Should the flu vaccine be made compulsory for the elderly?

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

In her letter to The Independent, Marguerite Rossini suggests that more elderly people with the flu are ending up in hospital because of the withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance (Letters: “Fuelling the fever”, Monday 17 February).

I would suggest that a more likely cause is that the patients concerned may not have had the flu vaccine.

The NHS could clarify the position by simply publishing the data – the number of admissions with, and without, the vaccine.

The alternative is to make the flu vaccine compulsory for elderly people.

Geoff Blackman

Mullion, Cornwall

Who says prisons don’t work?

Michael Howard was right when he said that “prisons work” (“In a bid to be ‘tough on crime’, politicians have pushed Britain’s prisons to breaking point”, Tuesday 18 February).

What is often overlooked, however, are the problems that occur when prisoners are released and then reoffend.

Keeping offenders in prison does keep the public safe – and long prison sentences do act as a deterrent.

We saw what happened with the Southport riots, for which offenders were each given custodial sentences. It was only when rioters felt the full force of the law that they stopped.

I wonder how quickly knife crime would reduce if anyone in possession of a knife without justification was given a 10-year custodial sentence.

Philip Pound

London SE26

Their profits, our loss

It was disturbing to read about the movement of billions of pounds to the failed company that is Thames Water (“Fury as ‘profit-thirsty zombie’ Thames Water kept afloat by £3bn bailout”, Tuesday 18 February).

Sadly, we have heard nothing about how to keep supplying water at a reasonable cost, or how to prevent the pollution of rivers and coastal seas, as we were promised when the industry was first privatised.

We were told a private company would be better able to run water services and improve infrastructure than a state-run enterprise.

Well, they have certainly done a better job of taking millions of the public’s money to pay executives and shareholders while loading the company with debt.

Geoff Forward

Stirling

Building to extinction

As our population keeps growing, there will be no end to wildlife decline in the UK, even if badger culling and other wildlife persecution were to cease (Letters: “How badgers could lose Labour the next election”, Tuesday 18 February).

Our wildlife has massively declined since I was a boy. Many once-common creatures are now either extinct or nearly so.

I’m willing to bet that the farming and hunting fraternity will keep killing badgers and other wildlife regardless of what legislation is brought in by this and future governments.

Labour is currently pushing ahead with the construction of 1.5 million new homes as well as an expansion of Heathrow. Such projects will only ensure further environmental and wildlife loss.

Graham Cooper

Address supplied

Greenland with envy

Since Donald Trump seems keen to give away parts of other people’s countries without their consent (“‘Red, White and Blueland?’ Republican unveils bill to rename Greenland”, Wednesday 12 February), perhaps the EU should join in this game and make a counterproposal?

They could start by offering Florida to Vladimir Putin.

Richard Francis

France

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