Please don’t use children to boost crowds for the royals

Have you ever noticed the large numbers of unaccompanied, flag-waving children in the crowd during a visit by a member of the Windsor family?

How and why does this happen? I suggest, to swell the crowd numbers, give photo opportunities so King Charles III and others can present a smiley, child-friendly side to their character. This helps balance some of the negatives we’ve seen recently – hopefully the children haven’t brought any leaky pens along!

A few years ago, I was working at a local primary school, when the headteacher received a request from a Windsor aide to bring group of children to the official opening of a recently restored historical house – to be opened by none other than Prince Andrew (this was pre-Epstein scandal). Flags would be provided.

I’m pleased to say the head turned down the request, believing the children’s best interests were served in the classroom and not being used to increase crowd size and exaggerate the popularity of the monarchy.

People who support the monarchy can turn out to cheer and wave – that is their choice – but please don’t use children. Let them grow, develop their own thoughts and beliefs – and decide for themselves whether they are royalists or republican.

M Willis

Address supplied

Yesterday’s editorial presented the grim realities of the economic battles that face us and the likely duration of the conflict. It is going to be a long hard haul.

Regrettably, the hope that this Tory party will “drop their boosterish rhetoric and level with the people” about what we face is unlikely to be realised. Honesty is not their policy.

The reality is that we are in need of powerful friends. We have not chosen the enemies we face, but we have certainly rejected our best allies. Our struggle is set in an economic no man’s land outside Europe called Brexit and in this campaign, it is the public – the conscripted foot soldiers – who will suffer the most pain.

Is it now time we began negotiations to rejoin the EU and, in what could be a very long haul, give ourselves a much better chance of success in both the present and future?

Alternatively, we could experience significantly harder economic and social pain in vainglorious isolation.

David Nelmes

Newport

The latest series of layoffs from big tech companies and Twitter show that the tech bubble is bursting, and we risk seeing many more businesses follow suit.

The pandemic called for companies to hire tech talent in swathes as they raced to adapt. That digital race has not only slowed, but been stalled by a recessionary environment that is putting the brakes on tech spending. This means most businesses no longer have the capital to retain all the employees they brought on board.

It’s worrying that large businesses like Amazon have been so short-sighted with their hiring, particularly of tech staff. Hiring and firing is not only expensive, but can damage employee morale and carry reputational damage that impacts future recruitment. Not to mention the effects on livelihood during economic troubling times.

To avoid making the same mistakes, businesses have to be less rigid with how they manage their workforce. Certainly, an over-reliance on teams exclusively made up of permanent employees is a recipe for disaster.

That’s not to say that having permanent, retained staff is not important for business continuity. But it should be supplemented by an on-demand workforce made up of freelancers, that can be scaled up and down as required and in line with market disruption, without needing to cut ties with valuable employees.

Until businesses find more flexible ways to engage talent, they will always be vulnerable to economic headwinds and risk needing to make lay-offs.

Callum Adamson

CEO and co-founder, Distributed

Following the revelation that Rishi Sunak’s favourite band is The Beatles, I am delighted to offer my services to our new prime minister when he returns from Bali.

If he contacts me, I am more than happy to give him a guided tour of our popular Beatles circuit. Magical Mystery Tour was partly filmed on Kings Hill in 1967 when it was still an airfield, including the “I am the Walrus” video – does John make allowances for this I wonder?

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We would then move onto West Malling, where there is a splendid blue plaque outside the kebab shop – does he like chilli sauce? – where apparently the filming began all those years ago. There is plenty more, including a short drive to Sevenoaks, but as I am sure you get the idea, I’ll leave all in suspense.

Personally I doubt our new PM likes The Beatles anymore than I do; he just thought it was a safe bet. After all, which PM or aspiring PM would admit to liking Mozart or Motörhead? Absolutely none.

My preference: I’m with Lemmy every time. Without doubt, “Ace of Spades” is metaphorically and literally what Rishi Sunak needs now.

Robert Boston

Kent