atmospheric pollution is a serious issue and he has a good point about promoting the development of electric powered motors. The world needs to deal with this quicker than at present but it still needs to be in a measured way.

I openly admit that I feel a single upward adjustment to diesel duty would be a bad thing but not just for owners of the "gin palaces" to which he refers but to all waterborne users of diesel engines and to marine industries in general.

As it happens, the "extremely wealthy" owners to whom Mr Woodhouse refers will feel the increase the least and will possibly carry on polluting just as before. It will be the majority, the average owners for whom a significant part of their domestic budget is spent on owning their boats, who will suffer the most. In any event, in global terms, the amount of pollution collectively produced by domestically owned UK based watercraft must surely be minimal (compared to say a single Jumbo aircraft flight) and attacking red diesel by making a sweeping adjustment will produce a barely measurable effect on the pollution but an almighty jolt through the British marine industry with the repercussion of market and labour adjustments that one can only ponder. I would have a big bet that it will not be good.

Why should anyone, except those of bigoted disposition, choose to pick out any single activity as being an acceptable soft target, or otherwise. Why is he so satisfied that a huge hike in diesel duty will not worry sailors or narrow boat users? They are not the issue either. It is not about them or any single sub-sector for that matter. It is a difficult issue to resolve but surely not to be dealt with by taking single draconian steps, trying to kill an illness by killing the patient.

Presumably Mr Woodhouse has already taken steps to "do his bit" by living in a solar energy powered house, using a push bike for his private and commercial activities and promoting the use of engineless boats. Perhaps most importantly, he needs to adjust his diet to avoid producing further methane emissions, which he has so ably used in his letter!

Yours faithfully, Lawrence Phillips Lawrence Phillips & Company Whiteley, Hampshire