Letters to the Editor 05 October 2019 12:02am BST SIR – As a chartered engineer who worked in the electricity supply industry for 39 years, I despair to hear politicians like Rebecca

Long-Bailey claiming that renewables will provide for most of our energy needs by 2030. Renewable generation – solar, wind and tidal – is, by definition, non-synchronous and it is

technically impossible to operate our electricity transmission system solely on non-synchronous generation. There is a real danger of system instability and consequential widespread

blackouts once non-synchronous generation exceeds around 30 per cent of total generation at any one time. The National Grid report on the recent major outage makes numerous references to the

now face. It is unfortunate that politicians and environmental campaigners are ignorant of the technicalities of energy supply, or wish to ignore them. MPs may have the power to change the

laws of the land, but not to change the laws of physics. STEVE PROUD Swansea SIR  – I read with some amazement of government plans to spend £220  million on the world’s first nuclear fusion

plant, which could power entire towns without creating greenhouse gases or radioactive waste (report, September 28). In the Seventies my PhD research concerned fusion reactor design. The

more I understood the background, the more sceptical I became of such a plant ever being realised. After all, research and development had been going on for 20 years or so at that time, yet

they hadn’t even managed to work out how to contain the plasma where the energy from the fusion reactions is created. I found it hard to understand how scientists and engineers at Culham

could be so wrapped up in the project as if success were just around the corner. My scepticism deepened when I read Les Woods’s autobiography Against the Tide. Woods, an Oxford professor and

consultant for Culham, described how, by adding a term to the relevant equations, he gave a possible explanation of why the plasma could not be contained, because of inherent instability –

yet the powers-that-be at Culham did not want to know. Forty years later, I don’t think fusion energy is any closer to being realised.
I very much doubt that it ever will be. RICHARD HOLROYD

Cambridge SIR  – Just 1,420 acres of woodland were created in England last year, far short of the 15,000 acres promised. What is happening to the money contributed by the wealthy, including

the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to offsetting the carbon created as they fly their private jets to and from England? PETER RICHARDS Lytchett Matravers, Dorset Renewable energy is booming  

JAPAN’S FATHER OF RUGBY SIR  – I was interested to read about “Shiggy” Konno, “the failed kamikaze pilot who gave lift-off to Japan’s rugby revolution” (Sport, September 28). Another

Japanese who deserves to be commemorated in this World Cup season is Ginnosuke Tanaka, who introduced the sport to Japan at the end of the 19th century. Tanaka was among the Meiji-era

Japanese sent to England to be educated, in his case first at the Leys School and then at Cambridge, where he met Edward Bramwell Clarke, another rugby-mad undergraduate. Both went to Japan

in 1899 to teach at Keio University in Tokyo. After a game between Keio and a team of Yokohama expatriates in 1901, the sport spread through Japan for the next two decades, gaining patronage

from the imperial family. Tanaka has been called “the father of Japanese rugby”, and it would be fitting if his contribution were noted. DUGALD BARR London W8 DOUBLING DOWN SIR  – My

husband and I have solved the duvet problem (Features, October 4) by taking the continental approach: two single duvets on a double bed. This also solves the problem of battling to hold on

to bedding when a partner is a restless sleeper. AMANDA HOWARD Enfield, Middlesex IRELAND AGAINST BREXIT SIR  – In 2012, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. One would hope

that an organisation which had such an accolade bestowed upon it would strive always for compromise. Throughout the Brexit negotiations, the EU has argued that the Good Friday Agreement must

be upheld, so it was disappointing, if not surprising, to see how quickly several senior EU officials and the Irish Prime Minister dismissed the most recent proposals from the British

