Mistakes are learning opportunities – maybe someone should tell Boris Johnson

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

What a pity that the PM has decided that he might not need an ethics adviser (PA)

The prime minister (unsurprisingly) would like his MPs and former voters to forget about the things he has got very wrong – while simultaneously promising that he is not going to attempt to change his character, which was presumably responsible for an obvious lack of integrity and responsibility.

Many people have concluded that this is not acceptable for a British prime minister.

As a teacher and tutor, I constantly strive to impress upon pupils that their mistakes are learning opportunities, and demonstrate areas that I need to concentrate on to improve their overall performance.

What a pity that the PM has decided that he might not need an ethics adviser, as this is clearly an area where there is scope for considerable improvement.

Katharine Powell

Neston

Another 10 years of Boris Johnson

I recently wrote to my Tory MP, who hasn’t made clear whether she supports Boris Johnson, suggesting that as he was already trying to change laws that limited his dangerous ambitions, she should encourage him to go the whole hog and pass a law making it a criminal offence to mock or otherwise insult the PM.

And, once he’d got rid of all the awkward customers, centralise the whole UK voting system so he could out-Trump Donald Trump and guarantee winning every election.

Now Johnson plans to stay in power till the 2030s. And I thought I was joking.

David Buckton

Cambridge

Abortion rights are not safe in the UK

The ink was barely dry on the Supreme Court document overturning Roe v Wadewhen I heard people say that the prohibition of abortions cannot possibly happen over here.

Unfortunately, they are very wrong. Think back 20-odd years and literally only the lunatic fringe supported leaving the largest free-trade bloc in the world, otherwise known as the EU. We all know what happened next.

The biggest question is will a campaign to curtail women’s rights take precedence over another crackpot cause, let us say for argument’s sake, climate change denial? If it does, then it will commence looking very reasonable and low key: we need to have a discussion around time limits, blah blah blah medical advances.

This will draw in people who, give or take, are reasonably fair-minded — note I didn’t use worldly. Then the backers will hark back to the “good old days” where a happy, fulfilled mother stayed at home looking after her thriving, well-adjusted children. Wasn’t it great to know that Uncle Jim and Aunt Ada were traditional parents and I’ve never known anyone happier than them and their six children. When the birth rate increases we can be self-reliant and control our destiny. Does any of this sound familiar?

To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment, sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here

Before we know what has happened, some spineless politician will promise a referendum on abortions and due to years of disinformation and ludicrous claims of helping the country, many people who are totally irrelevant to the question will vote because of a plethora of fake memories of glorious uchronic days!

In trouble again aren’t we? You have been warned.

Robert Boston

Kingshill

Time for proportional representation?

John Rentoul’s Top 10, while interesting, mostly illustrates the idiocy of using our first past the post voting system as a means of choosing leaders.

Any system that fails to acknowledge widely-supported but different points of view is inherently undemocratic.

Mark Ogilvie

Horncastle