The government can barely handle coronavirus – how can we trust it to negotiate post-Brexit trade arrangements?

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In light of the disastrous coronavirus pandemic ravishing our country, would it not be prudent to delay the negotiations for exiting the EU until we have subdued this evil scourge?

Britain, and the rest of the world, are contending with extreme problems of health needs, financial instability and food shortages. We are likely to experience severe disruption well into next year, so surely all our efforts ought to be focused on ridding Britain of this very tricky virus.

With the obvious lack of ability in our government to organise even a children’s party, how on earth can we trust them to run the country, negotiate Brexit and give us a worthwhile future?

Instead of announcing all manner of projects to “improve” our lifestyle, only to U-turn soon after, the government ought to concentrate on the irradiation of Covid-19 from Britain. There ought to be a committee formed from independent organisations who would report the true facts and cost of leaving the European community. At the next election we could then vote whether to remain in the EU or not. This time, armed with untainted information, we would meet people’s aspirations for the future.

Keith Poole
Basingstoke

Power move

The prime minister could so easily increase business activity (“Coronavirus: Anger as Boris Johnson’s £5bn infrastructure spending boost lacks vital environmental measures“) by giving the go-ahead to projects like the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, which already has private finance arranged and is ready to start work now. This is also a project which will help reduce the climate impact of significant electricity generation.

Roger Knight
Swansea

Honourable mentions

Given the ongoing controversy surrounding the Westferry printworks application, I feel it is unlikely that Richard Desmond will be appearing on the next New Year’s Honours list; likewise, I conjecture that after his controversial Black Lives Matter comments Bernie Ecclestone has just been moved to the bottom of the pile.

Therefore, I must take the opportunity of suggesting two far more deserving replacements: Firstly, Piers Morgan – for taking to task our woeful government – and next, Marcus Rashford, who needs no explanation as to his good deeds.

Robert Boston
Kingshill

Never again

We have been so devastated by Covid-19. We’ve watched the government fail to protect its people and there will be much outrage in time about what is happening now. Rightly, the newspapers have been questioning those decisions. Many companies are working on vaccines to protect humans from this virus and that also is being followed by newspapers. There will be a vaccine because we have the best brains in the world working together.

We cannot change what has happened but we must do everything possible to prevent this from happening again. Over 500,000 have died worldwide and economies have been destroyed.

Newspapers have such an important role at this point to influence the government and the people. The people of the world need protection from viruses “jumping” from their likely wildlife hosts to humans and from governments that refuse to speak up.

Barbara Jennings
Bradford

Above the law?

The images of the American couple standing outside their massive St Louis home pointing guns at passing Black Lives Matter protesters just about sums up the problem there.

No action was taken by the authorities as they aimed lethal weapons at unarmed marchers, and they clearly felt not only justified but safe in their actions.

I suspect that if a black couple had stood on their own porch with nothing more lethal than a water pistol, some trigger-happy cop or vigilante would have shot them claiming “self defence” – and got away with it.

Mike Margetts
Kilsby

What about UK corruption?

Borzou Daragahi’s excellent article (”Profiting off death: The shady dealings used by governments and criminals alike to make big bucks during coronavirus“) appears to cover all the perceived corrupt countries in the world. But the one glaring omission is the UK.

With private contracts handed out by the government to old friends of their advisers, I would have thought there was a gold mine of corruption to be investigated right here at home, but only for the bravest among our journalists.

D Leddy
Ottershaw