Letters: Our US 'special relationship' could be dangerous if there's a world war

Big Issue readers have their say on the threat of world war, housing and John Bird’s walkout of the rough sleeping inquiry.

World War III 

This ‘special relationship’ we have with the US could alienate us from the rest of the world and put us in serious danger should there be a world war. The Americans only joined World War II towards the end and it was the Russians fighting on our side who lost over seven million military casualties.

Vanessa Fry, Barnet, London

London waiting

Councils are probably the worst offenders in building low-density housing in London, and density is the overwhelming factor in house prices. If you increase population at the pace we are doing, you either have to sprawl out (prevented by greenbelt) or you have to increase density. But council developments in the past have discredited density through brutalism and bad design, and now councils build low-density two-storey housing even in inner London.

Councils seem to think you can reduce prices by building low-density housing and then renting it out at social rents, but all that does is squeeze the problem elsewhere. You will only make things affordable for the mass of the population by building enough houses for the number of people in London who need them, and that means making the most efficient use of land, the most units and the most living space per square foot. That means building up, even if it just means four-storey townhouses instead of two-storey semis. 

u/JB_UK, Reddit

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House in order

Your special edition all about housing was very interesting. Kudos to Henrietta Blackmore for her brilliant article about turning empty buildings, business premises, shops etc that have been standing empty for a year or more into homes for people to live in! I am sending the article to Keir Starmer in the hope that he will take this excellent idea on board so that he will not have to build new houses on greenbelt land and destroy what little countryside we have left.

Shelagh Malcolm, Bristol

On the money 

Congratulations to all concerned in the housing special. It took a while to read and absorb. However, it does worry me that coverage of every problem we face, be it housing, benefits, welfare, the NHS and more, always seems to come round to the message ‘if only the government invested more, intervened more, etc’. Government of any colour has to make choices, allocate funds, create new initiatives and so on if we are to have these remedies. We’re not paying enough to get it all.

Tony Smith

Not forgotten 

I was delighted to read the article by Matthew Knights re: his new play Jennie Lee: Tomorrow is a New Day.

I was privileged to attend a performance by the Mikron Theatre earlier this year also celebrating the life of this amazing politician. So pleased that her work is not forgotten.

Pat Wills, York 

• We may have won World War II, but Ukraine proves its repercussions remain
• World War 3, climate crisis, benefit cuts… Here’s how to process the news when it feels hopeless
• Our leaders’ self-interest has brought us to the brink of world war

Bad idea 

Having bought Big Issue this morning, I turned to the Letters page and read Sandra Knowles’s letter with interest. She is very right that the government’s idea of sending job coaches into psychiatric wards is a thoroughly bad idea. People don’t need to be disturbed in this way when they need to rest and recover from a breakdown in their mental health.

Chris Purnell, Orpington, Kent

Right to life

Absolutely disgusted but not shocked by the article about doctors refusing to resuscitate a disabled man during the pandemic. I had hospital transport ask me to sign a DNR, even before Covid or being housebound, because they ask “everyone in a wheelchair to”. Two years ago my GP surgery refused to do a home blood test, for suspected leukaemia, because “we have to think about the quality of life we’re saving” because there was no wheelchair transport for me to get there. I was running my own business and able to use a wheelchair at the time. My quality of life was great. 

@frocktopus, Threads 

Bird watching 

John Bird writes it was “very rude of [him] to leave before the end” of the rough sleeping inquiry. It was not rude at all. Sometimes it is absolutely necessary to take a stand. Thousands of hours of these committees take place without any resolve to take action. Always spinning, so they can tick the box of having listened It was instinctive to leave and it was the right thing to do. They can read your column. You have dedicated your life to this issue and they choose to ignore your expertise.

@vcpsychdoc, Instagram

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