Good on Corbyn for supporting the return of the Parthenon Marbles

We are immensely relieved to read that Jeremy Corbyn has spoken out for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to their original historical home.

It’s about time that a leading politician addressed a subject that troubles the Greek government hugely, but is viewed with a certain smug disdain by those who still believe in possessors keepers; a tired colonialist relic of an attitude. Those marbles stand at the very heart and centre of Greek – and so our – cultural identity.

Although the “Elgin” Marbles are undeniably a star turn at the British Museum, it is high time they were returned to the city that they first adorned. The museum has housed them for 200 years, so is it not only fair that they are loaned back as soon as possible to where their splendour can be enjoyed in the appropriate setting? The building they once adorned still stands, the stunning museum that yearns to shelter them is but a stone’s throw and a magnificent vista away from that building, and the half of the surviving Parthenon sculptures that sits resplendently in the New Acropolis Museum is waiting for its other half to rejoin it. Come on, BM trustees, show some heart!

Dame Janet Suzman, DBE, chair,
Professor Paul Cartledge, vice chair
AG Leventis, professor of Greek culture emeritus
British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles
Cambridge

Following on from the letter “The EU isn’t as undemocratic as people think” (Letters, 4 June), I would like EU detractors to consider their own local councils. The vast majority of people who work for a local county or unitary authority council are unelected staff to do the everyday jobs of ensuring rubbish is collected and recycled, street lights are kept working, roads are mended, children and adults are educated, the buses are on time and people are kept safe. A small number of councillors are elected to make decisions on behalf of the local community with regard to these tasks.

The EU works in exactly the same way. However, the benefit of the EU, which I consider to be arguably the most democratic organisation in the world, is that millions of Europeans are responsible for electing the representatives that make decisions on behalf of EU members and ensure the unelected staff achieve their day-to-day work objectives such as ensuring EU law is upheld (workers’ rights, environmental protections, free movement of goods and people across the bloc, security etc).

In the UK, turnouts at elections are often small, with many not choosing to use their vote. If the UK elects their head of state, who sits on the European Council, on a small turnout then how can the EU be charged with being undemocratic? If the UK elects MPs and MEPs on a small turnout, then again how can non-voters accuse the EU of being undemocratic?

Are people who criticise the EU as undemocratic suggesting that all staff who work in all areas of the EU be voted in? In 2015 that was more than 46,000 people. But I don’t hear them calling for local council staff to be voted in. What is the difference?

Linda Johnson
Beverley

Child poverty in the UK is getting worse under the austerity imposed by the government for the past eight years. We are entangled with other less important issues at the expense of facing and solving the most important issue of the shocking increase. The UK is the sixth richest country in the world, yet it faces child poverty which is self-defeating and counterproductive.

Children are the future of this country – they need good homes, good health, good education and good family relationships and friendships. Otherwise they will drift into crime, knife killing, gangs and violence. This is a wakeup call to the government and local authorities to put their houses in order otherwise the consequences will be serious and will damage the life chances for a generation and long-term prosperity of the country.

No child should be forced to grow up in poverty. Child poverty is the highest in large cities, particularly in London, Birmingham and Manchester.

Government figures show 4.1 million children are now living in relative poverty. That’s over a quarter of all children. Some 1.7 million of these children are living in severe poverty. In the UK 63 per cent of children living in poverty are in a family where someone works. The impact of child poverty can be devastating – and it lasts a lifetime.

The poorest children are most at risk of disease, malnutrition and stunting. They’re more likely to miss out on school, or get a poor quality education.

Child poverty can be solved if there is the political will; it isn’t inevitable. There are also concerns that universal credit cuts will further impoverish low-income families over the next few years. Professor Donald Hirsch of Loughborough University said: “It is a damning indictment of this government’s policies that in some constituencies of the UK over half of children are living in poverty. Increasing child poverty is a direct result of this government’s utter failure to tackle the increasing cost of living, stagnating wages and their slashing of social security support.”

Baldev Sharma
Harrow

Andreas Whittam Smith believes there is a strong case for a second referendum as we know so much more about Brexit now than we did at the time of the first referendum. Please can he tell us what we will be voting for if we stay in the EU?

Will the eurozone survive? What disadvantages will we suffer if we don’t join it? Will wealthy Germany take responsibility for financial transfers to poorer parts of the EU? How many EU citizens will come to the UK, including from the 1 million migrants to Germany who will obtain their EU citizenship in a few years? Will the waste of moving the EU parliament to Strasbourg once a month be ended? Will Turkey join the EU? Will there be an EU army? Will the EU reform itself at all, but especially to reduce its lack of democracy? How much influence will we have to reform the EU given David Cameron’s lack of success before the referendum?

How much money will British consumers pay in tariffs for goods imported from outside the EU, money that goes directly to Brussels? Will the EU levy any taxes on British individuals or businesses? Will we be allowed to renationalise our railways, if that is what our electorate votes for?

Will the EU welcome us back with open arms or will we be punished for causing so much trouble with our first vote?

Do we really know any more about a future life in the EU than we do about Brexit? At least with Brexit, it is the politicians we elect who will decide.

Julian Gall
Godalming

The story of a pilot whale dying because of a stomach full of 85 plastic bags is a sad reflection on a modern day throwaway society.

The whale basically died of starvation as it couldn’t consume any food with a clogged stomach – a situation that would be met with screams of condemnation if it had happened in any aquarium but has become little more than a newspaper space filler in this case.

The same situation occurs in many oceans and waterways – so polluted that you could almost walk over it but not swim in it. The provision of safe, clean water is a basic human right although not always a reality.

Plastic is a wonder of science but it’s time that common grocery bags must be stopped. All people must stop using them and legislators need to ban them – now.

Dennis Fitzgerald
Melbourne, Australia

Ireland’s 25 May referendum result was a clear mandate to make sexual reproductive health services more comprehensive and accessible.

The result was a cause for celebration because the eighth amendment has forced women to access abortion care abroad or risk a 14-year prison sentence when attempting to control their own fertility. Women’s lives have been lost, and their human rights have been infringed.

Restrictive abortion laws do not stop women from needing access to abortion care, rather women are forced into making possibly dangerous decisions about their health. Men rarely, if at all, are forced to make such decisions about their health. Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws must now be brought into line with the rest of the UK. Politicians opposing abortion law reform have a responsibility to explain why women in Northern Ireland, who are UK citizens, should be treated unfairly, and why they should have to seek care in England, Scotland or possibly Ireland.

Dr Ben Kasstan, research fellow in anthropology, University of Sussex