Let one bomb miss its target and kill civilians and the regime will have a propaganda coup with television pictures of the victims."So how have we got into this? American policy has been driven by the pride of a super- power, which cannot allow itself to be thwarted. It may be no coincidence that the number of plans that we offer to homosexuals has been increasing steadily.We offer a service to the entire population based only on well-established scientific risk-rating principles. Race, creed or sexual orientation per se do not come into it: risk, whatever the reason, does.PETER KELLYProtection Marketing DirectorAllied Dunbar Assurance plcSwindon, Wiltshire. Dance of the oceans Across England and Wales, the drought may appear to be over (report, 4 February; letters, 7 February), but for how long? Oceanographers and meteorologists are uncovering evidence that our weather may be heavily influenced by a climate fluctuation known as the North Atlantic Oscillation: our very own El Nino.
The NAO appears to be linked to cycles in wind, temperature and rainfall in Europe. The late 1960s saw northerly winds and dry cold winters, followed - in the early 1990s - by westerly winds and relatively warm stormy winters. There are signs that we are now swinging back to colder winters again. This could also mean less rain.The key to understanding these climate swings lies in the slow, stately dance of the oceans. The oceans store vast quantities of heat which is carried around the globe by an intricate network of currents linking all the major ocean basins in both hemispheres. We still comprehend little of the natural variability of this ocean conveyor belt, never mind how robust it is to human interference.If we are to have any hope of usefully predicting future weather and climate patterns, a long-term commitment to oceanographic research would be a wise step to take.DAVID CROMWELLSouthampton Oceanography CentreSouthampton, Hampshire.
Enriching lawyers A M Robinson (letter, 6 February) fails to acknowledge the realities of civil legal aid as they occur in litigation. The Legal Aid Board relies on the advice of the applicant's lawyer in deciding whether to fund a claim. Such advice is not independent, since the lawyer is paid for advancing the claim, regardless of its merits The success rate is 17 per cent. So in 83 per cent of cases, the only beneficiaries are lawyers and experts.The often blameless health service is unable to recover its legal costs, promoting what has been described in Parliament as legal aid "blackmail", whereby cases are settled for commercial considerations.Legal aid does not secure access to justice or ensure compensation for deserving cases. Instead, it impoverishes the health service and enriches lawyers. It is hardly surprising that the main supporters of legal aid are lawyers.ANTHONY BARTONLondon N1. Alias T E Lawrence There was absolutely no reason for T E Lawrence to have lied about his enlistment ("Files reveal Great War secrets of British literary heroes", 3 February). There is, however, a very strong possibility that Lawrence could have enlisted under a false name and date of birth, as he was under-age at that time.
Anyone searching for an entry under the name T E Lawrence would have found nothing.When Lawrence enlisted in the RAF in 1922, it was in the name of John Hume Ross, with a different date of birth, and he also enlisted in the Tank Corps under the name of T E Shaw. Lawrence used at least seven different names for various purposes throughout his life.K FERNTolpuddle, Dorset. Spelling? Ugh! Rather than reform English spelling to conform with pronunciation (letters, 30 January, 4 February), why not alter pronunciation to accord with spelling? The return of the "gh" sound to English, similar to the Scottish "ch", as in loch, would simplify spelling without the need to actually change it. Words such as "plough", "slough" and "trough" would sound more like their meaning, and the difficulty the "-ugh" spelling causes to foreigners would disappear.
Anyone who thinks the English cannot make this sound anymore, say "ugh!"C PADLEYMarket Rasen, Lincolnshire. Driver density Nick Austin (letter, 6 February) suggests that the UK's high rate of road deaths is due to its high population density. Belgium and the Netherlands are both much more densely populated than the UK, but while Belgium's roads are more deadly than British ones, Dutch roads are safer. The reasons for this are driver behaviour and road design, not population density. D BISHOPBrussels. St Valentine's treacle Soon the treacly sentiments of St Valentine's Day will seep over us. Could we not introduce an anti-Valentines column? A whole new lexicon of nicknames might appear... RICHARD P WARNERWarwick.
