, above all, a much less rigorous news and current affairs weighed heavily on his mind. His successors, however, have been lured by the mirage of an all-powerful, all-popular BBC and have been ardent expansionists. The price of this damaging policy is there for all to see – an editorially and financially stricken corporation. Yes, there are some excellent programmes but as a very much reduced proportion of the massive overall nondescript output. Editorial standards have been diluted and there is confusion about the BBC’s role in the national life.

Is it too late to turn the wheel and bring about a BBC with a well-defined editorial policy, less obsessed with audience figures and living within its means?George Fischer (head of talks and documentaries, BBC Radio, 1972-87)Bromley, London

US foreign policy failings

It would be interesting to know when the golden age of US foreign policy described by Simon Tisdall took place, an era he contrasts with the current dire state of affairs under Donald Trump (“Sudan, Algeria, Libya: new Arab spring stalls as Trump looks the other way”, World).

The charge sheet against the US would start with the Vietnam war and proceeds through support for the overthrow of the elected president of Chile in 1973; backing the vicious dictatorship of Somoza in Nicaragua; supporting the Iraqi government in its bloody war against Iran in the 1980s; the first Gulf War of 1991; the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001; regime change in Iraq in 2003; and more recently Obama’s failure to take action against Assad’s use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria and his lack of interest in the cause of Palestinian statehood.

Trump may be a particularly ill-informed president but he has not done less to promote peace and democracy than most of his predecessors in the past half century. Dan TaylorTilehurst, Reading

Equality cuts both ways

The parents objecting to an inclusive curriculum demonstrate the need for such a curriculum in the first place (“Identity politics is dividing Britons, warns equality commission chief”, News).

David Isaac, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and local MP Jess Phillips are correct to call out the unacceptable, intimidating campaign pursued by some parents, involving gathering outside primary schools shouting threats through a megaphone. The Equality Act protects people of all faiths (and none) from discrimination, so these parents benefit from that. But the legislation also affords the same protection to people of all genders and sexualities. So it is sad to see people who may suffer abuse because of their faith themselves act in such a discriminatory way. It is even sadder to think of the harm and confusion this will cause some of the children.Max FishelBromley, London

Everest is more than a ‘scalp’

Thank goodness for a proper opinion piece on the disgusting debacle that has engulfed Everest (“I’d never join queue to scale Everest”, Viewpoint).

Your columnist Peter Beaumont has succinctly encapsulated the opinion of most “proper” climbers and mountaineers who are heartily sick of, and ashamed at, what Everest has come to represent. Everest has become a “scalp” rather than our most majestic mountain and deserves to be climbed by committed climbers, not “conquered” by commercially supported adventure junkies.

I have lived my entire life in the climbing world and spent it climbing around the world and I have been fortunate to experience the extraordinary highs as well as the desperate lows of a climbing life. I myself have chosen to back down from just below the top of one of the biggest alpine north faces when a wild winter storm made conditions intolerable. I regard that as one of my most satisfying mountaineering accomplishments as I am still alive to enjoy it and reflect on the inestimable value of experienced decision making!

After a climbing career of 50 years (and still rock climbing), I know that there is one abiding rule in the mountains that is crushingly true: there are old mountaineers and bold mountaineers but no old, bold mountaineers. You have to earn your right to attempt ambitions such as climbing mountains, not buy them in some shoddy market.Dick TurnbullGrindleford, Derbyshire

Men, stand up for abortion

The role of men in causing pregnancies means we do indeed have a responsibility to provide the support for pro-choice activities that Kenan Malik urges on us (“Men don’t have abortions. That’s no reason not to fight for women’s rights”, Comment). Polling in Britain shows that the current legal provision of abortion and the principles on which it is based are regularly supported by over 80% of the population, which confirms that a big majority of men support it.

Crackdowns on women’s autonomy bear more heavily on poorer families and the reason a pregnancy is unwanted is often that the family can’t afford another mouth to feed. Family men don’t all live down to the stereotype and will be supportive of their partner’s choice. Involving us in the campaigning can only strengthen that support.Nik WoodLondon E9

Written in the stars?

The article about the astrologer Susan Miller surprised me in that it appeared in the Observer at all and also that it provided no justifications or explanations as to how she arrived at her predictions (“Susan Miller is one of astrology’s brightest stars, but why are millennials looking for answers?”, Magazine).The brief nod to science regarding the Moon affecting the tides hardly explains how the motion of objects millions and billions of miles away affect or predict the outcomes of our lives on Earth.

“Learning astrology is complex – you have to think in calculus” was a surprising statement and having 17 million readers doesn’t make the predictions credible. There are more important things to worry about and none depends on the motion of Neptune through the pattern of stars that looked to ancient civilisations like a man with an urn on his head. Andy RaynerGreat Lumley, Chester-le-Street, Co Durham

Stop war on Syria’s hospitals

Over the past month, Syrian and Russian warplanes have bombed 23 medical facilities out of service in north-west Syria. We are appalled by the deliberate and systematic targeting of healthcare facilities and medical staff, which is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

Throughout the Syrian conflict, we have seen both Russia and the Syrian government attack hospitals prior to major offensives, their collective aims seeming to be terrorising civilians and reducing medics’ ability to treat the injured.

