For that you would need an English government with the full gear box.IAIN M MACKENZIEMACHRIE, ISLE OF ARRAN The 'common' way to eat a sandwich Sir: Will you inform Sholto Byrnes, who wonders why he was was reproved by a prep school master for eating a sandwich with both hands (btw, 8 October), that this method of eating is "common"?As a working-class lass from an upwardly mobile household in the Sixties, I was given a list of what was "common". A federal Britain would solve a lot of problems such as the West Lothian question, but devolution would not itself get rid of student fees and foundation hospitals. In Scotland we had to wait for England to vote out the Tory government. But England has never wanted devolution and until recently seemed unable even to differentiate between England and Britain.If England now wants devolved government it would be a lot easier to achieve than it was for Scotland. Decimating our nation's skills base is, I suggest, not a very good long-term policy for Britain plc.JOHN KELLETT RIBAKETTERING, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Home rule for England Sir: Simon Cowley (letter, 4 October) thinks it unfair that England is the only part of the UK without devolved government. Some architects' practices are having to recruit from Europe and beyond since there are more vacancies than there are suitable applicants.

A number of architects of my acquaintance have even left the profession to become teachers because of the better pay and conditions!There is little incentive for the most able students to enter many professions. There is a belief amongst many that university students are able to pay back their tuition fees from high salaries received once qualified.The starting salary for architects is similar to that of teachers but at the end of seven years' study (postgraduate degree level plus two years' "practical training"), not four. Oh, how things come back to haunt the self-righteous in such awfully unjust ways!FRANK RICHARDSONAYLSHAM, NORFOLK Poor pay blights the nation's skills Sir: James England's letter (7 October) comparing the training and low pay of teachers with gas fitters misses an important point. Many Muslims have tried to raise awareness of Christian fundamentalism and its doctrine of Armageddon, but these claims have thus far been derided as conspiracy theories. When the truth comes from the horse's mouth - as it were - it seems to carry a more sinister reality.It is now for the people to decide whether they accept such extremist religious ideas permeating through the model "democratic" state and leading to catastrophe across the globe.DR RASHED AKHTARLEICESTERSir: The West helped Saddam Hussein develop chemical and biological weapons during Iraq's 1980-88 war with Iran, but then made the mistake of using WMDs as a pretext for occupying Iraq after they were long gone.Now we are supposed to be indignant that Iran may be assisting a Shia insurrection against Western troops in Iraq. The sobering thought is that the next pandemic strain of "bird flu" virus could fall from the skies.PROFESSOR CHANDRA WICKRAMASINGHEDIRECTOR, THE CARDIFF CENTRE FOR ASTROBIOLOGY CARDIFF UNIVERSITY Christian extremism is a global threat Sir: I commend The Independent for publishing Paul Vallely's incisive comment about the religious forces which shape the world through the White House ("Whether God speaks to him or not, Bush's religious fanaticism has shaped our world", 8 October). In such a scheme high-flying birds that sample large volumes of air would naturally present themselves as a first reservoir of a new strain of the virus, with humans becoming vulnerable at a later stage.Fred Hoyle would have revelled at the recently reported discovery that the strain of flu reconstructed from victims of the 1918-1919 pandemic was exclusively avian, not a hybrid of an animal and a human flu virus.

It is said to have been "detected in Boston and Bombay on the same day, but took three weeks before it reached New York City, despite the fact that there was considerable travel between the two cities".Such authoritative statements by Dr Louis Weinstein among others prompted the late Sir Fred Hoyle and myself to suggest in 1979 that an infective component of the virus came through the atmosphere, settling at ground level in a capricious manner. They have indeed a long way to go in coming to terms with a world of energy shortages.DENNIS LEACHMANREADING Flu pandemics from the sky Sir: The epidemiology of the 1918-1919 flu pandemic that caused over 20 million deaths leaves many puzzles unsolved. No wonder the older generation are having to keep on protesting.JULIET LEWISWHITNEY ON WYE, HEREFORDSir: I see yet another article about Americans' extravagance with non-renewable resources, focusing yet again on their preference for gas-guzzling cars ("America's U-turn", 8 October).I agree that this is terrible, but when I think of this problem I can't put out of my mind the fact that many Californians are prohibited by condominium regulations from using drying lines; and that most of the frequently-laundered clothes worn in that warm and benign climate are dried quite unnecessarily by electricity. There's a varying degree of regret over exploitation of human and environmental resources but not enough to to necessitate self-denial. I know there are young activists out there, but most of today's young people, whatever their background, are not only uninterested in politics but seem only concerned about self-gratification and getting their hands on the latest gadgets. When my eldest child reached his teens I expected him and his peers to be full of the righteous indignation over the unfairness of life and have a desire to put the world to rights, all of which I thought was part of growing up and becoming aware of the big outside world.Not much sign of it. Let us hope that our legislators take up this challenge.ANDREW WARRENDIRECTOR, ASSOCIATION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY LONDON N1Sir: To Marilyn Warburton (letters, 6 October) I say: ask not "has global warming affected the older generation" but rather "has it has affected the younger generation?"In the 1960s, at the age of 13, I first sported a "stop pollution" T-shirt and since then have become increasingly aware and active about environmental issues.