Energy companies should at least be honest about why they want to impose smart meters

SIR – Can energy chiefs like Chris O’Shea of ​​British Gas stop pretending that net zero is the main consideration when they argue for mandatory smart meters? (report, May 9)?

The reason they want families to have them is that it will save them money on meter readers and bill chasers – just like supermarkets installed self-service checkouts to save money on staff, but pretended that’s what their customers wanted. .

Victor Launert
Matlock Bath, Derbyshire

SIR – I have difficulty understanding how smart meters will help achieve net zero emissions targets.

We live in the countryside, where our only energy is electricity, and we have maximized the insulation of our home, inside and out. We have a heat pump (which we love) and a smart meter, the monitor of which is collecting dust in the factory room. The meter does nothing for us, but it gives the electricity supplier the ability to charge us promptly and continue to increase our payments to reflect any increase in our usage. Not surprisingly, the charge never seems to decrease when we are more frugal.

Stephen Cupit
Datchworth, Hertfordshire

SIR – My recent experience with EDF’s smart meter, which resulted in a late payment claim of £5,000 – eventually overturned by the Ombudsman after a difficult and tortuous fight – indicates not only that meters are prone to breakdowns, but also that the rear meters the current infrastructure is woefully precarious. If problems do occur, they can be extremely difficult to resolve.

Stick with what works.

David Burton
Dorking, Surrey

SIR – Over the last five years I have regularly requested the installation of a smart meter for my gas supply, via emails and the British Gas website. However, I am always told that they are not available. Perhaps the boss is unaware of his company’s reluctance to install these devices.

John Piggott
Pulborough, West Sussex

SIR – My house and all the other houses I visited already have smart meters. We call them switches.

David Stolworthy
Hornchurch, Essex

Labor border plan

SIR – Labor plans, if elected, to create a new border force to control illegal immigration and end the Rwanda scheme (report, May 10).

Why does everyone continue to ignore the elephant in the room – France? If the French had a more robust team to hunt down traffickers and deal with migrants entering their country – which is their job, after all – then very few, if any, would be able to cross the English Channel.

AJC Gorman
Ickenham, Middlesex

SIR – I am surprised that MI5 is not yet identifying the criminal gangs behind the small boats. I thought it was for that kind of thing.

André Dyke
London N21

SIR – I don’t know how much Huw Pill, the Bank of England’s chief economist, earns, but most of us didn’t need him to tell us that high levels of immigration are worsening our housing crisis. (report, May 10).

It’s obvious that by solving the immigration issue, we could solve the housing issue – but there appears to be no party or politician with the plan, the knowledge or the will to do so.

Rob Mason
Nailsea, Somerset

SIR – Michael McGough (Letters, May 10) asks how many Tory defections it will take before a general election is called.

In 1997, John Major held out until almost the last possible moment before calling an election, in the mistaken belief that an improving economy would save the Tories. But voters were simply fed up, and they are fed up now.
The sooner we get rid of this rotten, incompetent Tory government, the sooner we get rid of the rotten, incompetent Labor government that replaces it.

David Miller
Chigwell, Essex

Sovereignty of Gibraltar

SIR – I read with some consternation your report (May 10), “Gibraltar agreement would ‘render Britain’s sovereignty meaningless’.” The suggestion by the European Scrutiny Committee that I or any Gibraltar chief minister or politician would sign terms that would weaken our sovereignty, control or jurisdiction over a single inch of the Rock is abhorrent to me and all Gibraltarians.

If I agreed to a suggestion of that, my cabinet and I would not survive walking a single imperial courtyard down Main Street, Gibraltar.

I understand Parliament’s anxiety to know the terms and implications of any agreement between the UK and the EU for Gibraltar that is reached. They will be satisfied.

I can assure all of your readers that Lord Cameron and I are working together to secure the necessary provisions for the flourishing economy and well-being of Gibraltar and the surrounding region.

Gibraltarians are Gibraltar’s most dedicated and experienced guardians of British, British and British sovereignty. And to anyone who tries to take that away from us, my response has already been declared to the United Nations: “No way, José!”

Fabian Picardo
Chief Minister of Gibraltar

Fighting for a place in the GP

SIR – Our local GP practice, like James Woods (Letters, May 10), moved to an online application system. This was sold as an efficient way to prioritize appointments for those most in need – so when my 85-year-old mother suffered from a red, swollen, painful leg and oozing wound, I trusted that she would be near the top of the list. . the list.

