Expensive manners
Sir: Ivor Roberts says that Oxford University is ‘taking the very best, whatever their background’ — and is not to blame if state schools no longer produce the very best (‘Oxford under siege’, 2 April). And yet studies have found that state-school pupils perform better at Oxford than their privately educated peers, relative to GCSE results. When his university is admitting as many state-school duds as private ones, we’ll know that its admissions tutors are no longer swayed by expensive manners at interview. For now, that remains open to doubt.
Benjamin Rockbird
London SE15
Cuts tactics
Sir: Charles Moore (Notes, 2 April) quotes the late, great Auberon Waugh on cuts. In his Private Eye diary for March 7 1980, Waugh wrote: ‘Civil servants in every department, asked to propose expenditure cuts, are suggesting whatever will save least money and cause maximum public outcry. But the government has not woken up to this yet…’ It is clear from the interview with Eric Pickles that the Cameron government is wide awake to these tactics. However, the only weapon Pickles suggests to deal with them is ‘transparency’, revealing council spending in microscopic detail. It is all very well exposing unnecessary expenditure, but once the libraries are closed it will be too late. Why is the government not taking a stronger line with these fat cat councils? I suspect this inaction is a cynical attempt to discredit political opponents that will backfire.
Mark Cooper
Hong Kong
Endorsing heroin?
Sir: Rod Liddle (2 April) suggests that the Sentencing Council aims to reduce sentences for heroin dealers and users. This echoes reports by some tabloids, but is incorrect. We are not in fact proposing any change in sentencing for drug supply offences. We only suggest two changes to current sentencing practices.
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