Letters
letters@private-eye.co.uk
Target practice
Sir,
Having recently returned to your publication, I am at a loss to find any significant insight or comment about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Intriguing to see a lot correspondence on the massacre of pheasants. However, if you look a little further afield – say east, not Trump way – you’ll find plenty of shooting of easy targets. Mainly people (including women and children) hiding in ambulances and hospitals in Gaza, and all done by the only Democracy in the Middle East.
PHILIP RAMSEY.
WhatsApp whoops
Sir,
May I be the 94th person to point out that the Norris suspended from the Prime Minister’s WhatsApp group “until further notice and/or the by-election to replace him” (p26, Eye 1647) is Dan Norris?
There is a distinguished politician called Mr David Norris, of whom you wrote. But he is from the Republic of Ireland and, when he retired in 2024 from the Seanad Eireann after having served continuously in the Senate of Ireland since 1987, was the longest-serving senator in Irish history.
SANDY BATHO, Edinburgh.
Solar asylum
Sir,
The author of Green Eye (p38, 1647) is very welcome to join some West Oxfordshire locals for a pint (or three) in Woodstock. They’ll find locals far less fussed about the planned solar farm than their sources suggest.
The “locals” are not all nimbys and many recognise we need solar, so long as it’s planned wisely. The main issue is how much the community benefit fund will contribute to local causes. We say 2 percent of the project’s revenue to be invested directly in local communities – nothing less.
Getting out of London is good for the soul, if not the liver. Green Eye is welcome any time.
ED KING, Woodstock.
Rogue State
Sir,
I very much enjoy your Gnome Cinema column, chiefly because unlike your book and TV reviewers, your film buff actually seems to (usually) enjoy the latest title they are writing about.
While I do not disagree at all with Q Brick’s assessment of The Electric State (p20, Eye 1647), it is somewhat remiss of them to not also shame the Netflix movie for its total and utter massacre of its source material.
The Electric State is a beautiful and moody sci-fi art book with a compelling story and powerful punch by Simon Stalenhag (even your book reviewer might find something to grudgingly praise in it). What the Russo brothers did was annihilate that in favour of a predictable and plodding adventure story with two actors chosen for their names rather than their abilities, Disneyfying the book’s gripping graphics.
Q Brick is entirely right to have a go, but the filmmakers should also be condemned for the real crime they committed.