Our letter couldn’t come at a more desperate time. Since 26 April, at least 270 civilians have been killed due to Syrian government and Russian attacks while a further 300,000 people were displaced. The continued escalation of airstrikes and other hostilities means civilians require medical assistance more than ever. But the repeated targeting of medical facilities by the Syrian government and Russia has forced the hospitals that remain to operate under a state of emergency, only treating the most urgent cases and unable to take in patients for routine care. These hospitals serve the 4.5 million residents of north-west Syria.

As doctors, medical workers and public health professionals from around the world, we condemn the Syrian and Russian governments in the strongest possible terms for their airstrikes on hospitals. We stand in solidarity with our Syrian colleagues on the ground who are risking their lives and demand immediate measures to protect their lives and work.

What is happening in Syria is unimaginable. We have watched in horror the footage of repeated airstrikes on hospitals and listened in shock to our colleagues on the ground who described patients fleeing bombed hospitals with IV drips still attached and choking on dust raised by the explosions. Rather than being a place of healing and refuge, hospitals are now some of the most dangerous places for civilians to be.

Many of the hospitals targeted by the Syrian government and Russia were based underground in secret locations to shield them from attack. As part of a United Nations deconfliction process, however, medical organisations shared their coordinates with the UN, which in turn shared them with Moscow and Damascus in a bid to shield them from attack. The decision to share coordinates was made after painstaking deliberations by medical staff and was ultimately adopted out of hope that it would protect their work and their facilities. The UN must immediately investigate the targeting of listed hospitals.

All armed parties in the Syrian conflict must respect medical neutrality and allow doctors, nurses and paramedics to treat their patients without violence, threatened or actual. International governments must reverse their decision to cut funding to medical facilities in north-west Syria and put pressure on Russia and its Syrian ally to stop targeting hospitals.

Healthcare in Syria has been under consistent attack since the 2011 uprising with medical workers forcibly disappeared and tortured and hospitals routinely bombed, killing dozens of doctors and nurses and patients. Between 2011 and December 2018, Physicians for Human Rights has documented 566 attacks on medical facilities, 90% of them by Syrian and Russian government forces. Attacks have involved banned weapons including barrel bombs and chemical agents that have killed a total of 890 medical personnel. We cannot stand by and watch the same thing happen to medical staff in the north-west. Their job is to save lives—they must not lose their own in the process.

Dr Denis Mukwege, 2018 co-recipient of Nobel peace prize, Panzi hospital, DR CongoSir Terence English, retired cardiac surgeonProfessor Peter Agre, Bloomberg distinguished professor and director, 2003 co-recipient of Nobel prize in chemistryDr Aula AbbaraDr Nada Abdelmagid, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineDr Saleyha Ahsan, The Phoenix FoundationDr Ibrahim AlMasriDr Khuloud Alsaba, University of EdinburghDr Deborah D Ascheim, Physicians for Human RightsDr Claire Bayntun, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine/Public Health EnglandDr Chris Beyrer, Johns Hopkins University School of Public HealthDr Hannah Blencowe, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineSabah Boufkhed, King’s College LondonProfessor David D Celentano, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthSir Iain Chalmers, James Lind LibraryProfessor Yaolong Chen, ChevidenceProfessor Simon Cousens, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineDr Delan Devakumar, University College LondonDr Yazan DouedariDr Abdulkarim Ekzayez, King’s College LondonDr Conrad Fischer, Touro College of MedicineProfessor Heiner Grosskurth, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineDr Amy Hagopian, University of WashingtonDr Natasha Howard, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineDr Vincent IacopinoDr Samer Jabbour, American University of BeirutDr Blanchet Karl, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineDr Mohamad Katoub, Sams, SyriaDr Kerem Kinik, Turk Kizilay (Red Crescent)Professor Emeritus Robert S Lawrence, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthDr Jennifer Leaning, Harvard Chan School of Public HealthDr Ona McCarthy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineDr Sanaa Merimi, Maison de Santé Albalsam, MoroccoDr Lina MuradDr Sanjay Nagral, Forum for Medical EthicsProfessor David Nott, Imperial College LondonDr Maryam OmarDr Miriam Orcutt, Institute for Global Health, University College LondonLord David OwenShefali Oza, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineDr David Peters, Johns Hopkins University School of Public HealthDiana Rayes, American University of BeirutAmelia Reese Masterson, Care International in Lebanon, USProfessor Bayard Roberts, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineProfessor Leonard Rubenstein, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthDr Neal RussellDr Zaher Sahloul, MedGlobalDr Maureen Seguin, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineProfessor Joshua Sharfstein, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthDr Neha Singh, London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineProfessor Paul B Spiegel, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthDr Kerry Sulkowicz, Physicians for Human RightsBaraa TahaniDr Nazneed UddinDr Michael VanRooyen, The Harvard Humanitarian InitiativeDr Vasiliy Vlassov, Society of Evidence Based Medicine, RussiaProfessor Ron Waldman, Doctors of the WorldDr Sarah Wollaston, UK ParliamentDr Matthew Wynia, University of ColoradoDr Eiad Zinah

Like author, like book

In reviewing Jacob Rees-Mogg’s book, The Victorians: Twelve Titans Who Forged Britain, Andrew Rawnsley writes that it is “trite, tedious and muddle-headed” (Books, New Review). Momentarily, I thought it was the author rather than the book being described.Paul FaupelSomersham, Cambridgeshire