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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015

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| 19

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)@OO@MNOJOC@"?DOJM
111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT Fax: 020 7931 2878 Email: dtletters@telegraph.co.uk
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1C@!<DGT1@G@BM<KC]N
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his newspaper makes no apology for the way

in which it has covered the HSBC group and
the allegations of wrongdoing by its Swiss
subsidiary, allegations that have been so
enthusiastically promoted by the BBC, the
Guardian and their ideological soulmates in the
Labour Party. We have covered this matter as we
do all others, according to our editorial judgment
and informed by our values. Foremost among
those values is a belief in free enterprise and
free markets.
We are proud to be the champion of British
business and enterprise. In an age of cheap
populism and corrosive cynicism about wealthcreating businesses, we have defended British
industries including the nancial services industry
that accounts for almost a tenth of the UK
economy, sustains two million jobs and provides
around one in every eight pounds the Exchequer
raises in tax.
We will take no lectures about journalism from
the likes of the BBC, the Guardian or the Times.
Those media outlets that are this week sniping
about our coverage of HSBC were similarly
dismissive in 2009 when we began to reveal details
of MPs expenses claims, a fact
that speaks volumes about
their judgment and partiality.
Our support for Britains
nancial services has never
1C@M@DN<
us to the failings of
=JI?JAOMPNO blinded
the industry. In 2012, we
revealed that HSBC was at the
=@OR@@I<
of a major HM Revenue
I@RNK<K@M<I? centre
and Customs investigation
after it opened offshore
DONM@<?@MN
accounts in Jersey for
criminals living in this
country. Many of the media
outlets that are today so
excited about HSBCs conduct showed remarkably
little interest in those revelations at the time.
By contrast, they have seized with almost
indecent glee on the latest allegations even
though many of those allegations are almost a
decade old and in many instances have been
reported and explored before. We believe we are
not alone in our suspicion that those outlets have
given this issue such prominence partly because of
their deep-seated hostility to business and partly
with the intention of doing political harm to the
current government and the Conservative Party
in particular.
As we have reported extensively, Ed Miliband has
missed no opportunity to use this case as a weapon
against the Conservatives and their supporters, an
attack that he has broadened to take in anyone who
takes perfectly legitimate and legal measures to
reduce their tax bills.
For the avoidance of any doubt, we have no
regard for the opinions of rival media
organisations. None is the paragon of moral or
journalistic virtue that their criticisms this week
might suggest. All have their own self-serving
agendas, both political and commercial.
However, we care profoundly about our readers.
There is indeed a bond of trust between a
newspaper such as The Daily Telegraph and its
readers. We take that bond very seriously indeed.
So today we restate one of the fundamental
principles that will always underpin our work. No
subject, no story, no person and no organisation is
off-limits to our journalists. They will follow the
facts without fear or favour and present the results
of their work to you solely on
their journalistic merits,
according to their sound
editorial judgment and no
other consideration. That is
+JNP=E@>O
the process that revealed the
IJNOJMTIJ
MPs expenses scandal, the
allegations against HSBC in
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Jersey and countless other
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stories of the greatest public
interest. That is how we will
EJPMI<GDNON
continue to serve our readers.
Given the importance we
attach to that bond with our
readers, we are today going
further. We are drawing up guidelines that will
dene clearly and openly how our editorial and
commercial staff will co-operate in an increasingly
competitive media industry, particularly in digital
publishing, an area whose journalistic and
commercial importance can only grow.
We believe that this step makes us different from
our rivals in the British media industry. Or rather,
even more different. For The Daily Telegraph and its
owner, Telegraph Media Group, are signicantly
unlike other media organisations involved in this
debate. Unlike the BBC, we receive no support
from taxpayers. Unlike the Guardian, we are not
cushioned from commercial reality by a
generously-endowed charitable trust. Unlike the
Times, we receive no subsidy from tabloid
stablemates. Unlike all three of those, we must
generate a prot in order to remain in business
and provide our readers with the world-class
journalism they expect and deserve. Despite the
ever-growing pressures on the media industry,
we do produce that prot and, as a direct result,
that journalism.
We are proud to do that which our critics cannot
or will not do: to combine journalistic excellence
with commercial success. We do so for you, our
readers. We will continue to do so.

