Your letters

Complaints?

I have a few

Dear Readers, if our nice Editor allows, may I start the new Month with complaints about life today that affects us all?

With due respect to Civil Servants and other people paid out of our pockets, I wish you to get back to normal working – five days per week and in the office you were placed in before the farcical “work from home” commenced, as a temporary aid to escape Covid – not for a holiday.

Such is required because we as country cannot afford the present low productivity and inefficiency associated with WFH employment.

Whatever all the financial experts say, and nothing to do with Political views, we need to work – but much more efficiently and disciplined.

Turning to MPs and perhaps Lords, why do we allow them to have “other means of income?

Those two bodies cost this country a fortune and are often out of any control.

Taking a social view, as maybe Kier Starmer would like to, perhaps changes are desired, if we are ever to get a stable high integrity true social country. I make such comments not as a politition.

A classic example of allowing MPs to act freely – outside the needs of this country – was Liz Trust’s trip to Taiwan.

Having some knowledge of the Chinese and the Far East, I could have given her a lecture as to why she should not - nor for that matter should anyone, go to Taiwan representing us.

I have publicly cursed the ever

From the vicechancellor

Robert Van de Noort

growing strength of the Chinese in terms of their fiscal, industrial and military power and investments in the UK, and have pointed out that Europe, of which we are a part, desperately needs to work as if one State.

We have the ability to design almost anything, but a lack of management – again I have experience, especially of how the Chinese operate.

Lastly, I am horrified by the failures of the travel paperwork automated checking system this past week at Airports.

What appears to have been done is to improve and thus speed up passenger movements.

Any software that is altered –as a general rule, needs proving/ testing prior to use, until any problems are resolved. Was that carried out? Are we talking about a typical UK management failure?

Reg Clifton, complete with Stirring device

Knives out

The knives have been out again for Boris and what happened during lockdown etc, the Labour leader was also found to be eating and drinking after a meeting, but somehow managed to wriggle out of it.

All World Leaders had meetings during their lockdown periods and I am sure afterwards refreshments were serviced no different from this Country.

We had family on holiday in America and they were saying the cost of food was a lot dearer than Britain, so it goes to show the cost of living is WORLD WIDE.

It is a disgrace that this political and in-house and TV media fighting is no way to get into power and gain public support.

We love to hear from you! Send us your views on issues relating to the borough (in 250 words or less) to Wokingham.Today, Crown House, 231 Kings Road, Reading RG1 4LS or email: letters@wokingham.today We reserve the right to edit letters Views expressed in this section are not necessarily those of the paper

We have ALL benefited from all the injections we have had and should be thankful, including all NEWS TV presenters.

A Phillips, Twyford

Meat consumption

‘YOU CAN’T EAT GRASS E109’ is published by Grove Books based in Cambridge.

Grove booklets share evangelical scholarship on a wide range of topics.

The author is a retired vicar and clearly loves the South Shropshire countryside where he now lives. He acknowledges how the prettiness and accessibility of that landscape depends on the work of livestock farmers.

He is entirely realistic about the need to reduce meat consumption in lots of Western countries, due to human health and environmental considerations (including Methane and Greenhouse Gas reduction).

But he defends livestock farming, and lays out a range of thoughtful arguments against buying unreservedly into a more extreme vegan position.

Some of the statistics and terms are possibly a little hard for someone who is not an agriculture student to follow, but a wide range of subtle points are spelt out across six chapters and 23 pages.

A final chapter, of just three paragraphs, ties together three central arguments: humans may benefit from or need some meat to supply nutrients which are difficult to get from a vegan diet; not all land can support arable crops and food security means using every available resource; animal waste may research going on at the University such as protecting bees and insects, understanding the cultures of the past, and improving awareness of climate change. be an under-utilised energy source as well as being one of the finest soil fertilisers.

We hope everyone enjoyed exploring our beautiful nature-filled campus and it helped to restore and energise people after a busy working week. Remember that you can visit us throughout the year, and we have a number of dedicated walking routes signposted around campus.

People, animals and the land, have all very clearly shaped our culture and values.

Livestock farmers are themselves part of a complex rural ecosystem, whose activities enrich the land and the landscape.

I spent a very enjoyable year as a GP trainee in Mid-Wales many years ago, where sheep farming was the dominant activity, being a central part of economic and community life.

It’s interesting to consider the arguments laid out so cleverly by the Revd Forster, as well as remembering how great swathes of the rural UK are dependent on dairy and meat farming.

James Hardy, by email

A double crosser

Keir Starmer will double cross people as he changed his mind.

He is a two-faced person himself – on students fees, first he wants to abolish them, now he says students will pay that struggle every day with insincere politicians and university chancellors that are overpaid.

Mr Starmer is copying the Lib Dems.

He does not want trained nurses because he is xenophobic.

It’s the same with the single market – the NHS will never work with Starmer, a two-face mark two Tory with this leader. He has no idea.

He is a disaster and should stand down, as should David Lammy.

Victor Rones, via email

We will also be talking more about the opening of new natural open spaces for recreation later this year.

Education is something we obviously take very seriously here at the University.

That is why we are delighted to have signed up to the Department for Education’s new National Education Nature Park initiative.

WITH the weather finally starting to turn warmer, and the summer lying ahead of us, many of us will be spending more of our time outdoors.

We know that having access to outdoor recreational space is incredibly important, and does wonders for our health and wellbeing.

It also helps people to reconnect with nature and better understand biodiversity and environmental sustainability, something we know a lot about here at the

University.

Last month, we were very proud to welcome thousands of visitors to our Whiteknights campus for our first ever Community Festival.

Luckily, the weather stayed dry for us and the sunshine even came out in the afternoon as people were enjoying the eclectic music offerings available on the main stage in our lovely meadow.

As well as workshops in painting, yoga, music and more, and sports taster sessions and demonstrations, visitors also had the opportunity to find out more about the innovative

In addition to our Whiteknights campus, we offer further green space for our local community to enjoy. Langley Mead nature reserve is 18 hectares of countryside along the banks of the River Loddon.

With a series of walking loops and areas of natural beauty, it is part of an ongoing project aimed at restoring agricultural land back into habitats for wildlife and plants.

We will be hosting our annual National Meadows Day event at Langley Mead on Saturday, July 1.

Please do come and join us to find out more about how we’ve used traditional management practices to successfully encourage greater biodiversity and environmental conservation.

This will see us using Whiteknights as a readymade nature park, which will provide more outdoor learning opportunities for children and young people, enabling them to gain a deeper appreciation of our changing climate and engaging in practical conservation work.

Environmental sustainability is one of the key missions of our University. I am proud that we are playing our part to preserve nature for our community to enjoy, and in helping to educate the next generation on the importance of conservation and biodiversity.

Professor Robert Van de Noort is the vice-chancellor of the University of Reading