Near miss with train workers at Bookham Tunnel to be investigated
A line blockage had been arranged with the signaller to stop trains from running through the tunnel, but it was later discovered that this had been arranged for the nearby Mickleham Tunnel and did not cover Bookham Tunnel.The government's investigation, which sits independent from any undertaken by the railway industry, will look to identify the sequence of events which led to the incident.It will also investigate the actions of those involved, the way in which the work was planned and any underlying management factors.
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Times
23 minutes ago
- Times
Times letters: PM's backing for a third runway at Heathrow
Write to letters@ Sir, Your leading article ('Cleared for Takeoff', Aug 1) and the cogently argued business commentary by Alistair Osborne ('Heathrow runway is an expensive folly', Aug 1) both admit that Heathrow should not be there in the first place. Indeed, and if one is in a hole any sensible reaction would be to stop digging. We all know that the costs of £21 billion for the runway and £12 billion on top of that for another terminal will end up hugely inflated, and that the upgrades necessary for transportation to and from Heathrow will incur further enormous expenditure. Sooner or later there will be a catastrophe when an aircraft crashes on London, made all the more likely when power failures and control systems can cause such mayhem. Ministers' lip service to environmental considerations is further exposed as James Stevens CurlHolywood, Co Down Sir, You report that 'work is under way within the government to curb the ability of environmental groups and other campaigners to bring legal challenges against national infrastructure projects' ('M25 could be relocated 'overnight' to build a third Heathrow runway', Aug 1). One can only wonder what Labour would have said had the Conservatives tried to bring in such HartRickmansworth, Herts Sir, Old campaigners against a third runway at Heathrow will now have to dust off their posters and letters of protest: clearly we are all going to have to go through the old arguments again. Nothing appears to have happened to change the Department for Transport's own study. This suggested that if more airport capacity were really needed then on both economic and environmental grounds it should be at McLuskeyAshford, Middx Sir, Proposals for a third runway at Heathrow and another at Gatwick are misguided. The skies over southeast England are already overcrowded and new runways will simply increase the problem. The answer is to build a five-runway, state-of-the-art airport in the Thames Estuary, with fast rail links. This would serve our needs for the next century. Heathrow and Gatwick could then be closed down, freeing up land for much-needed PrattStorrington, W Sussex Sir, It astounds me that whenever the disruption and cost of expanding Heathrow is discussed there is never any mention of Birmingham airport. It is located in a relatively unpopulated area with a mainline rail station and good public access: it is next to motorway links and is about an hour from the capital by car or train. But of course, it's not London — silly JohnsonWolverhampton Sir, I wonder if my children will have retired by the time the third runway at Heathrow is operational? In China, or indeed France, the planning and construction would be rapidly accomplished. No one would expect that in the ValePewsey, Wilts Sir, Having seen the PM's plans for a third runway at Heathrow, perhaps Sir Humphrey should whisper in his ear: 'Remember HS2.'Martin WrightChinnor, Oxon Sir, Italians will be aware that most of the projects Edward Lucas praises in his article were actually initiated before 2022, the year Giorgia Meloni became prime minister ('Confident Italy shows us how to bounce back', comment, Jul 31). She inherited a €198 billion loan from the EU, which I suspect Rachel Reeves would welcome and do good things with. If Lucas were to come further south on holiday he would find unemployment in the eight provinces of southern Italy 10 per cent higher than the richer north that he visited. A total of 18.9 per cent of Italians live in poverty, and the figure is increasing. GDP per capita has not increased since Meloni became PM and government debt as a share of GDP has increased under her Gozi MEPFormer Italian secretary of state for European Affairs Sir, Edward Lucas's overenthusiastic assessment of Italy's thriving and booming economy overlooks the simple and very sad fact that Italy still offers very few opportunities for young people, even those with university degrees. They find it easier to find a job in a café in London than in Milan or Rome. It's still pretty impossible to get a position at an Italian university if one lacks a powerful backer. Bright scientists and academics instead flock to the US or the UK. Nasa, for example, has many Italians working there as do many Ivy League universities, as well as Oxford and Salvatore Santagati (PhD, LSE)London W1 Sir, Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Rees-Mogg may have better luck than my wife (TMS, Jul 31). A couple of years ago my wife was dropping off a bag for her brother at the Cavalry and Guards Club. The doorman took one look at the jeans she was wearing and before she could say a word politely pointed out that the RAF Club was next door.J Martin ScottShaftesbury, Dorset Sir, The fall in numbers of students studying modern languages is indeed dire (news, Jul 31; letter, Aug 1). I agree with Nick Hillman of the Higher Education Policy Institute that the withdrawal of the compulsory study of languages was 'probably the worst educational policy of this century'. A wider grasp of the heritage of Europe (and at degree level, training in cogently assembling a wide range of facts) is useful in many professions. Megan Bowler is right that a 'linguistic mindset fosters vital skills'. Indeed, many of my students leave university for successful careers in journalism and the law and are destined for the higher echelons of management and government. We will not re-establish meaningful relationships with our neighbours with the 'island mentality' that, at present, inhibits those in secondary education from an understanding of the cultural infrastructure and substratum of Bourne-TaylorAssociate professor of French, and fellow, Brasenose College, Oxford Sir, I have no doubt that AI has a part to play in making prisons safer ('AI predicts risk from violent inmates before jail attacks happen', Jul 31) but removing drugs from jails by using drug wands, sniffer boxes and DroneGuard, while disabling mobile phones and reducing overcrowding, will have a greater effect. Tasers will have an impact during riots and concerted acts of indiscipline but not on immediate acts of violence as they won't be to hand. The most effective way to reduce the risk of violence is by staff developing good relationships with prisoners. Inexperienced staff in overcrowded prisons are merely BerryRet'd prison governor, Countesthorpe, Leics Sir, Martin Samuel is right ('Rushing this Test series off stage has robbed it of the players we pay to see', Aug 1). Test matches — the pinnacle of the sport — are being wrecked by the thoughtless compression of scheduling and now we will have no cricket for a month, all to make room for a spectacle said to be crowd-pleasing and money-making, although it is curious that no other cricketing nation has shown the remotest interest in the Hundred. The ECB has done a fine job of destroying our national DykeLondon N21 Sir, I agree with David A De Saxe (letter, Aug 1) that modern bats improve batting. But surely the main reason batting has improved is the use of helmets, which enable batsmen to face fast bowling without risk of serious EvansTunbridge Wells, Kent Sir, Contrary to Raymond Gubbay's suggestion ('Albert Hall seats', letter, Jul 31), the National Lottery were on the ball. Like all seat holders, while I did gain from the lottery funding improvements I was obliged to pay a proportionate share of the GilbertMarlow, Bucks Sir, Aside from pay erosion, the incentives for resident doctors to change tack career-wise are well described (letters, Jul 28–31), but there is a new one. Why wouldn't a recently qualified doctor with a huge student debt and possibly a young family consider switching to one of the new physician assistant roles? The pay is considerably better, the post comes with job security and comprehensive senior medical supervision, and there is no need for regular exams or to move around the country every couple of years while working nights and weekends as a matter of routine. That is regardless of the intense work pressure endured by these young resident doctors daily, hundreds of whom are now finding that there are no NHS jobs for them anyway after their first two years of hospital practice (news, Jul 30). The only downside is that the NHS would soon run out of GPs and hospital RP ColeNHS consultant surgeon, Salisbury Sir, Katie Glass raises hopes for many in making a few quid from renting her home ('I'm sleeping in a caravan so I can put my cottage on Airbnb', Times2, Jul 28). Potential followers of her advice would be well advised to check with local planning requirements and their home insurance policy before proceeding. Such moves may be below the radar but not above the planning HoweRhossili, Gower Peninsula Sir, Every good wish to the new Archbishop of Wales ('Church elects gay, female archbishop', Jul 31). As well as being informed of her employment history and views on sexuality, I'm sure some of us would be glad to know whether she speaks CorkettBangor, Gwynedd Sir, My Uncle Charlie worked on the Cowes chain ferry in the 1950s and had an index and middle finger missing (letter, Aug 1). As he explained: 'I was trying to pick a stray fag packet out of the chains while we were crossing the river. I just thought I could do it, quick like.' I relayed this story to the newly promoted chain ferry master when I met him in the 1980s. 'Oh yes?', he said, holding up his three- digit right hand. 'You mean like this?'Suzie MarwoodLondon SW6 Sir, I can definitely support the theory of ditching a flashy car for a small hatchback to woo women (news, Jul 31). I owned an MG Midget in the 1960s and had no luck in attracting the right sort of woman, but on the day I swapped it for a Hillman Imp I met the woman who is now my wife. We are still happily married RussellHarpenden, Herts Write to letters@
Times
23 minutes ago
- Times
The Rev Canon Donald Gray obituary: campaigner for liturgical reform
The solemnity of the Speaker's procession, heralding another day of business in the House of Commons, was perennially interrupted by a squeak. Mice had long been a problem in the Palace of Westminster, but the furry critters had not decided to join the forthcoming debates. In fact the noise was emanating from the shoes of the Rev Canon Donald Gray, the chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons and otherwise known by MPs as 'Squeaky'. Resplendent in black silk cassock with white gloves, and in keeping with a tradition that dated back to the Restoration in 1660, Gray would lead prayers for five minutes before the rough and tumble began in earnest. A genial man with an earthy Lancastrian wit, he took in good part his nickname; squeaking aside, he went about his pastoral business quietly having been appointed by the Speaker Bernard Weatherill in 1987 and serving under Betty Boothroyd until 1998.