)JRN<G<MTEJ=N

+<OJ<I?OC@"2A<>@<?JP=G@OCM@<OAMJH/PNND<<I?)D=T<IEDC<?DNON
SIR In the very near future Europe will be
threatened by a pincer attack from Putin in
the east and Islamic State jihadists crossing
the Mediterranean from Libya in the south.
Do Nato and the EU have a plan?
Kenneth Power
Lois Weedon, Northamptonshire
SIR Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary,
expresses concerns about the clear and
present danger posed by Russia in the
Baltic and, even more disturbingly, attempts
by Russias military to test British defences
at sea and in the air. He should be
applauded for not mincing his words.
As the primary responsibility of
government is defence of the realm, it
would be reassuring now for the Prime
Minister similarly to grasp the nettle, heed
the military establishments warnings and
acknowledge the fact that our defences
and strike capabilities require urgent
strengthening and new investment.
John Rees
London W14

SIR The chickens of the 2010 strategic

defence review are coming home to roost.
The defence secretary says of Vladimir
Putin: Im worried about his pressure on
the Baltics, the way he is testing Nato, the
submarines and aircraft.
It was Mr Fallons government that
scrapped 4 billion of brand-new BAE
Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft. They
were specically designed to hunt Russian
submarines. A colleague of mine who had
served with the Americans said that they
could nd Russian submarines but they
were always amazed how the British could
keep hold of them continuously.
Our nuclear submarines, including those
of the Vanguard class, which carry our
nuclear deterrent, are now sailing blind as
they go on patrol.
Alan Quinn
Prestwich, Lancashire
SIR In order to get Russian agreement to
German re-unication, James Baker, the
US Secretary of State, undertook, in a

meeting in Moscow at which Jack Matlock,

the US ambassador, took notes, that Nato
would not leapfrog an inch eastward if
Russia would allow the wall to come down.
The invitation to Ukraine to join Nato,
issued in Bucharest seven years ago, broke
that undertaking.
On February 2 2014, Henry Kissinger, in
an interview with CNN, said: I dont know
of any Russian, whether they are dissidents
or pro-government, who does not consider
Ukraine at least as an essential part of
Russian history. So the Russians cannot be
indifferent to the future of Ukraine.
Roger Gartland
London SE3
SIR Compared with clandestine Russian
interventions in Crimea and Ukraine and,
now, the apparent threat to the Baltic
states, one cannot help thinking that there
was a certain honesty when Warsaw Pact
tanks rolled into Prague in 1968.
Peter D Harvey
Walton Highway, Norfolk

!DBDO<GEPIF
SIR I hope that, in what seems a rush to
change over to digital radio, the
Government will require the broadcasters
to use the higher quality digital coding
systems now available, such as DAB2, and
not the inferior coding used at present.
We should avoid, at all costs, the debacle
resulting from the introduction of socalled 720 line HD ready television sets,
which were not and are not capable of
properly displaying the high-denition
system now in use. The main purpose of
introducing this interim system seemed
to be the need by set manufacturers to
keep selling to us while waiting for the next
bonanza the introduction of the 1080 line
system currently in use.
With millions and millions of FM radios
in use that will need to be replaced, it is
crucial that the already available highest
quality standards of coding and
transmission are adopted now, so that in a
very few years time listeners are not told
they have to junk sets they have purchased
for the 2016 change-over.
Roger Appleton
Hillingdon, Middlesex

)JBBDIB=@I@ADON
SIR A friend of mine gathers fallen
branches and brings me sacks of logs and
kindling (Letters, February 19). I provide
an occasional lunch, and pies, soups and
cakes for his freezer. This has saved me
1,000 litres of oil this last year. I wonder
how much fuel tax Ive avoided.
Sylvia Crookes
Bainbridge, North Yorkshire

,IOC@><M?N
SIR The Christmas card from my
husband of 42 years was of a beautiful
snow scene with the words: A Christmas
wish Inside, it read: for someone I
seldom see.
Perhaps grabbed in haste.
Anne McWilliam
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
SIR We too have one card that has been
going between the same two families since
October 1971 (Letters, February 18). It has
travelled the world often to Barbados and
Thailand, where members of our families
reside.
At least once a year there is the frantic
call to family members: Have you got
The Card?
In 44 years we have been very lucky that it
has never been lost.
Lou-Lou Troup
Lymington, Hampshire

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OLI SCARFF/GETTY IMAGES

Established 1855

Flight of fancy: a gang of parakeets takes to the night sky at Wormwood Scrubs, London

-M@OOTK<M<F@@ON<M@NJIB=DM?N]RJMNOAMD@I?N
SIR Researchers from Imperial College,
the Zoological Society and Natural History
Museum found that the mere presence of
ring-necked parakeets near garden bird
feeders reduced feeding rates among
native songbirds (Letters, February 17).
Supplementary feeding of birds in
gardens can be the difference between life
and death for many.

