It’s clear the Tories can’t even define what integrity is

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Those who (may have) behaved inappropriately are fighting hard to prevent us mere mortals from finding out what was happening (PA)

So the Boris Johnson Fan club is finding the uncovering of more (alleged) Covid rule-breaking by their idol “rather tedious”? How absolutely dreadful for them. Maybe the nanny can make them a nice cup of hot chocolate to calm their jitters.

This is what the UK is reduced to. Tory party squabbling and in-fighting. And those who (may have) behaved inappropriately are fighting hard to prevent us mere mortals from finding out what was happening while we were following lockdown rules. While relatives died alone, grandparents couldn’t meet grandchildren and children missed their friends.

Not to mention the fact that we, the taxpayer, are funding the legal defence for a man we already know broke the rules. I don’t know about you but I’m sick to the back teeth of it all (to quote Kier Starmer). We are going through a cost of living crisis, the likes of which hasn’t been seen for decades. Yet every day we are subjected to the Tory’s obligatory soundbites and three-word slogans telling us that we’ve never had it so good.

Rishi Sunak needs to treat the electorate with some respect. Ask them if they are happy with the Tory’s record, their behaviour, their honesty, and their integrity. I must get my dictionary out and look up the definitions because I’m sure either he or I am wrong about what they mean.

It’s time for a general election.

Karen Brittain

York

World leaders must get Plastics Treaty fineprint right in Paris this week

Malé is one of South Asia’s most effervescent islands. The city is the beating heart of the 1,192 islands that make up the Maldivian archipelago.

In 1989 the city played host to a gathering of 14 island nations from around the world. Delegates from Maldives joined counterparts from states such as Grenada and Fiji to discuss the litany of environmental challenges faced by small islands. It was in the Maldivian capital that leaders signed the Malé Declaration – a landmark pact that recognised the extreme vulnerability of island nations to planetary crises such as climate change.

Such prescient leadership garnered few headlines around the world. But the declaration set in stone the profound need for the international community to protect islands from the worst excesses of global consumption and pollution. More than three decades later, the Maldives and the 36 other UN-designated Small Island Developing States (SIDS) remain as vulnerable as ever to environmental challenges such as plastic pollution. Collectively, countries such as Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, and Jamaica account for just 0.13 per cent of the global trade value in polymers.

And yet for so many SIDS, plastic pollution represents an existential threat to their economies, marine biodiversity, food security, and health. Many small islands rely heavily on the proceeds of tourism to fund basic services. And the industry is predicated on countries maintaining their pristine marine environments. But no one wants to bathe in waters surrounded by an alphabet soup of plastic detritus.

The problem too, is exacerbated by the islands’ chronic lack of infrastructure to deal with the growth in waste that tourists will inevitably bring. Uniquely, small island states can be hampered by remote geographies, small land areas, and limited economic firepower. So often the world’s small islands are patently ignored on major environmental issues by the Global North. And so SIDS are denied access to either the public policy influence or finance required to solve the plastics crisis.

Now, more than ever before, the world’s small islands are banking on the international community to get its act together on plastic waste. And the negotiation of a Global Plastics Treaty represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do right by some of the world’s most beautiful yet at-risk countries. This month world leaders will descend on the Place de Fontenoy in Paris for the second round of negotiations on the detail of the Global Plastics Treaty.

With plastic consumption across the G20 set to almost double by 2050, world leaders face no small challenge in smashing the petrochemical status quo that has proven so damaging for the world. The world’s small island nations urgently need a Treaty which focuses on reducing the production and consumption of plastics, phasing out single-use plastic waste, and enabling a transition to non-toxic circular systems that are financed by producers. This will enable islands to tackle the threat plastic poses to their economies. Last year plastic was found in the blood of some 77 per cent of people.

Studies have also shown that when plastic gets into the body it can spread. The presence of microplastics has been associated with chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. And so the small island nations, which are particularly vulnerable to plastic waste, are also most at risk when it comes to human health. The Global Plastics Treaty must therefore prioritise protecting human health from the pervasive spectre of plastic pollution.

The world’s 37 SIDS are breathtaking in their variety and beauty. But they are united in their need for a robust Global Plastics Treaty that works for them. SIDS have proven their ability to influence global decisions for the better. This month the world has the opportunity to begin to deliver what ocean states, and ultimately, what we all, need.

The stakes could not be higher.

Jo Royle

CEO of Common Seas

The Tory party is hiding from the elephant in the room

The report by Tory think-tank Onward tells us that “millennials are the first demographic cohort not to become more right-wing as they age”.

The reasons are said to be down to a lack of home ownership, less stable employment, and starting families later. Yet the report ignores Brexit. Admittedly this major folly is generously supplemented by 13 years of spectacular failure in almost every other area of policy.

We were wrenched from our former partners and European neighbours, whose wealth and freedoms we shared, by the systematic deceit of Brexit.

The Onward Report is, like the Tory party, hiding from the elephant in the room. A return to the EU is required to heal ageing and self-inflicted wounds. The sooner the treatment the sooner the recovery.

David Nelmes

Newport

Nobody will believe the Tory defence when it comes to expenses

The MPs caught claiming motoring fines on expenses have resorted to the “completely inadvertent” type of defence, which nobody will believe.

Had they used the, “genuinely thought it was permissible under our generous and relaxed expenses rules and supervision” explanation, at least some people would believe it.

What a disappointing lack of cogent thinking.

Tony Baker

North Yorkshire

Small businesses have been hung out to dry

We run a tight ship as owners of a local restaurant, but after 35 years of weathering all the roller coaster economic climates, the simplicity of preparing and selling good food at reasonable prices is no longer possible.

When VAT continues to take precedence over making a wage, let alone a profit, and energy costs continue to rise it makes the business completely unviable. Perfectly good, well-run established businesses are being hung out to dry largely due to government policies on energy.

Well, you may say, “you’ve had a good run, why not jump ship now?” But that leaves another four people out of work as we let staff go, it leaves our suppliers losing out on thousands of pounds in lost orders and the town centre blighted by another local business sunk.

Multiply that then ten thousand times throughout the country as small, independent businesses everywhere are forced to close.

We have the energy but not enough to pay the energy bill.

Peter McKenzie

Address supplied

The police cannot continue to attend mental health crises

Police are there to deal with crime and those suffering a mental health crisis are not criminals. Police have been filling a gap for years due to the underfunding of mental health services. This cannot continue.

Those needing help with their mental health have continued to grow, especially after the pandemic and people deserve an appropriate response from a crisis team and mental health professionals.

Police arriving on the scene are not equipped with the right training to handle these situations, and this has led to tragedy in the past. I personally don’t feel they should be the first response to people in a mental health crisis, but of course, should be available if the risks to the person or those around them escalate.

Nicki Bartlett

Cardiff