The Nobel Peace Prize has lost its meaningful purpose the moment Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi refused to condemn mass atrocities and stood on the sidelines while thousands from the Rohingya Muslim minorities were slaughtered, raped, humiliated, starved and dispossessed; the moment peace between Arabs and Israelis became more elusive than ever and global peace and security became devastatingly compromised in the wake of the war on terror.

However, let us hope that this year’s award will galvanise a global recognition of the overwhelming pain endured by women in the fog of war. Rape has always been used as a weapon intended to traumatise and subdue women into submission and in due course destroy the rich and diverse tapestry of entire religious and ethnic minorities which coexisted harmoniously for centuries. It is time to.muster the political will, shed a light on the scale and intensity of this appalling problem and bring perpetrators of wartime crimes to justice.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London NW2

London is the problem, not Labour

It is very interesting to read that new research indicates that “an oversized City of London has inflicted a cumulative £4.5 trillion hit on the British economy” over a 20-year period. There is academic credibility to that claim, and it is supported by compatible figures from the Bank of England. Is there any credibility to Theresa May’s claim that Labour’s policies would cost the country £1 trillion and bankrupt the government?

Brendan O’Brien

London

The EU is not as undemocratic as everyone makes out

Jeremy Hunt and others like LJ Atterbury state that the EU government is very much like that of the old USSR. I shall remind them that EU legislation has to be approved by the directly elected European parliament together with the governments of all the EU countries. Not so similar after all, are they, Jeremy? In fact, it all sounds rather democratic to me.

David Rose

Sutton Coldfield

It’s no surprise that young people have no savings

New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showing that over half of people in their twenties have no savings, comes as no surprise given consumer credit debt is at an all-time high and outstripping wage growth, interest rates are rising, and rent is ballooning out of control.

It’s vital we recognise that a lack of savings isn’t a self-contained issue. Those with no savings are more vulnerable to being lured in by the prospect of high-cost, short-term loans, or get-rich-quick scams, which quickly trap victims in a cycle of growing debt. In fact, £1.2bn is already lost to investment scams every year, and this number will only grow as individuals seek to assuage the strain on their finances.

To prevent this happening there needs to be a greater clampdown, for instance on forex and cryptotrading scams propagated on social media platforms such as Instagram, and stipulations to ensure they adhere to FCA regulations and are qualified to provide investment advice.

We must also take action to improve the public’s financial literacy. We recently commissioned research which found that 78 per cent of women don’t know how much they pay into their pension per month, while over half of men have no idea how much tax they pay monthly. This highlights an urgent need to educate younger Brits on financial management to better equip them for managing savings and to protect them from falling foul of scams.

Samuel Leach, director, Samuel & Co Trading

Some advice for the royals

Prince Harry and the Duchess Meghan Markle are visiting Australia to support the Sydney 2018 Invictus Games, which is an event for disabled and ill people who have served.

They will have the chance to visit many Australian sites but although they can see the koalas at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, they can’t cuddle them – it’s against the law in New South Wales and Victoria. They will have to resort to patting them only.

It is, however, legal to cuddle snakes although as Australia has some of the most venomous it’s probably not a good idea.

Dennis Fitzgerald

Melbourne

Did Theresa May really pick the wrong song?

Interesting that Eric Evans should suggest that Waterloo was a more appropriate song than “Dancing Queen”. One thing: wasn’t Waterloo a victory for the British-led side? Just a thought.