The Government should follow its recent

excellent example on grey squirrels, and
reward agencies, NGOs and landowners
that control parakeets on their land.
Continued receipt of state-funded support
should be contingent upon such control.
Keith Cowieson
Director, SongBird Survival
Diss, Norfolk

1C@=DNCJKN]><GGAJMKJGDOD><G@IB<B@H@IO
SIR You suggest (leading article, February
18) that the Church of England should
refrain from entering into the political fray.
The pastoral letter from the House of
Bishops is addressed to members of the
Church of England. It does not indicate
preference for any single political party or
programme. It encourages Christians to
vote and to value hard-won democratic
freedom.
Christians engage in acts of service to
the wider community as a natural
consequence of their faith, with
churchgoers contributing 23.2 million
hours of voluntary service every month in
support of activities, from supporting the
homeless, the elderly and families, to
establishing food banks or credit unions.
These are not done to criticise lack of
provision by government, whether national
or local, but because there are needs which
should be recognised and met.
The core concern of the letter is an
advocacy of the common good and a
promotion of political virtues which reach
beyond narrow party interest, tribalism and

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short-term advantage. The letter suggests

that these traits are leading to disillusion
with the political process.
It is telling that such traits are apparent
in some of the more intemperate
responses to the letter.
Rev Arun Arora
Director of Communications, Archbishops
Council
London SW1
SIR It is curious that Patricia Cowen
(Letters, February 19) should cite food
banks as an example of how the Church
might use its vast nancial resources.
Most food banks are probably supported in
one way or another by the Church.
The Church of England is still required
to provide pastoral care for everyone living
in this country, and attempts to do so
though its clergy, female and male.
Whatever our inadequacies, the vast
majority of the clergy, paid and voluntary,
try conscientiously to full that role.
Rev David Eve
Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire

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SIR Recently the head of a wellestablished company near me advertised

for an ofce manager secretary offering
a salary of 23,000. The successful (and
highly competent) applicant was previously
paid only 16,000 as a manager, a salary
that barely covered housing and council
tax, let alone anything else.
Such low salaries can only be explained
by a direct connection between
dependency on state provision and
Britains low-wage and low-productivity
economy. Naturally, prospective employees
leave out of consideration, as things that
their salary must cover, anything provided
free by the state, including health,
education and pensions. This is entirely
rational and, indeed, there is no alternative,
as the market place adjusts to any
willingness to accept low salaries.
Moreover, low employment costs mean
that there is little incentive for employers
to invest in productivity, and a low-wage
economy develops.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the
recent Centre for Policy Studies research
shows that a majority of Britons takes more
in state provision than it pays in taxes, or
that HMRC gures show that the top 50 per
cent of taxpayers pay 90 per cent of all
income tax (and the top 10 per cent of
taxpayers pay 59 per cent).
Leaving aside considerable distortions
caused, for example, by pensioners, these
gures show a calamitous narrowing of the
tax base, making it impossible to collect
enough tax to pay for the services that
people expect. Quantitative easing and
articially low interest rates to nance
ever-increasing government borrowing
cannot work forever.
We need someone in this tedious
election campaign to speak simple truths
and admit that dependency was created by
politicians to buy votes. The game is over.
James Wyburd
Nutley, East Sussex

&NG<HDNONDIMDO<DI
SIR Undoubtedly poverty, ignorance and
unemployment fuel racism and inequality,
but Dr Mohammed Ali (Letters, February
19) over-simplies in arguing that with
improved performance in disadvantaged
state schools we might live in that
idealistic world Martin Luther King
dreamt about.
The Twin Towers murderers were
intelligent and efcient, while among the
Glasgow airport attackers were doctors.
Meanwhile our universities have turned
a blind eye to those teaching a perversion
of a world religion. This is very much
about race, religion and immigration.
Robert Stephenson
Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

4<MJI<KKM@IOD>@N
SIR Years ago the Labour Party and the
unions waged war against apprenticeships,
claiming that they were cheap labour,
largely destroying the practice. Now
Ed Miliband is advocating apprenticeships
and wishes to introduce 80,000 schoolleavers into such schemes. I note how
quiet the unions are on the subject.
D C Richardson
Richmond, North Yorkshire

0@ODIDIF
SIR Guy Palmers letter (February 19)
about David Beckhams body art reminded
me of a conversation I overheard between
two mature ladies who were discussing a
tattoo recently acquired by a much younger
acquaintance.
It looks lovely on her mind you, it
would look stupid on someone our age.
John Newbury
Warminster, Wiltshire

