Nobel prize for EU, Jimmy Savile's sins and a skydive record SIR - Yes, a great union of nation states, born out of the chaos of two world wars, has kept the peace in Europe during six decades. Today that union richly merits a Nobel Peace Prize. It is, of course, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Robert Stephenson, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire Sins of Sir Jimmy SIR - Like most people, I am horrified by the stories of abuse committed by Sir Jimmy Savile (report, Issue 1,108), although I am amazed by the number of people who were in contact with him, and knew about his behaviour, and said nothing. However, I find the vindictive criticisms of him abhorrent. This man, whatever wickedness he has done, is dead and unable to defend himself. The police still have to complete their investigations and produce a report. Have we forgotten that in this country we are innocent until proven guilty? Catherine Bowe, Ardrishaig, Argyllshire Business will suffer SIR - The Coalition's decision to allow fathers to take their partner's maternity leave illustrates how out of touch our politicians are (report, Issue 1,108). We are in the middle of a recession. Times are hard for businesses, and therefore for everyone in the workplace. Jobs are difficult to find, and yet the Government proposes to introduce a change that will add even more to the cost of running a business. Shared maternity leave is all about the expected short-term political gain from giving families even more benefits, rather than the long-term improvement which would come from giving companies a low-cost, flexible environment, so that they can expand and provide more jobs. Such policies increase costs and reduce the ability to provide proper jobs, which would contribute to the economic wellbeing of the country. Of course, one problem is that the public sector is unaffected by such factors. They do not have to balance expenditure with income. If their costs rise, taxes rise, or government simply borrows more to make up the difference. That is how we got into this mess in the first place. George Wills, Howwood, Renfrewshire Broken promises SIR - Despite great applause from the audience at the Conservative Party conference for David Cameron's speech (report, Issue 1,108), the Tories have lost touch with their core vote. Failure to keep promises on the EU, protecting the NHS, the police and Armed Forces, and to redirect billions of pounds of public money to the most deserving causes at home, are just some of the reasons. The final straw has been the Government's so-called localism legislation. This was supposed to have provided communities with greater control over local development. But in West Sussex we are experiencing unwanted multiple developments of up to 5,000 homes on agricultural land, swamping rural villages. Until the Government reverses this policy, I will not vote for the Conservatives. Peter Winfield, West Chiltington, West Sussex It'll never fly SIR - Further to Julia Woods" query (Letters, Issue 1,107) as to why Manston Airport is not being suggested as a new runway for London airports, there are a couple of aspects that need consideration. I believe during the Battle of Britain in 1940, Fighter Command found it was too easily bombed by low-flying enemy aircraft that could be hard to detect, and so they limited its use for defence by fighters. It could also be an easy target for al-Qaeda type attacks such as 9/11. Peter Goddard, Adelaide, South Australia SIR - According to my brother, who used to live nearby, Manston Airport is where a large number of planes, from Africa for example, are brought for their regular service, which is compulsory for obtaining permission to land at any European airport. At the same time, it is kept in reserve to be used as a passenger airport in the case of a major terrorist attack or accident at Heathrow or Gatwick. If it lost its present status, another airport would have to be built to cater for these needs. Rosamund Bandi, Ins, Switzerland Better than Fawlty SIR - A man has leapt from space and broke the sound barrier (report, Issue 1,108). It was possibly the most gripping piece of television I have ever witnessed. But instead of it being one of those historic occasions where everybody is glued to the box, and which everyone will remember for the rest of their lives, it received little coverage, consigned to the BBC News Channel. Maybe there would have been uproar if Strictly Come Dancing had been interrupted, but on BBC2 they were only showing reruns of Fawlty Towers. Penny Southgate, Bristol A bitter pill to swallow SIR - Last year, the General Medical Council decided that it would "revalidate" doctors, without which they would be unable to continue practice. Last week, it admitted to me that it had in place no process whereby those of us resident overseas could be "revalidated." Many thousands of us anglophone, and largely Commonwealth, doctors, have effectively been struck off the register for the heinous crime of being resident overseas. Some idea of the size of the problem was indicated to me by our British Consul, who has been inundated with complaints. We are therefore unable to return to practice in the Old Country for shorter or longer periods. This will aggravate the doctor shortage already aggravated by, inter alia, the feminisation of the profession and the 48-hour working week. Dr Stephen A. Craven, Cape Town, South Africa Passport nightmare SIR - I live in Jakarta and my 48-page passport is full, so I require a new one. Upon reading the Government website, I discovered that I must now submit it to Hong Kong for renewal and it will take one month; it can no longer be renewed inside three days in Jakarta. The website also told me that the moment I submit my application my current passport will be cancelled, leaving me unable to travel for 30 days. However, the site did deliver a modicum of good news: you can apply for an emergency travel document, but you can only have two of these in one year. Given that as a consultant I travel weekly all over Asia at the request of my customers, and sometimes at short notice, this situation is untenable. After discussing the matter with a British Embassy staff, she agreed there is no need to cancel the old passport until the new one is issued and that 100-page passports made a lot of sense; however, the system is inflexible. I can only assume that this entire process was designed by an administrator who has no idea about the needs of those in business and has presumably made no attempt to understand them. Mark Stevens, Jakarta These letters were originally published in The Telegraph Weekly World Edition Email your letters to weeklyt@telegraph.co.uk