Letters: The sprawling Covid Inquiry will be of little use come the next pandemic

Ruinous energy bills

SIR – In April 2023 my Ovo Energy account (report, March 12) went from around £1,000 in credit to nearly £5,000 in debit. It was claimed that, during September and October 2022, I used more than 6,000kW of energy – more than any house in the country uses in an entire calendar year. Actual usage, as shown on my physical meters, suggests it was around 400kW.

It is now almost a year since I asked Ovo to admit the error, but the supplier simply doubles down on the ludicrous figures. The Ombudsman, though sympathetic, proved toothless. It seems I must now go to court to prove that this humble parish priest was not in fact running a blast furnace in the presbytery garden, nor harvesting drugs in the attic.

Internet searches show that mine is anything but an isolated case. Something should be done. How many vulnerable customers simply pay up? 

Rev Edward Tomlinson
Pembury, Kent

SIR – My 92-year-old mother is in a nursing home. If she is unwell or she hurts herself, the home notifies the family promptly. A few months ago I received a phone call at 5.45am to say that Mum had been found on the floor of her room, but she was fine.

At 3.15am on Tuesday our phone rang. I answered it, expecting the caller to be the home letting me know about an issue. It was in fact British Gas, which wanted to conduct a “how did we do?” survey following our contact with it regarding an overpayment on Mum’s account. 

I am bewildered that British Gas should endeavour to conduct a survey at this time of the morning.

Rebecca Ringshall
Dunsfold, Surrey
 

Putin and the Pope

SIR – It is no surprise that the Russian regime has expressed delight with the “white flag” comments of Pope Francis (report, March 11). Unfortunately, the only negotiation acceptable to Moscow is President Zelensky’s signature on a surrender document, and Vladimir Putin would never honour its terms. 

Without far more assistance from the West than is ever likely to come, Ukraine does look doomed, but capitulation will not stop the rape, killing and cultural genocide, nor the flood of many more millions of refugees to western Europe. 
Even more importantly, however, as Winston Churchill observed: nations that go down fighting may rise again, but those that surrender tamely are finished. In this regard, Ukrainians must hold on to the certainty that Putin and his gang will eventually fall. 

As for the Pope, it would be better if he betook himself to his prayers that we might all be delivered from the wickedness of evil men.

Terry Smith
London NW11
 

The grater good

SIR – I’ve enjoyed the recent letters on mustard, but as a lover of horseradish, I think it only fair to share a boyhood experience.

My mother was Lithuanian and my father, a keen Scottish gardener, grew both horseradish and beetroot. My job was to grate the horseradish, which brought tears to my eyes and gave me a very runny nose. It was added to the cooked beetroot and made into a paste. 

There has never been a better accompaniment to roasted beef. I was once able to buy it in a jar, but sadly I have not seen it for sale for many years. 

I might have to try making it myself – despite the tears of joy.

Dan Rafferty
Bath, Somerset
 

Greener India

SIR – I agree with Roger Gentry’s broader point (Letters, March 12) that Britain would be better off helping other countries reduce their emissions. He mentions India as being one such possible country. 

I was in India before Christmas and was very impressed with the strides that cities such as Bengaluru have taken in tackling pollution. I last visited India in 2019, and the levels of pollution were shocking. 

Today Bengaluru is a bustling, energetic place of real and potential wealth, with much going for it. The city’s inhabitants are bright, industrious and optimistic. 

They have a splendid new airport; there is a scrappage scheme for cars that fail fitness tests; many cars run on liquefied petroleum gas; the roads are in good condition, with few potholes, and there is very little litter. 

Returning home, I felt that Britain had some catching up to do.

Simon Playle
London SW10

SIR – You report (March 12) that the mileage on electric vehicles has been overstated, leading some buyers to make purchases based on misleading data.

We are all familiar with “Dieselgate”, where emissions were deliberately understated. How long before legal firms start a campaign for compensation for misleading the public?

Michael J Cole
Wolstanton, Staffordshire
 

Sensible French

SIR – Michael Deacon (Way of the World, March 12) refers to the French people’s “absurd names for numbers”: “sixty-ten” for 70, and so on. 

When I lived in Geneva in the 1960s, the sensible Swiss used septante, huitante and nonante for 70, 80 and 90. It was so much easier.

Pat Daley
Sutton-in-Craven, North Yorkshire

SIR – Michael Deacon risks offending the Welsh by mocking the French system of counting in twenties. 

The Welsh for 40 is twice 20, while 60 is thrice 20 and 80 four times 20.

Diana Jones
London N12

SIR – Michael Deacon mocks the French for having two words for you. 

My wife is Scouse and uses the plural of you when addressing her nieces. This is “youse”, and is pronounced as if one were addressing a churchyard grove.

Phil Saunders
Bungay, Suffolk
 

Why funeral firms’ standards have declined 

SIR  – I took my first funeral on July 2 1976, and have taken many hundreds since then. 

I am not surprised by the events in Hull (“Mourners ‘given wrong ashes’ by funeral home”, report, March 13). More and more local funeral directors have been taken over by large companies, which retain the name of the firm to make people think it is still the original – often family-run – business. 

I have seen their standards of service fall as their profits have multiplied, and would recommend only an independent funeral director if the bereaved want the best. Many, however, are turning to alternative arrangements, dispensing with funeral directors entirely and arranging for a quick cremation. This allows a family to choose how to mark a life.

Rev Rod Hacking
Salisbury, Wiltshire
 

School house names immune to woke updates

SIR – Some schools already have inclusive house names (Letters, March 12). On entering Hulme Grammar School in Oldham in the late 1980s, I was unaware that the history of the Lees family – who played an important part in the life of the school – was dominated by two remarkable women.

Dame Sarah Lees was a philanthropist and politically active. In 1907 she was the first woman to sit on the council in Oldham, becoming its first female mayor a few years later – only the second woman in Britain to hold such a position. She was made a dame for her services during the First World War. Her daughter, Marjory, was a champion of the poor and a leading light in the suffragist movement. In 1936, on the death of her mother, she gifted Werneth Park, her family home, to the people of Oldham.

Andrew Holgate
Wilmslow, Cheshire

SIR – Sturminster Newton High School in Dorset has four houses, named after William Barnes, the poet and polymath; Thomas Hardy, the writer; James Thornhill, the painter; and Walter Raleigh, the explorer. As far as I know it has no plans to change any of the names, which acquaint pupils with the histories of these people.

Brian Thorne
Shillingstone, Dorset

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