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eorge Osborne put the nation back

to work but failed to x the public
nances and never persuaded
voters to like him. Thats the
summary that will nd its way into short
histories of the 21st century if we have a
change of chancellor after May 7.
Revisionists may point out that the nation
largely put itself back to work by its own
efforts while Osborne left the public
nances in better shape than he found
them and never really cared whether
anyone liked him or not. But in headline,
the verdict on his performance is already
in. So how will it play between now and
polling day?
Wednesdays employment gures were
pretty remarkable. Another 103,000 jobs
were created in the fourth quarter of last
year, taking the percentage of the
population in work to a record high;

unemployment dropped to 5.7 per cent,

half the level in the eurozone; and privatesector pay increased at an annual rate of
2.5 per cent against an ination rate of
0.5 per cent and falling.
Economists worry that good news for
jobs is not matched by improving
productivity, a measure on which the UK
scores badly and which encourages the
view that this is a fragile recovery.
Meanwhile, Labour spokesmen shout that
many new jobs are very low-paid, and that
millions of workers especially in the
public sector, where the rate of wage rises
was only 0.7 per cent are still a long way
from feeling, or actually being, better off
than they were before the nancial crisis.
Thats all true, and real wage growth
even combined with what Americans
would call the sticker shock of petrol
close to a pound a litre has returned too
late in the electoral timetable to create a
serious feelgood swing factor.
But the regional pattern of jobs matters
too. In England, employment growth has
been stronger in the North and the
Midlands, where the recession was severe,
than in the South East, where eased by
Londons global honeypot status it was
relatively mild. If that means the provincial
sense of grievance is shrinking
proportionately, things might play a little
better for the Tories. And if more work is
available then resentment towards
immigrants in those areas should also
diminish, taking wind out of Ukips sails
and reducing the number of seats
marginalised by protest votes.
Job performance was on some measures
strongest of all in Scotland, where the

unemployment rate is down to 5.4 per cent to Labours narrative about an exploitative
low-waged economy (though raised tax
and participation of women in the
workforce is notably high enabling John thresholds, which help the low paid, have
Swinney, SNP cabinet secretary for nance, also contributed). Claims that HMRC
allows large companies to dance rings
to trumpet that the Scottish economy is
around it to minimise their UK tax
going from strength to strength. His
opponents may say it wont be once the full payments come into the argument too,
while some Osborne critics make
impact of falling oil prices is felt in the
comparisons with Ireland, which generated
offshore industry serviced from Aberdeen,
a 12 per cent surge in tax receipts from its
but this short-term news provides potent
ammunition for the nationalists campaign own buoyant recovery last year.
Januarys UK borrowing gure should
to annihilate Scottish Labour.
And voters everywhere whose livelihood look better than Decembers, after a rush of
self-assessment tax payments before the
comes from the private sector must have
month-end deadline. One analyst has
watched recent performances by Ed
called this make-or-break month for
Miliband in his displays of
proving that the public nances are on
uncomprehending hostility towards the
track but even if progress is minimal, we
business world and Ed Balls with his
nonsense about demanding a receipt from will hear over and over in the next few
weeks the Tory claim to have halved the
your window cleaner and thought: do I
decit. What they really mean, of course,
really want to trust my familys prosperity
is that the decit has halved as a
to this hopeless crew, however much I
percentage of GDP, falling from 10.2 per
resent the tone of the Tories?
cent in 2009-10 to 5.6 per cent in 2013-14.
Which brings us back to Osborne, and
this weeks second key set of numbers for What the decit has not done is fall as a
sum of money.
public borrowing in January, due out
Which matters most the good news of
today. The last set, for December, were bad:
jobs or the bad of tax receipts? The answer
borrowing for the month was 13.1 billion,
is that voters care a lot less about the
2.9 billion more than a year earlier and
decit than they do about wages, prices
although the Treasury blamed that
and their future prospects. So while we
outcome on a provisional EU budget
may still not like Mr Osborne very much,
charge of 2.9 billion (that may reduce to
the economic and political tide is
0.9 billion), overall decit reduction has
owing his way.
clearly been disappointing, with publicsector net borrowing only fractionally lower
Martin Vander Weyer is business editor of
between April and December 2014 than in
The Spectator
the same period of 2013.
And underlying that trend is a near-zero
growth in income tax receipts just 0.1 per Comment on Martin Vander Weyers view at
cent per annum since 2007/8 that plays
>> telegraph.co.uk/comment