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From Tim Hubbard
Sir: You say that cheap labour keeps interest rates down, and so must be beneficial (Leading article, 26 August). But this analysis is so simplistic as to be meaningless, since it ignores many other economic and social factors. We must consider the effects of mass immigration on health and education infrastructure, crime, housing demand, etc. ad infinitum. Apart from that, low interest rates are not necessarily a good thing since they create asset price inflation (vide the housing market) and poor returns for investors on fixed-income portfolios of bonds (such as those held by many pensioners) and cash savers.
You have reiterated the fallacy that there is some way we could limit immigration from Romania and Bulgaria. But as the Telegraph has pointed out, there is nothing whatsoever we can do to limit the flow, since it would be against European law. We have no discretion to exclude EU workers. Damian Green thus sounds not ‘admirably moderate’ but ill-informed and thoroughly lightweight, which is undoubtedly a unifying characteristic of the Cameron shadow Cabinet.
A lot of the economic revenue generated by migrants is paid in cash by those avoiding VAT, so again your leader is misguided in saying there are tax benefits for the Treasury. In fact the flow of funds into a burgeoning black economy will naturally reduce the tax take. I could go on but it’s too depressing.
Tim Hubbard
London SW14
Blame the banks
From Michael Reid
Sir: Allister Heath’s article (Business, 26 August) says that borrowers should bear all the consequences of their actions and by implication the lenders should enjoy better protection. This might be true if borrowers had actively sought their debts. However, too often they borrow more and more as a result of hard selling by the lenders, which means that lenders have responsibility for the amount they lent.
Certainly in this household, students have experienced routine increases in credit limits and many mail shots exhorting them to borrow more. Had they taken up these offers, it would not have been because they needed the loans but rather that the loans had been thrust at them. Banks must reap what they sow. Casual lending will beget casual debt avoidance through easy bankruptcy.
Michael Reid
Northamptonshire
How polls are fixed
From Helen Brady
Sir: Matthew Parris did well questioning the recent Spectator poll on terrorism (Another voice, 26 August). From my observation, questions in polls are inevitably framed to produce the result required. The classic example can always be seen in the regular polls on the public’s views on fluoridation of water supplies. The first questions in polls into this ‘health’ measure is generally along the lines of ‘Do you approve of fluoridation, which stops tooth decay and dental pain?’
Helen Brady
Halesowen, West Midlands
On beauty
From J.C.H. Mounsey
Sir: I enjoy Olivia Glazebrook’s film reviews partly because they do not always follow the established line. (For example, I went to see Confetti simply because, unlike almost every other film critic at the time, she recommended it. She was right: it was very funny.)
I was therefore amused to note that in one area at least she conforms to type. In her column last week she asked, ‘Is there a more beautiful woman than Penelope Cruz in cinema?’ The answer is, of course, ‘yes’, because it is an inflexible rule that when a woman pronounces another woman to be beautiful, a man can be absolutely certain that the admired one is actually a bit of a dog.
J.C.H. Mounsey
London SW13
Apian idea
From Charlie Stott
Sir: In last week’s issue, Mr D.R. Grayshott had a very clever answer to the problem (raised in Mary Killen’s excellent column) of floor-length chintz curtains in downstairs loos frequented by men. He suggested that a spider be painted on to the bowl to assist and encourage better aim. But I have a better idea. What about a bee, not a spider? Bee in Latin is apis and incidentally was the logo introduced on men’s urinals by my father in 1923 when he ran Armitage Shanks.
Charlie Stott
Penicuik, Edinburgh
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