SIR – I spent nearly 30 years at the BBC, mainly in an editorial role in the radio newsroom – which included the night we joined the Common Market – later on Today, Radio 1, Radio 4 and in news management.
SIR – Andrew Pearse (Letters, December 21) is right – the problems facing the NHS are far too great for one party to address, though I was pleased that Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, recognised the need for reform from the Labour benches.
the controversial body scanners would have been able to detect the explosives he had hidden in his underwear. and this morning, we learning of a similar incident in somalia. a somali national was arrested trying to board a plane with the same powdered chemicals and with the tools needed to ignite them. that plane was not heading to the united states. all of this as president obama says the government missed key warning signs about the detroit plot. now he s calling for a review and he wants the pliminary findings by tomorrow. nbc s pete williams reports. reporter: president obama s second statement in two days on tuesday in hawaii was unusually blunt. there was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security. reporter: what has alarmed the president, white house officials now say, is that the u.s. had at least three pieces of prior intelligence. one, in august, the cia learned that a man from nigeria had come t