UR TV CAST

What actually happens behind the family front, let alone the bedroom doors, is not on display here. The implicit contracts men and women enter into with each other, the way some mothers and daughters cement a relationship that lasts till death parts them, turning grandparents into invaluable assistants in child-rearing, the reason why certain family units “work” despite material handicap or the absence of significant adults … That is the empire of love, of affection that springs up autonomously, exceedingly difficult to measure, impossible to rule It does not appear in imminent danger.. Sir: Your leader (“High stakes in Korea, and rewards to match”, 6 August) is very perceptive: we as a nation do indeed “have a lot tied up in Korea” and this is not as widely known as it should be.

To the strategic, trade and investment interests you draw attention to, it is important to add education, science and technology. Korean school students are renowned for their performance in international league tables in maths and science, while Britain is perceived to be good at the creative aspects of education We naturally complement each other. Hence the increasing number of Koreans seeking sixth-form and university education in Britain. In science and technology, the South Korean government has planned investment growth over the next few years on a generous scale that clearly recognises their importance in a modern economy. Again, Britain is perceived to be a good partner with its long tradition of discovery and innovation. There are messages here that our new government should be listening to carefully. We need a strong science base to respond to these opportunities.
Education, science and technology will also be key players in the eventual reconciliation of North and South.

A future united Korea will remember who its partners were in the immensely difficult period of transition.Professor DENIS NOBLE, FRSBalliol College,Oxford. Sir: New evidence (“6,000 heart attacks a year from car fumes”, 5 August) supports the Government’s commitment to reducing private car usage, and demonstrates that urban traffic congestion is a burden on the NHS as well as UK business. The research also strengthens the case of those arguing for a reversal of the road hierarchy to one favouring public transport over private – which incorporates a public transport “carrot” (smooth flow of buses) with a private transport “stick” (reduced private road space).
A first step in the right direction is to combat the blocking of bus lanes with the use of cameras fitted to the front of buses to identify offending motorists – currently being piloted in North London.Many urban car users will be reticent to leave their car at home if alternative transport is not seen to be quicker.JOEY HUGHESSocialist Environment &Resources AssociationLondon N4. Sir: Peter Moorhouse, the Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority, reveals a telling sensitivity to any hint of criticism of police investigations conducted under the supervision of his members (Letters, 4 August). The deliberations in the corridors of the PCA and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on the tragic death of Shiji Lapite concluded in their decisions that the police officers involved should not face criminal or disciplinary proceedings – decisions which they were unable to uphold or justify before the High Court.
One would have thought it inevitable that those deliberations must have been shaped and influenced by the quality of the information received from the police investigation into that case. The Chairman would have us believe that there was nothing wrong with the quality of that police investigation, in which event the decision makers in the PCA and the CPS are left to shoulder on their own the entire responsibility for the manifest efforts undertaken to avoid the obvious implications of the evidence as revealed before the High Court.As it is, the PCA conceded before the court that their decision not to recommend disciplinary charges was flawed and unjustifiable because they had allowed themselves to be persuaded against recommending disciplinary charges by representations from the Commander of the Metropolitan Police Complaints Investigation Bureau which were subsequently found to be misleading.The PCA may indeed be a “force for change”, providing the Chairman and his members show themselves to be more willing to resist the temptation of compromise and capitulation under the inevitable pressure of the police lobby on every aspect of their statutory functions in relation to the police complaints process.RAJU BHATTB M Birnberg & CoLondon NW1.