Government (report, October 4). It is clear that it is their positions of power they wish to protect, rather than the freedom, livelihoods and wellbeing of individual citizens. They are not

worthy of the award. JULIAN HALES Saffron Walden, Essex SIR  – Leo Varadkar has claimed that the British people want to remain in the EU, but “their political system is not able to give them

that choice” (report, October 4). Is this similar to the political system that asked the Irish people to vote in a referendum regarding the Lisbon Treaty and then subsequently told them

that they had made the wrong decision? MARK PASCOE Porthleven, Cornwall SIR  – By telling us that we don’t really want to leave the EU, Leo Varadkar has shown us – and the Irish people –

that he is nothing less than a willing stooge for Brussels. PATRICK KELLY Chippenham, Wiltshire SIR  – As the Irish Prime Minister and the European Parliament are reluctant to agree to the

British proposals, I am interested to know how they think they can avoid a hard border in Ireland. Do they have a plan for controlling the passage of goods across the existing border in the

event of a no‑deal Brexit, or will they have to fall back on something very similar to what the British Government is now putting forward? MIKE KELLY Camberley, Surrey SIR  – We are told

that re-establishing a “hard” border in Ireland will lead to a return of sectarian violence. But I do not hear any accompanying condemnation of those who may choose to perpetrate this

violence, or a commitment to persuade them not to. Why is the element of human choice overlooked in this argument? Is it not about time that the lawful wishes of the majority were delivered,

despite the apparently violent intentions of a small minority? If this happened in the school playground, it would be described as bullying. DR DAVID REINDORP Barford, Warwickshire At a

glance | Boris Johnson's "two borders for four years" Brexit plan POLICE BELIEVING ‘NICK’ SIR  – Surely the easiest way to have proved that “Nick” was fabricating evidence

(report, October 4) was to interview Edward Heath’s protection officers. They would quickly have pointed out that the former prime minister was never involved in such sordid escapades. BRYAN

LAW Shabbington, Buckinghamshire EATING HATS SIR  – My 33-year-old son looked at me quizzically when I suggested that he remove his baseball cap on entering a restaurant. Have the rules

changed? KEVIN WRIGHT Harlow, Essex REQUIRING PHONE PROVIDERS TO IMPROVE SIGNAL SIR  – In the Eighties I fitted mobile phones to commercial vehicles. At that time, there were only two

providers, BT and Vodafone, and each made much of the high percentage of the country to which they offered strong signal. Thirty years on, I can lose signal in central London or on sections

of any motorway (hands-free), so it is clearly not only rural areas that are affected by poor signal (Letters, October 4). Mobiles are now very sophisticated, but are still let down by

patchy reception. Why does Ofcom not threaten all providers with the withdrawal of their licence unless 100 per cent coverage is achieved within a fixed time period? STEPHEN HALL Frome,

Somerset SIR  – Vodafone is not the only mobile operator that offers a femtocell booster box as a solution to poor mobile signal (Letters, October 4). O2, Three and EE also supply such

boxes. The problem is that most mobile companies don’t publicise this – presumably because to do so would be tantamount to admitting that their coverage is less than perfect. FRANK COMA

Stein, Isle of Skye STOCK SOLUTION TO INGENIOUS CROSSWORD CLUE SIR  – One of the most ingenious of crossword clues (Letters, October 4) is: Zero, squared, cubed (3). Answer: Oxo. DAVID

WILLATTS Upper Brailes, Warwickshire SIR  – My favourite is: Sunday evening and raining hard (7). Answer: Monsoon. TIM ROPER Plymouth, Devon SIR  – A memorable Telegraph clue: O (4, 6).

Answer: Love letter. DOMINIC POWELL London SW11 SIR  – Clue: Pain (6, 5). Answer: French bread. BOBBIE AUSTIN Harlestone, Northamptonshire SIR  – The best ever: Bar of soap (3, 6, 6).

Answer: The Rovers Return. LIZ WILSON Prestbury, Cheshire SIR  – A Scottish friend triumphantly came up with the last clue to a crossword. “Marooned,” he shouted at me. “Thanks,” I said.

“I’ll have a pint of bitter.” GEOFF EVANS Saint-Vincent-Rive-d’Olt, Lot, France LETTERS TO THE EDITOR We accept letters by post, fax and email only. Please include name, address, work and

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