BBC News
23 minutes ago
- BBC News
'You're sold a lie': How do you spot a cult?
For seven years of her twenties, Gillie Jenkinson was in a religious cult. She recalls being told what to eat, when to sleep and what clothes to wear."It was completely coercive, controlling," she says, going on to add that the group operated from an "ordinary" looking terraced remembers giving all of her money to the group, believing it would go towards their mission of "saving the world"."None of that happened, we didn't save anybody or do anything with it, but you're sold a lie," she leaving the cult, she sought mental health support to help process her experiences but she was unable to find any trained therapist with experience in helping cult the end, she decided to train as a therapist herself and has now been practising for around 30 years, specialising in helping people who have left cults. This led her to appear in the two-part BBC documentary Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army, which sees her work with people brought up in the now-defunct religious cult to recognise cult dynamics and identify the group's impact on BBC revealed allegations of widespread child abuse in the group, which disbanded in Jesus Fellowship Community Trust, which has been winding up the group's affairs, said it was sorry for "the severely detrimental impact" on people's to the BBC, Jenkinson explains how to recognise a cult and why more support is needed for those who leave. How do you spot a cult? "It's not always easy to identify a cult," Jenkinson says, explaining that there isn't one type of person that joins a cult, they don't dress a certain way and they can operate from "ordinary" Family Survival Trust (FST), a charity that offers support to those affected by cults, defines a cult as a system controlled by a charismatic and authoritarian leadership that is "rigidly bounded" and supported by a fixed set of beliefs. It involves brainwashing designed to isolate, control and exploit do not have to be religious. Linguist Amanda Montell, author of Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, explains people can "erect a cult around anything, as long as you can inject it with fear and an 'us-versus-them' mentality".Montell adds that these groups don't even have to take place in person anymore and says they are becoming "easier" to find because of the internet, adding "so many cults do their recruiting online". While cults can be hard to spot, Jenkinson and Montell note some "red flags" people can look for:One possible indicator Jenkinson highlights is "love bombing" - a manipulation tactic that sees abusers use affection and declarations of love as a way of gaining power and common theme is promising "answers to life's very complex problems", like climate change or the meaning of existance, the psychotherapist says the combination of mantras, buzzwords and nicknames for insiders and outsiders of the group, as well as language that elicits a strong reaction while encouraging us not to ask further questions, can be linguist adds that certain texts being "off-limits" in the group can also be a warning most "extreme" trait of a cult for Montell is a "high barrier to exit", meaning group members being made to feel they might lose their identity or friendships, or fear retaliation, if they leave the group. What can you do if you think you're in a cult? Jenkinson encourages people to listen to their "gut feeling" if they think something is wrong, to listen to critical voices and to investigate the group online. "It might save you years of pain," the psychotherapist also strongly discourages relatives from giving a group money because it likely won't go to their loved one. However, she encourages family and friends to keep lines of communication open and to ask "genuine, critical thinking questions".However, Jenkinson says greater support and understanding is needed for people who have left cults, explaining: "it needs destigmatising because people need help when they come out".She adds that there should be provision within the NHS to offer specialist counselling for those leaving cults.A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care says as part of its 10-year health plan it "will increase access to talking therapies to support patients".Jenkinson adds that changes to the law are "desperately" needed to protect those in cults. Currently in England and Wales, coercive control is illegal in intimate or family relationships. However, Jenkinson says this needs to be extended to include the coercive control that occurs in groups like cults.A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice says: "Cult leaders can already be prosecuted for a number of offences including fraud, false imprisonment or harassment."Details of organisations offering information and support with sexual abuse or child abuse are available at the BBC's Action can watch part two of Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army on BBC Two Sunday 3 August at 21:00 BST or both episodes are available on BBC iPlayer now.