After filling out a labyrinthine form on their behalf and uploading a photo, we waited seven hours to be told we would be contacted for a phone consultation. This happened two hours later; we were told it “doesn’t look infected” but told to “get back in touch” if it got worse. An appointment was made for my mother to see the nursing staff at the office three days later.

Within 10 hours, I was filling out the same form again, adding that my mother now felt worse and reiterating concerns about a likely infection. This time, we were contacted within hours and scheduled an in-person appointment where antibiotics were administered immediately.

As the GP can however argue that my mother received a same day appointment due to her condition, it seems to me that the online ordering system benefits the surgeries more than their patients.

Andrew Davis
Purley, Surrey

SIR – Chris Thomas (Letters, May 3) asks if he’s lucky to have a good local hospital. Many of us would say that. I know someone who has suffered from acute hip and leg pain – not just for months, but years. They can no longer walk and barely sleep.

Finally, two months ago, after constant struggles to get help, they got a date to go to the local musculoskeletal clinic – in September. The consultation is by telephone. The attached instruction says: “Do not attend.”

Lilian Hulse
Bournemouth, Dorset

Online security

SIR – The simplest way to protect children online is to ensure – as Jonathan Haidt suggests in his book The Anxious Generation – that they are not allowed to own or use smartphones until the age of 14 and that they are not allowed any access to websites of social networks. up to 16 years old.

Nothing proposed by social media companies is likely to work, as one of their goals appears to be to hook kids as early as possible and keep them on their smartphones for as long as possible.

The Government needs to be extremely firm on this issue, as the use of social media and smartphones has already harmed the first generation whose childhood was based on these things and not on active play.

Ian Brent-Smith
Bicester, Oxfordshire

The best bread

SIR – Andrew Pyne, Bakers Federation (Letters, May 10)You may well be correct in saying that sliced ​​supermarket white bread contains a wealth of nutrients.

However, a look at the label of one of these breads at a well-known grocery store shows 16 different ingredients, including such delights as mono- and diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, alcohol vinegar, and ascorbic acid.
Come to think of it, I think I’ll stick with the flour, water, yeast and pinch of salt that I use to make my bread. Half price too.

Nick Serpell
Beaminster, Dorset

Get up and shave

SIR – As Tim Oldfield (Letters, May 10), I like the ritual of my morning shave. I listen to the radio, like my father did.

I agree with the ridiculous cost of razors, but I’ve found the ones from Lidl to be excellent and cheap – £3.89 for four. German technology at its best.

John M Scott
Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire

SIR – I, like Tim Oldfield, prefer wet shaving and I agree with him about the astronomical price of razor blades.

He could save a fortune, however, if he used a traditional razor. The only “cost” is a little more time per day, as this method requires more care than a modern razor.

William Muir
Prestwick, Ayrshire

SIR – The problem with men who shave is that they receive associated gifts at Christmas and birthdays. Those who don’t shave can get more diverse and interesting ones.

Robert Ward
Loughborough, Leicestershire

There is more than one way to use a chessboard

SIR – The “chess” tables in parks (“I sat at a £2,500 chess table to level up and no one wanted to play,” Features, May 10) It’s been an expensive investment, so let’s not just focus on one game.

Anyone can have great fun playing checkers on the same board – as well as a host of other games, many of which can be enjoyed by all generations together.

Rosie Harden-Vane
Holywell, Northumberland

Food and finance

SIR – Many years ago, I felt that my bank was charging my business too much.

I prepared a long handwritten list of fees and went to see the manager (Letters, May 10). After listening to me for about a minute, he interrupted. “Luke,” he said, “I think it’s lunch time.”

The charges remained the same.

Luke Grant
Pensax Common, Worcestershire

SIR – In the 1960s a friend of mine received a letter from the manager of his bank.

Deploring the way he was managing his finances, the manager asked to return to normal practice, according to which “you deposit with us instead of us depositing with you”.

Simon McIlroy
Croydon, Surrey

SIR – My father was finance director of a family business in North London in the early 1980s. He conducted the company’s business through a Midland Bank branch close to his office.

He died at Hammersmith Hospital just before midday on a Tuesday, and I informed his employer of his death a few hours later.

My mother received a touching letter of condolence from the branch manager in the mail the next morning.
She never forgot that kind and immediate response in a moment of such painful loss.

Ian R Lowry
Reading, Berkshire

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