Gorbachev opposed the doctrine of secrecy and lies we now have in the UK

A bad man though? Certainly not. He didn’t manage the transition of the Soviet economy, and for that he was replaced. The rest, as they say, is history.

READ MORE: David Pratt: Putin faces stark choices as Ukraine begins to turn tide of war

Having just recently watched the 2019 mini-series Chernobyl, which was a dramatisation of the events of April 1986, I was taken by how the ex-Soviet Union was riddled with the same human traits that have blighted the opposite side of the political spectrum.

Gorbachev took the correct stance and listened to his experts and avoided a larger catastrophe affecting up to 50 million people in the Soviet Union and beyond. The river Dnieper, as we will be also aware, runs through Ukraine and could have been poisoned by nuclear core and waste all of the way to the Black Sea. That it wasn’t was due to Gorbachev’s strong stance against the previous doctrine of secrecy and lies within the established leadership in the Kremlin and lower down the political food chain.

Similarly, our UK Government during the early period of the Covid pandemic offered up the same initial nonsense that the Soviets did about Chernobyl. Covid was just a “flu” and “herd immunity will protect us through time”, don’t worry, no lockdown was required. The experts, unhappy with the watering-down of the seriousness by the Johnson government, went off and briefed.

The delay in implementing the lockdown has been tagged with responsibility for the deaths of an additional 20,000 individuals.

READ MORE: Russia 'sourcing weaponry' from North Korea and Iran due to sanctions

The Soviet Union to its credit held a trial where these causal factors were investigated and aired. The people in the middle of the political food chain were found guilty, and justice was seen to be done.

In contrast, our UK Government seem to be filling the investigating committee with individuals who have already expressed their condemnation of the process of investigating Boris Johnson and the Covid supply contract process, the VIP sourcing policy, and even the procurement of PPE which was not useable or fit for purpose.

In attempting to avoid scrutiny, our UK Government is emulating the same old processes that Gorbachev overthrew and Putin is re-establishing, where the truth is what they say it is, and if you don’t toe the line, you won’t work again.

Allegra Stratton immediately comes to mind, regarding Partygate – how can we defend or spin this?

How strange, the UK Government operating in Soviet mode.

Alistair Ballantyne
Birkhill, Angus

THANK you to Lesley Riddoch for the excellent precis on Jean Sibelias (Finnish composer and the lessons we can learn from Nordic neighbours, Sep 14). It brought back some very distant memories of my time as an art student.

Alongside the academic studies of the 18th, 19th and 20th-century art movements, we also learnt about American and Russian literature, and romantic classical music, on a more or less parallel period.

Suffice it to say that Jean Sibelias was one of those composers I was introduced to. I did purchase the Kerelia Suite LP and played it often in quite periods in my student “digs”.

Lesley’s reference to this and other compositions by Sibelias gave me a better insight into his music and the political attachments as described in her article. I did make use of her references, such as the Swan of Tuonela and Song of the Athenians, all of which has given me a further insight into Finland’s long, long fight for independence.

I was aware vaguely of the Russian takeover, except the origins and political association of the Finlandia composition, it being a celebration of the 1917 successful declaration of independence from Russia by the Finnish Parliament.

So thanks again for the memories and the lovely story about Finland and its famous musical composer, Jean Sibelias.

Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife

WHILE I never heard the 6am or 7am news on Radio 4 that Dr Lindsay Neil mentioned in his letter of Tuesday (it’s much too early for me), I can wholeheartedly agree with his comments about the “royal party following the cortege DOWN the Royal Mile to St Giles”.

However, had I heard the announcer talk of Holyrood, pronouncing it “Holy” and not “Holly”, I would have applauded to at last hear the correct pronunciation.

Unfortunately, most Scottish radio and TV announcers, along with MSPs, use the incorrect form of “Hollyrood”, which may either be indicative of the poor standards of teaching of Scottish history, or perhaps it is indicative of the anti-Catholic bias still residing within Scotland despite the fact that “John Knox drove the Catholics out of Scotland”, as announcers on BBC 1 believe.

Paul Gillon
Leven