Boris Johnson said Britain’s legacy is nothing to be embarrassed about – but after Mercy Baguma’s death, we should be ashamed
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Your support makes all the difference.While “patriots” were demanding their right to bellow “Rule, Britannia!” and “Land of Hope and Glory” at the Last Night of the Proms this year and Boris Johnson defended reactionary “traditions” and “culture”, Mercy Baguma died in her Glasgow flat.
Baguma was a refugee from Uganda. Her leave to remain in the UK had recently expired and she was no longer allowed to work. She was pushed into extreme poverty and relied on charity for food. Her emaciated body was found next to her severely malnourished baby son. It is not just refugees who have been abandoned by this so-called land of hope and glory.
The Trussell Trust reported an 89 per cent increase in the need for emergency food parcels and a 107 per cent rise in food parcels given to children in April.
Food banks in the Independent Aid Network report a 175 per cent increase in use in the same period. In 2019, over 1.6 million people in the UK relied on food banks to survive. This is the reality of life in the United Kingdom. This is the “culture” that Boris Johnson is so proud of.
Sasha Simic
London, N16
Not much hope or glory
Boris Johnson proclaims that we should not deny our history by refusing to sing the words of “Rule, Britannia!” and “Land of Hope and Glory” at the Proms. The alternative view is that the dubious practices of our former empire are nothing to be celebrated.
But I would suggest that the point is not our history, but our present. It’s hardly a constructive strategy for any country to glorify nationalism at a time when we are all so interdependent. But that applies particularly to the UK. We are now renowned for electing a government of notable incompetence in its management of all the consequences of Covid-19, led by a narcissist determined to take us out of the EU whatever the cost, and probably without a deal.
Nothing there redounds to our national glory or gives us anything to hope for.
Susan Alexander
South Gloucestershire
Alternative lyrics
“Boris Johnson says time to stop ‘cringing embarrassment’ about British history after BBC Proms drops Rule Britannia lyrics”
I wondered about an alternative line in “Rule, Britannia!” reading: “People never, never, never should be slaves.” But silly, unthinking words from the past do open themselves to other suggestions. How about this sung version for the 2020 Proms? ”Rule Britannia, Dom Cummings waives the rules; Brits are not at all impressed, for they’re not fools.”
Chich Hewitt
Bolton
Abbott the fall guy?
Even for this woeful government, who appear to value cronyism over competence, I was incredulous to learn that Tony Abbott, former Australian prime minister, has been appointed as our post-Brexit trade advisor.
One must remember that with only a few exceptions, Australians and non-Australians alike consider him to be the worst antipodean prime minister since the war! Then it suddenly dawned on me: When it all goes wrong, our very own "worst administration since the war”, can blame it all on a foreigner!
Obvious really.
Robert Boston
Kingshill
Prison death
It has been said that if you want to gauge the moral health of a nation you should look inside its prisons. Concerns, therefore, arise about at least one such establishment – Bronzefield Prison in Surrey.
We are now approaching the first anniversary of the tragic death of a newborn baby there. As expected, there is deep anxiety that as yet we have heard nothing from any of the 11 investigations set up to probe the incident. Enquiries to the local MP and the prison authorities themselves have failed to produce any satisfactory reason for the delay. One would also like to know exactly what provisions have been made for the half of women leaving Bronzefield who we have recently been told they have no home to go to.
On the basis of this evidence, I would say the moral state of the UK is seriously in question.
The Rev Andrew McLuskey
Address supplied
Medical school places
Additional medical school places is welcome news. The shortage in student healthcare professionals has long been a problem for the NHS, resulting in costly agency fees and an overstretched service.
Closing the Gap, a joint report published by the Health Foundation, The King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust in 2019 identified the reasons for the shortages, which include historical lack of investment in training, underestimating staffing requirements and a lack of a joined-up approach between education, clinical placements and health care providers. The additional medical school places is, therefore, good news, although I do hope a strategy is put in place to ensure there are enough clinical placements to match the increase in university offers and avoid the “bottleneck” in medical training the joint report highlights.
Paul Kelly
Chesham
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