Has the government finally learned the lesson that expertise matters?

Wednesday’s editorial wisely recommends that the government take the very obvious step of involving the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) – the 127-year-old non-departmental branch of government – to help resolve the multiple NHS disputes. Is the disincentive that the body has a long long-established and proven expertise in the field, a characteristic that the government has memorably considered worthy of denigration?

Few can forget the opinion of Michael Gove, then lord chancellor, on the matter of “expert” expressed in the disastrous 2016 referendum. It may be worthwhile recalling it in its fullness: “I think the people of this country have had enough of experts with organisations with acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong”.

We may also recall that faced with the reality of a global pandemic, Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock, Rishi Sunak and Gove himself invited the public to place their trust in health experts; after all, it was their job to know about these difficult matters. The experts, though not always listened to by Johnson and Co, got it right.

Are they now going to follow the advice of other acronymic experts, namely ACAS, to resolve another crisis of public suffering?

Successive Tory governments have gotten things consistently wrong in so many areas. Surely by now, they have realised that experts matter?

David Nelmes

Newport

Given what happened when Dominic Raab was in office, it’s no wonder civil servants are demoralised.

The civil service needs fresh leadership sooner rather than later.

Geoffrey Brooking

Hampshire

Here we go again. Yet another story about the risk of computers destroying humanity.

Ever since Charles Babbage invented the difference engine, and Karel Câpek used the word “robot”, we have been assured by the doom-mongers that the new technology means that the end is nigh.

It has been a frequent plot in science fiction, though my personal favourite in this particular niche of the genre has to be the short story “The Nine Billion Names of God” by Arthur C Clarke, written in 1953 when computers still used valves and mechanical components, which took the scope of our doom well beyond the wildest dreams of the current predictions of mankind’s demise at the hands of artificial intelligence. The story ends with his simple but devastating punchline:

“Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.”

Ian McNicholas

Ebbw Vale

Leading up to the coronation of King Charles, a small portion of society suggests the country does not need royalty and would be better off as a republic.

Given the life of the late Queen and evidence that the wider royal family contributes so much to the wealth and reputation of this nation this suggestion displays considerable ignorance.

Politicians and political parties come and go with immense regularity, but thankfully the monarch gives continuity. For decades Charles has shown dedication and commitment to the nation rather than personal ambition. The country would be far better off if ordinary people showed similar commitment to serve the nation.

Jonathan Longstaff

Sussex

Your article in respect of the so-called pledge of allegiance was most apposite, and each and every one of us needs reminding of all you say.

Jennifer Lawrence

Long Buckby