Majestic memories

Sir: The sad news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II took me back 70 years to my earliest memory. I was three years old; the location was the Fleet Review at Spithead and the date was 15 June 1953, 13 days after the coronation.

Some 325 ships of the Royal and Merchant Navies, including vessels from many other countries, were lined up at anchor between Gosport and Ryde. The assembled fleet was reviewed by HM Queen Elizabeth and many members of her family on board the ‘stand-in’ royal yacht, HMS Surprise. There was a 21-gun salute and cheering from the ships’ crews as the Surprise proceeded up and down the rows of vessels.

My father was second officer of the Shell tanker Velletia and I was on board with my mother and older brother. As the Queen passed by, I was hoisted up by my father to sound the ship’s whistle on the bridge. That moment will never leave me.

In the afternoon there was a flypast by 300 aircraft followed by fireworks and illuminations late into the evening. I’m fairly sure that King Charles III, as a four-year-old prince, was on the Surprisewith his parents; I wonder, if reflecting on his mother’s life and service, he recalls the Spithead Review as I have today.

Peter Booker, Master Mariner

London N8

Credit note

Sir: James Forsyth draws attention to Liz Truss’s description of the young in Britain as ‘Uber-riding, Airbnb-ing, Deliveroo-eating freedom fighters’ (‘Full throttle’, 10 September). What the new Prime Minister did not mention is that this style of ‘freedom fighting’ is only viable for most with the help of a credit card. The Prime Minister was born just three years after the Access credit card made its game-changing appearance in Britain. By 1996, when she graduated and joined the Conservative party, having credit card debt was becoming par for the course for many people. Some £5.8 billion of debt interest was chalked up in July this year, and this is set to increase significantly over the coming years. The Truss administration seems poised to become emblematic of a new credit card junkie era. And why not? The secret of the ‘freedom fighting’ generation is that credit will always be on tap, and the Deliveroo manna will continue to fall from the sky into the outstretched hands of individuals and governments alike.

Ivor Morgan

Lincoln

Theory vs reality

Sir: Reducing the debt to GDP ratio over the long term is right (‘The three Trussketeers’, 3 September), but delivering that is much harder than just saying you know we need it. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare has Portia capture the dilemma: ‘If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own instructions.’

Struan Macdonald

Hayes, Kent

My NHS prescription

Sir: Again Rod Liddle hits the mark (‘It’s time for some home truths, Rishi’, 3 September). The NHS is in dire need of a substantive overhaul, and Liz Truss and Thérèse Coffey should explore the private sector insofar as the mothballed voucher system could help alleviate the strain. If I can afford, and am willing to spend, a proportion of the direct costs the NHS would otherwise incur for an appointment, consultation or treatment, then surely the medical outcomes for both me and the individual who skips up the queue for NHS care would be improved. No one would force this; it’s a matter of choice. I have forever struggled to understand why this is such a controversial policy.

David Perry

London W11

Boris’s likeness

Sir: Peter Jones writes about Boris Johnson’s comparison of himself with Cincinnatus (Ancient and Modern, 10 September). If Boris was invited back, I doubt we would see the back of him as quickly as the comparison suggests. I wonder if a comparison with General de Gaulle might not be more apt. He saved France from the Germans and then retired to Colombey-les-deux-Églises. He was summoned to save France once again during the Algerian crisis. Having founded the Fifth Republic, however, he stuck around for years; in fact until ill health forced him to hand over to M. Pompidou.

Henry Cairns-Terry

Worcester

Money talks

Sir: Martin Vander Weyer praised his father as an authoritative figure from the City who had sat on the Bank of England’s Court of directors (Any other business, 27 August). Martin thought the present lot, plus the Monetary Policy Committee members, were mostly time-servers from the Bank or the Treasury, with a sprinkling of theoretical academics. He advised the PM to ‘Clear the Court’ and replace them with some experienced business types from the real world. When I was a 21-year-old bank clerk in Southampton, our branch was next door to the prestigious local Bank of England. One Christmas I found myself sipping sherry in conversation with the Bank’s Agent – in effect the most senior banker in Southampton. I was mightily impressed when he asked my opinion on the local economy and how our business customers were getting on in Southampton. The Bank has long since closed its regional offices. Do you think the Court, or even the MPC, still have a keen ear to the ground? I doubt it somehow. It is far more comfortable in front of a computer screen.

Ken Cookes

Bath