Donald Trump has been pumped up and preened by Putin… and royally played
However, we must wait and see what unravels from the first contact of any substance between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, without any apparent input from President Zelensky.
The initial signs are not encouraging, though. It seems Putin has played Trump with all the expertise of a former FSB officer, par excellence.
I suspect that Trump's feathers have been preened, his ego stroked, and his peacock-pride inflated to bursting point. Trump appears to be putty in Putin's manipulative hands, no match for the guile and cunning of this wily Russian fox.
Trump is right about one thing, though: Europe must take prime responsibility for its own defence. But who will take the lead in securing pan-European commitment to deliver the financial and military resources to achieve this vital goal? The UK is the natural choice, but whether our prime minister has the mettle and charisma to succeed in this task is far from certain.
Keir Starmer must prove his doubters wrong, and show that he is a wolf in sheep's clothing – a match for any fox.
David Platts
Newark, Nottinghamshire
By giving up the moral high ground in his palpable appeasement of Putin, Trump may find that he has lost more influence than he has gained ("Trump's behaving like an agent of the KGB – it's time Starmer stood up to him", Thursday 13 February).
Clearly, the Europeans now know they can expect no help from the US on Ukraine or indeed anything else, and must act accordingly.
Andrew McLuskey
Ashford, Middlesex
Volodymyr Zelensky should draw Donald Trump's attention to the example of Afghanistan and Vietnam, where asymmetric warfare brought about ultimate victory over several generations ("Zelensky hits out at Trump and Putin's call over Ukraine peace: 'I don't accept it'", Thursday 13 February).
Occupying territory with a belligerent population is extremely costly, as both the United States and Russia have learnt to their cost.
Threaten Putin with that as a negotiating strategy!
David Smith
Taunton, Somerset
Donald Trump likes to boast that he is the ultimate deal-maker, even getting someone to write a book for him called The Art of the Deal ("The truth is, Trump isn't as good at deal-making as he thinks he is", Thursday 13 February).
Maybe it's time for Vladimir Putin to do likewise and write a book called 'The Art of the Steal'.
G Forward
Stirling
Fielding a question
Regarding the tractor drivers blocking the prime minister's visit to a building site ("Starmer forced to abandon visit after tractor-driving farmers protest with musical horns", Thursday 13 February).
No arrests were made – but why not?
The tractor drivers said: 'We are not being listened to.' This is the same thing that climate activists have said.
The tractor drivers are acting on their own behalf, and have never been arrested. The climate activists are working for all our benefit, and yet are arrested, locked up and given draconian sentences. Where is the justice in this?
Dr Jennifer Poole
Romsey, Hampshire
Heart and soil
In the 1920s, Lady Balfour, a pioneer in organic farming, firmly believed that healthy soil was the basis of growing good food, and that this could largely be achieved by the use of farmyard manure ("Prince of Wales praises regenerative farm's 'fantastic' composting efforts", Tuesday 28 January).
Today, organic regulatory bodies set standards which are maintained by inspection and forbid the use of artificial fertilisers, pesticides, genetically modified animal feeds and any prophylactic use of antibiotics – while setting high standards for animal welfare such as pasture feeding and non intensive husbandry.
As a farmer of organic beef, it seems to me that the regenerative farming lobby is trying to reinvent the wheel.
When I first started to grow vegetables, I noticed that if my carrots and bean seeds were planted in soil that had had a generous helping of pony manure, to a large extent, they grew free of disease and pests.
In a small garden, a compost heap can do a good job. But I fear that few vegetarians or vegans understand how hard it would be to grow a field of wheat without manure if no artificial fertilisers were used.
Rearing livestock on a mixed farm is ideal.
On my farm, in the spring, one of the greatest things to watch are the swallows returning from Africa, scooping the dung flies from my cows' manure, while the hens, free-range and various, pick goodies from the muck heap.
PA Reid
Wantage, Oxfordshire
No place for anti-immigration in Britain
I thought your editorial on government proposals to limit the right to apply for UK citizenship was excellent ("With this crackdown on citizenship, Labour is forsaking British values", Wednesday 12 February).
It set out clearly the reality of the situation, rather than the self-serving fakery of arrogant, right-wing populists. Well done.
Mervyn Hughes
Cambridge
What price the dignity of women and girls?
When I was young, 'gender' was a term used in the study of European languages ("Transgender doctor told NHS of 'intent' to use women's changing rooms – tribunal", Monday 10 February).
There were two sexes, and, in public, separate toilets were provided for males and females. Now, we live in a topsy-turvy world where the social-science construct of gender has been created to subvert the scientific facts of biological sex, where a biological male can plead 'harassment' because – in current parlance – he has been 'misgendered'; that is, has been described as a man when that is what he is, biologically and immutably, rather than as a woman, which is his unscientific subjective preference.
The whole western world has fallen victim to gender theory, and I am aware of only one major leader speaking against it. In the US, Democrats embraced gender theory wholeheartedly, and undoubtedly lost votes last November because of it. Donald Trump – who has, possibly uniquely and certainly unequivocally, stated that there are only two sexes and that one cannot change one's sex, was the beneficiary of this.
The people I feel particular sympathy for are the very small number of those who have desperately wanted to be a member of the opposite sex to that into which they were born. They have adopted their new identity unostentatiously and lived their best life.
They are a far cry from the loud and threatening activists who insist that everyone else must accept their right to be treated as the gender they have adopted, for all purposes, to the extent of demanding that women accept them into their safe spaces from which men have customarily been excluded, and into women's sports.
Our politicians are culpable for pandering to this fantasy. They have traduced women – real, biological women – by changing the rules governing women's dignity, privacy and safety, often at the behest of organisations like Stonewall, whom they have paid, with our money, for 'advice'.
There are signs that the tide may be turning. Not before time, and not quickly enough.
Jill Stephenson
Address supplied
Room for consultation
The doctor who said she could deal with only one medical issue at a time has got it totally wrong (Letters: "The NHS is on life support", Wednesday 12 February).
Some years ago, I went to see my GP – a very good one who, regretfully, retired early – and started the conversation with: "Doctor, I've got four issues that I need to tell you about…'
He immediately replied: "I want you to tell me about all of them, so that I can get the bigger picture.'
A GP is supposed to look at the whole patient, to assess what needs doing and to decide how the problems and treatments may be connected. Otherwise, a treatment for one problem may well result in a negative outcome for another issue.
Keyworth, Nottinghamshire
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