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SIR – The rapid production and release of Covid vaccine is a triumph. However, I was chilled by Jonathan Van-Tam’s remarks that face-mask wearing may be compulsory for years.
Masks are dehumanising – and a nuisance. I live in a fog of condensation on my glasses when wearing one.
In the summer, I had a four-week course of radiotherapy. The skill shown by all concerned was impressive but I have no clue who they were, as they wore masks.
I missed a reassuring smile and the sight of a familiar face.
Lawrence Girdwood
York
Orwell, Old Etonian
SIR – It was with a sense of irony that I received the Old Etonian Association’s 2019-2020 review. It arrived against the backdrop of the controversy over Eton’s dismissal of Will Knowland (Letters, December 3), an English teacher.
This followed his refusal to remove a lecture, “The Patriarchy Paradox”, from YouTube. Mr Knowland says the lecture questions “the current radical feminist orthodoxy, which insists that there’s something fundamentally toxic about masculinity”.
On the cover of the Association’s current review is a bust of George Orwell, an Old Etonian, wearing a surgical mask that covers his mouth. Behind him on the wall an inscription reads: “If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.”
How true.
Gerard Conway
Cuckfield, West Sussex
SIR – Eton has twice won the FA Cup (1879 and 1882).
The current manager (Simon Henderson, the Head Master) has lost the dressing room (pupils, beaks, parents and the Old Etonian Association).
The chairman (William Waldegrave, Provost) has proffered his unconditional support.
I think we all know how this will end.
Dr S P K Linter
Taunton, Somerset
SIR – Eton College’s attempts to appease the woke movement have baffled me. As the popular misquotation e of Churchill goes: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile – hoping it will eat him last.”
If the woke revolution comes, surely the college must realise that it will be eaten first, regardless of what it does now.
William Fisher
Theydon Bois, Essex
SIR – I was Drawing Master at Eton College for 22 years.
One day, the then Provost, Martin Charteris, came into the drawing schools.
“Good morning, John. I’m just off to the House of Lords to make my maiden speech.”
“Well, Provost, what are you going to talk about?”
“Education, of course!”
“But what aspect?”
“Well, the public schools.”
“That’s a difficult one, Provost. ‘Excellence’ – fine. But ‘elitism’ – I’m not so sure.”
“My dear John, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with elitism.”
And with a smile he was off.
John Booth
Norwich, Norfolk
Bargaining over fishing
SIR – It should be remembered that the British, like the Irish, bargained away their sea fisheries for a share of what was to become the Common Agricultural Policy.
Since the British will not be receiving the benefits of the latter, they should not be expected to endure the hurt of the former.
Cal Hyland
Rosscarbery, Co Cork, Ireland
Bell-ringing ban
SIR – I am advised by my tower captain that he is not allowed by law to ring the church bells for our church service on Sunday.
Can anyone give me a reasonable explanation as to why?
Ann Cottee
Gislingham, Suffolk
Exam grading in 2021
SIR – The Government’s decision to award the 2021 GCSE and A level grades on the same inflated scale as in 2020 (report, December 3) may make political sense, but it defies more rational analysis.
Examination grades are intended to recognise some combination of ability and knowledge. There is no reason to suppose that the 2021 students are more able than their predecessors. And, through no fault of their own, they are likely to know less. More generous grading ignores the first point and does not address the second.
The real issue is the variability in the quantity and quality of teaching that students will have experienced by the time they sit their exams. This is ferociously difficult to gauge, but that is no excuse for putting in place measures that pretend to be a solution, while ignoring the real problem.
Neil Sheldon
Former chief examiner
Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire
Cambridge free speech
SIR – Charles Moore is wrong to suggest that I am prepared to cooperate with a statement protecting free speech only if concepts of “identity” and “respect” are included (Comment, December 1).
Earlier this year, the University Council published a policy following an extensive debate. A number of colleagues felt this statement could be enhanced and exercised their constitutional right to propose changes. A vote by our governing body, the Regent House, is now under way.
This open, democratic process is at the heart of the university, and demonstrates that free debate is alive and well.
Professor Stephen J Toope
Vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge
Concertina pitches
SIR – Giving the size of a football pitch as a reference (Letters, December 3) is unhelpful, as they vary in size.
The laws of the game state they must be 100 to 130 yards long and 50 to 100 yards wide. So pitches can be anything in between these, but not square.
Matthew Banks
Surbiton, Surrey
